11rl0603th - "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....."

I am quite contrary. Perhaps it’s due to my feisty Irish genes, or maybe it has to do with growing up as one of the youngest out of 5 children. Anyways I can hold my own in a bantering contest. My name is Mary Sprunger. I am 22 years old. I realize that means I am one of the “old ones” to some of you ladies out there, but I know that I will end up learning a lot from you. Probably more than you will learn from me.

I am from Dundee Oregon, but currently reside in Corvallis while attending Oregon State University. I am a junior working on a Pre-Therapy major. I have worked in Physical Therapy offices before, but do not have a job at present. Which is a bummer, but God has provided through my parents. So yes I do mooch, though not by choice, and am very humbled by that fact.

My hobbies include ballet and drawing. I have done ballet since I was six, so approximately 16 years. I have danced lead roles in ballet performances, trained for competitions, auditioned for companies, and taught youth classes. It is a passion of mine because it is a mixture of art and athleticism, technique and spirit. Ballet has always been a way for my heart to speak, when words felt so….not enough. It has also been a natural worship expression. I have done some ballet at church and love to share and help take peoples hearts to a worshipful place.

I also have found that I am a puzzler. I like to solve puzzles, to figure out how something works, or why it is not working and fix it. That really comes into play in the things I enjoy. I love to meet new people and figure out what makes them tick. I like to engage in learning new skills. It also comes out in things like my enjoyment of drawing (ie- how do I transfer what I see in 3D to 2D?), or books (can I predict where the plot is going?). It is also one thing that draws me to the profession of Physical Therapy, because often one has to figure out the source of the problem and how to make the recovery applicable to the patient’s lifestyle.

And dislikes? Hmm...thats hard. I am pretty even keel and can enjoy parts of anything and any one I come across. The only thing that comes to my head is drama. As if there was not enough drama in life. You really don’t have to add more.

My previous mission trip experience was way back in High School with my church youth group though Adventures in Life Ministry. I went to El Souzal Mexico for three summers in High School. AIL Ministries is tries to partner American Churches with Churches already established in Mexico. That said, every year we went to the same church in El Souzal and were able to build relationships with the folks there. We were there for two weeks each summer and worked with Vacation Bible Schools and construction projects. I worked only in the VBS and tried to love the kids, even though communication could be hard sometimes. It was a good experience because it got me outside of my privileged American bubble and opened my eyes to those who have so much less.

As a child I never wanted to be a missionary, and sometimes question my motives to go to Mexico, so this whole Thailand trip came as somewhat of a surprise to me. Ok let me rephrase that. It was very inconvenient and undesired. I had already laid out my summer plans. During Christmas break God really laid the issue of Sex-Trafficking on my heart and after my resisting, I finally said “Yes.” I am nervous. I really have not done very much traveling. I know that this trip will be heart breaking and a battle. Satan does not want these women to be free. I am afraid that I will not be strong enough or sufficient to meet the task. Yet I know that it is not my strength that will change anything. Because of this I am also excited. I look forward to what God will do in me and in others as I go to Thailand. Of course, the more I find out about Thailand the more my heart longs to be there.

God has really laid on my heart Isaiah 61:1-3. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”