Becca's Story
Who Exactly Is Abecca?
Hi there!
I’m really just Becca. My name Abecca came from my bestfriends little brother, who had a difficult time pronouncing the “R” in Rebecca. However, everyone else calls me Becca. (or whenever I am in trouble, my mother likes to remind me that I am “Rebecca Anne”). I would say that I have a goofy, sarcastic and sassy personality, but I am also compassionate. I have a big heart, and I love helping whenever and wherever I can. (But usually only after I’ve had my first cup of coffee.)
It should also be noted that I write like I speak. This means that I offer sassy little sidenotes. (Which you’ve probably already noticed get placed in parentheses.) Which reminds me: although English is my first language, I never fully grasped the mechanics of it all. (So, if terrible grammar hurts your soul, RUN.)
Anywho, some of these traits probably come from the fact that I am the second youngest of nine kids. My siblings would describe me as the blonde, and consequently, the comedic relief of the family. They probably wouldn’t describe me as the most adventurous one of the bunch.
But, Honduras?
So, how did I find myself with a one way ticket to Honduras? Well, I always had this desire to volunteer in a Spanish speaking country, and when my sister and her husband chose Honduras to plant their missions work, I was ecstatic. At the time, I was in school working on becoming a registered nurse in labor and delivery. (I was sure that God was going to use me in the missions field as medical personnel.) During that time, I also experienced extreme hardship in my personal life. My family lost four loved ones in a six-month span, and then we lost my baby niece not even a full year later. I spent many hours running back and forth from college to home to make sure my nieces got to preschool, soccer and ballet. Then, ending my evenings laying on the hospice floor, I’d wonder how it could be that we were back here, yet again, with another family member. But of course, I’d also be trying my best to be the comic relief that my family desperately needed. I was exhausted and broken and I decided that I needed a break from hospitals and the medical world.
I can remember the moment that I decided on my new path like it was just yesterday. I was laying on my bed in my dorm room in New York City trying to decide on how to tell my family that I was switching my school AND my major (yet again), when my phone buzzed. I looked down, and it was a text message from my eldest sister Marianne: “Hey, you should quit school and move to Honduras to be my preschool teacher.” (UH. Lord? Is that you?? No one knows I’m switching to Early Childhood Education... That’s definitely you, right?). I could not believe what I was seeing. I just stared at the words in complete disbelief. (Seriously, how did she know? Were her sister senses tingling, or what exactly was going on here?)
I remember texting her back, “Who told you?” (Like anyone else besides myself and the Lord knew of my decision.) Which explains why she had no idea what I was talking about. I guess she texted because she’s just bossy like that. (I mean because she is so intuitive and knew that I was the man for the job.) Well, she was right, because I immediately began looking into different options on where I could finish my degree. I landed on Liberty University, online. This meant that I could finish my degree WHILE I taught preschool for my sister. (Win, win!) My degree would be Early Childhood Education in Interdisciplinary Studies. I used the Interdisciplinary Studies of my degree to focus on child/family psychology and counseling. I wanted to be fully prepared to help children who had suffered an early childhood trauma.
I made a few visits to my sister and her family, extending my stay each time. I noticed while I was there that God began to take my hardships and use them to my advantage to further His plans. (It is amazing--crazy even--to look back and see how He had prepared me in so many ways to work with the Foundation).
But Isn’t It So Hard?
I once heard that loving a foster child is like loving a child who is terminally ill: You must love them unconditionally, no holding back. This will leave you vulnerable and susceptible to heartbreak because you won’t know how much time you have with them. However, by fully opening your heart and offering them love and care, you will have made a world of difference in their early development.
(Had God not prepared me for this when I lost my loved ones? Was I not loving them with everything, knowing I would be broken? And then even more so with the loss of my niece??) I was prepared to love every child who came through our doors, knowing that my heart would be broken over and over again when they left. God had made sure my heart was strong enough, and that I was prepared to deal with the pain so that they wouldn’t have to.
So, when God told me to go home, I was NOT happy. (My inner thoughts went a little like this: Hello God?? How are you going to prepare me like this and just when I’m ready to dive in, you’re going to take my flippers and my snorkel and send me back to Antartica??!) I was frustrated to say the least. Against my better judgement, I went home.
How Did God Work In Your Life at Home?
While I was home, we had a gathering at my house for the leaders who would be working at RCM, a Christian camp in the southern end of Lancaster County. During that time, I noticed a certain guy and the love and compassion that he had for the people around him. (Insert heart eyes emoji here.) I kept telling myself, ooooh no you don’t. He’s too young. You’re going back to Honduras, and he has aspirations of his own. (I’m pretty sure in that moment God chuckled.) Throughout the duration of camp, I felt more and more drawn to this guy and his love for God. (Again, I’m like “Rebecca Anne! NO.”) We talked about how I was planning on going back to Honduras for another two years, and how I planned on being single status for life because I couldn’t drag someone else into the plans that God had for me. He always had great advise and he made me smile. I was so sad to see him leave camp, but happy that we all made plans to visit him at school to watch him play football. (I just kept repeating to myself “You are single status for life, you are single status for life, you are single status for life,” and God just kept on laughing.) Before I knew it, I ordered a shirt from his school with his name on the back. (I wanted to be a good supporter, obviously.) I found myself counting down the days until the game that we all planned to go see, and I was so excited when the day finally arrived. After his game, we sat outside waiting for the others to order their pizza. While we sat, he tried his best to give me the “I’d like to be more than friends” speech by asking if I was absolutely sure that I would be single status for life. I shot him down with a quick, “Yeah, there is no doubt in my mind.” (Although, there was a doubt in my soul.) God made sure that my stubborness would not get in the way of His plans because by the end of this handsome guys next game, we were dating.
And, then what?
During our time dating, I made a month long trip to Honduras to help my sister out. In the office one day, my brother-in-law and I were joking around about how I should marry this man and that we should move down to Honduras because his major was exactly what the ministry needed. (I kind of nervous chuckled because I had this weird feeling that that’s exactly why God had sent me home in the first place. He didn’t send me back because He was being mean. He sent me back because He had prepared the love of my life and a partner in crime who could help me in my quest to glorify His kingdom.) I tried to shake it off because I never wanted to bring someone else into the path that God had designed for me. So, I sent this love of mine a text thinking that we could laugh about this preposterous idea together. So you can imagine my surprise when he didn’t laugh back. Instead, he replied very much intrigued with the idea. As it turns out, God had decided (way before I was able to catch up) that “my path” was going to be an “our path” and that “I” needed to get with the program. (Okay God, I see you working in mysterious ways.)
Needless to say, the rest is history because I got to marry my very best friend Colin James Buffington and God is sending us BOTH into the missions field.
What Does the Ministry Do That You’ll Be Working Working With?
We are headed back to Honduras to help Legacy of Hope Foundation. They are working on family-based care for abandoned babies and children in crisis. This type of care is provided outside of institutions and within a family setting, commonly seen and understood as foster care. I have been asked, why would you go care for children who aren’t yours? Don’t you love your own nieces and nephews? My answer: ABSOLUTELY. They are the reason I got through my most difficult days. It is because I love them so much that I am going. God has blessed me immensely, and it breaks my heart to think that there is a child who doesn't have an Aunt Becca or an Uncle Buff (and all of the crazy family that comes along with families like ours). The worst part is that many of these children are lucky if they have even one person who loves them unconditionally. Many of them have no one. If I can be a TÃa to a child who otherwise wouldn’t have one, then sign me up!
How Did Colin Come to Answer God’s Call For Missions?
This was the story of how God chose me for missions. Stay tuned for Colin's story and the story of our puppy Thatcher.
Feel free to share our stories and start a Fundraiser on your facebook page. Just share our link and encourage friends to donate! We’re putting new and monthly donors into a drawing for a chance to win a bag of Honduran coffee!
Buffington Donation link: https://legacyofhopefoundation.org/donate/colin-becca/
As a friendly reminder, in order to donate you will be asked to create a username and password. This username and password will make future donations much easier. If you run into any problems donating please reach out and we’d be happy to help you through it!
Buffington Donation link: https://legacyofhopefoundation.org/donate/colin-becca/
As a friendly reminder, in order to donate you will be asked to create a username and password. This username and password will make future donations much easier. If you run into any problems donating please reach out and we’d be happy to help you through it!
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