Missions

I have to be careful what I say here so that I don't get people confused. Ever since I was a kid I've wanted to do mission work; and while, yes, technically mission work can be done anywhere at any time, usually "mission work" entails being sent to a very poor place that is in desperate need of help. You give up life as you know it and the mission takes care of you just as you take care of it.
This is why I'll be leaving Athens to do this. Because while there is indeed work to be done with the Church here in town, there is hardly any FULL time work I can find and furthermore, it makes little sense to me to live across town and pretend I'm really leaving my world behind me. Mission work, in the full meaning of the term, differs very much from working a regular (secular) job and then simply participating in Church activities from time to time. It is living together with other missioners and becoming 100% open to helping others--becoming a representative of the Church so to speak. While any Catholic can do this from the comfort of his own home, there is something inherently different about living in community with other missioners and focusing directly on your spiritual needs and the needs of the mission you are assigned to. Most missioners are young people contemplating the religious life. It is a good first step to take in this direction, to see if you've really got what it takes to give your whole life to the Church. And some people do domestic missions to prepare them for a foreign mission somewhere down the line. The material benefits include getting your insurance paid, free food, room and board, loans deferred as well as monthly stipends. These are other things that just can't be found as just an avid Church goer and parish supporter. For financially-stressed kids out of college (like me), this is a perfect solution.
I needed to get that out into the open because not only have others voiced questions to me about my motivations, but I've wrestled with them myself for a few years now. Why, after all, go through all this "trouble" to move across the country if really there is no need to? I love the city I live in and could easily stay here. But the need is exterior and interior, so that is the reason for the necessity.