Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Denise Rosenau Column, 9/16/02



This week I had to say goodbye to my sister, who is leaving
for Australia for missionary training.

Even though we’ve known of her plans to go for quite some
time (and strongly support her), as long as I can remember, she has always
been within driving distance. I am really going to miss her.

What a strange feeling it is to know she will be in a different
country, experiencing a different lifestyle and different climate. She’s
so excited.

She’ll start out with three months of training, and then
three months of outreach. After that, she says she will go where she is
led, whether that be South African, Central America, or Chicago.

My sister has always been strong in her beliefs. Even when
she had difficult times in her life and wasn’t necessarily making the best
decisions, she always had her beliefs in mind and a strong faith to back
her up. And she’s always shared her faith with anyone who was interested
in hearing.

Her testimony is fascinating, and certainly doesn’t lack
interest. She’s just like the rest of us ­ had ups and downs, trials
and tribulations.

I’m so proud of the person she has become. Since her decision
to become a missionary, she has a whole new outlook on life, and a softness
to her that comes from feeling at peace with what she is doing with her
life.

I have no doubt that she has made the right decision for
herself. What surprises me is that she didn’t think of it sooner. For her
interests and strengths, it fits her like a glove.

She is, however, excited that she was pointed toward Australia.
She will be arriving during their springtime, and for the first time in
her life, will be missing our Minnesota winter. (I don’t think “missing”
the winter is how she’s looking at it though!)

I am excited to hear her stories. A missionary doesn’t
lead a glamorous life, from what I understand, but I’m sure it will be different
from rural Minnesota. Just the cultural differences alone will make good
reading.

As she was getting ready to leave my house during our goodbye
time, she promised to bring me some kind of souvenir from Australia. I’m
hoping for a baby kangaroo, but it didn’t look too hopeful. I guess I will
have to wait and see.

In the meantime, I will be happy with the e-mails, pictures,
and videos that she will send back home.

And at the same time, I will be happy to see that she will
be fulfilling such an important need, for both the people she will be working
with and for herself. She deserves it.

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