Written by: Lucas Bueno
Returning to Southern Adventist University after months of service overseas often presents student missionaries with various challenges that can affect their social and academic lives and even their emotional health.
Eliana Hounslow, sophomore nursing major, shared her experience of returning to Southern after her time of service. Hounslow served at Kendu Bay Adventist Hospital in Kenya from September to December of 2023.
Emily Schneider, junior biology major, also shared her experiences of returning to Southern after being a student missionary. Schneider served in Palau for ten months as a third-grade teacher at an elementary school.
Hounslow initially went to Kenya to help at a physical therapy clinic. However, she also spent a week in the maternity ward at a local hospital, helping mothers through labor and assisting with C-sections.
“I really enjoyed being in the nursing side of the hospital versus the physical therapy side, so I asked to be [assigned] more in the hospital,” Hounslow said.
While in Kenya, Hounslow helped out in many different areas, including a school for the disabled. As a result of her experiences there, she decided to switch her major from physical therapy to nursing and hopes to be accepted into Southern’s nursing program in the fall.
Hounslow returned to Southern during the winter and said the drastic difference in climate compared to Kenya was a big change for her to get used to again.
“I didn’t come back to like, you know, the bustling place that I was in Kendu,” she said. “ … I felt like I didn’t have my people. I kinda felt like I was just coming back, and everyone else had gone on with their lives, and I was just pushed back into this life.”
Hounslow said it took time to process all the different feelings she had upon returning to Southern, while also adjusting to the practical differences she encountered. She remembers walking on the wrong side of the road and trying to pass people on the right because she grew accustomed to that in Kenya.
Also, Hounslow struggled to settle into her “normal” life at Southern and get back into the rhythm of going to class and studying.
“My normal was over in Kenya, where I would wake up sometimes without power and sometimes didn’t have water,” she said. “Like, everything was slow and peaceful.”
Despite the challenges she has faced returning to Southern, Hounslow believes her mission work in Kenya gave her more purpose in life. When she was serving in the maternity ward, Hounslow said, she helped a woman who went to the ward already in labor to calm down. The woman named her child “Eliana” in honor of Hounslow. Such experiences helped Hounslow solidify what she wanted to do with her life.
“I know what I love now,” Hounslow said.
At the same time, Hounslow has experienced “missionary guilt,” which makes her feel she should still be there helping. However, she also understands that she is not yet certified to give nursing care.
“I do have to do school to help them in the future because I plan on going back [to] it one day,” Hounslow said. “But it’s like I have to take time for myself to, you know, to study when I need to study so I can serve them even better in the future.”
Schneider also experienced culture shock when she returned to Southern. She found things different even as she reconnected with friends who stayed at school.
“So it’s kind of weird, like, you go back expecting to go to the same friend group that hangs out together [and] eats together on this day,” she said. “ Then, that’s, like, not a thing.”
“ … Coming back, I felt like I had friends, and I felt like I had community, but I still did kind of ask the question, like, ‘Where is my home? Where do I fit in? Where do I belong?’”
According to Schneider, it was hard for her to find meaning in college life after experiencing the fulfillment of mission work. She considered spending more time in Palau and prayed about the decision to stay or come back to school.
“Something that I try to remind myself is [that] God is calling you back home,” Schneider said. “Just like He had a purpose and intention in bringing you out to the mission field, … I feel like there’s intention and purpose with having me come back home.”
Schneider said her experience teaching in Palau made her realize that furthering her education could allow her to serve others better in the future. She initially signed up to be a student missionary because her academics were delayed while she recovered from a concussion.
“So I was like, ‘Well, what do I do?’” she said. “I knew God had been calling me to go on missions. So I answered His call.”
Because of her time as a student missionary and switching her major to nursing, Schneider said she sometimes feels behind because of the courses she is still taking.
“Coming back and doing classes that I should have done my freshman year, honestly, felt a little bit insulting,” Schneider said. “ … Like people my age are already in their academic programs. They’re already doing this stuff, and I feel like I got left behind.”
However, Schneider reminds herself that everyone has a different path in life, and she chose to do what God called her to by becoming a student missionary. She said even though her path in college was changed by her time in Palau, she feels blessed by that time and trusts God to help her balance the difficulties of life and following His calling.
“God, You called me to go into missions,” Schneider said, “and now I have to trust You’re still going to get me through what I considered life before missions.”
