Interview Summary

I asked a close friend of mine, Jake Uttich, twelve questions about long term mission work. Jake has always been a huge inspiration of mine, considering his actions and opportunities he has faced while doing mission work. At 20 years old, he has spent upwards of 7 weeks in Haiti. I have taken part in several mission trips with him for the last four years, but they were all short term. Although I have never been on a long term mission trip, Jake is currently in training with an organization called World Race in order to leave for Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, Cambodia, and Albania in September. This trip will last approximately nine months. Jake decided to do this because he was tired of college in all honesty. He did not know what major he wanted to declare, so he decided to "find himself" by leaving the country for a while and doing what he loves most- helping people and getting to build new relationships with people of all different cultures and backgrounds. During training he takes part in logistic situations, such as how to interact with host families, and how to deal with an injury or dangerous situation, should it occur. There are also lessons in ministry work, such as how to guide someone to Christianity. He does this because of his love for spreading the gospel. With that being said, he is a firm believer in trying to end "white savior complex." It is a real problem with some people, saying "this is how you fix your life." Jake's biggest way to solve this problem is to treat the people you come across as real human beings. People know what they need, and your job is to assist them in any way possible to meet those needs. A mission worker is not there to tell a person what their needs are in any way, shape, or form. He was very adamant about the fact that many people think mission workers simply go on mission trips in order to travel and "see the world," but from his perspective, this is most definitely not the case. One of the biggest complications he feels is prevalent when going to another country, whether it be a third world country or simply a foreign country, is the language barrier. I can attest to this, as going to Haiti with little to know knowledge about the Haitian Creole language is extremely difficult. Even knowing basic questions and statements is more beneficial in the long run than knowing nothing at all. Lastly, I asked Jake if there were any key statements to say to a person that knows very little about long term mission work. His answer somewhat surprised me, but it also make a lot of sense. He said mission work is not for everyone. As great as going places and serving others is, many people do not know the true cost of doing so. It is a lot of hard work, and it requires a large amount of energy and enthusiasm