My name’s Olivia and I’m a 2nd year Christ in the City missionary from San Diego, CA.
What brought you to Christ in the City?
The short answer is God.
All my life, He has gently and faithfully guided each of my steps. In March of 2020, He brought me (somewhat reluctantly) to Christ in the City on a spring break trip that began as usual and ended in a pandemic. It was a time of great grace, and getting to spend my last ‘normal’ days at Christ in the City was a mercy that prepared me for all that followed. I hadn’t imagined He would call me back, but in entrusting the desires of my heart to Him, I received an invitation to return. This seems to be the place He’d like to continue to bless and refine my heart, and I’m both terrified and oh so hopeful about how that will look.
How has Christ in the City helped you grow?
I arrived this past year with the hope of learning how to love more deeply. I wanted to be stretched and formed into a more virtuous and beautiful soul. Above all, I was looking forward to getting to know the Lord better – to discover the creative & perfect ways He would reveal Himself, and my own self, to me during my time at Christ in the City.
A year later, I see that He has answered each of these prayers, though I know His response is still ongoing. The last 11 months have been a school in the ways of relationship. I have learned more profoundly what it means to love and be loved with mercy. On the streets and in a community of 32 other missionaries, I’ve seen a charity that surpasses preferences and instincts, one that forgives and sacrifices in beautiful imitation of Jesus. My hope is that these graces from a first year take root even more firmly in a second, and that my love would only grow in resemblance of His.
A bit about me
I’m originally from San Diego, California, but swapped coasts to go to college in Virginia (wahoowa!). I’m a big fan of birthdays, letter-writing, driving with the windows down regardless of temperature, and of reveling in the everyday blessings God gives. He is never outdone in generosity.
