What Missionaries Wish You Knew
What Missionaries Wish You Knew
1. We are often lonely
Yes, we have friends. Good, close, dear friends from our host country. But that doesn't replace the fact that at the end of the day, we are still in a foreign context. We never truly "let our hair down" so to speak
2. We are not super holy
We are normal people. Yes, we love the Lord or we wouldn't do what we are doing. But we struggle with sin and discouragement. Sometimes people expect us to be the ultimate example, and even put more qualifications/expectations on us than scripture does
3. We often suffer from anxiety and depression
We have higher rates than anxiety and depression than the average population
4. We are not on a trip and we cannot just "come home" when things go slightly wrong
When missionaries go on stateside, someone always asks, "How was your trip?" We never are sure how to answer that. We weren't on a trip. We live here! Also if one of us gets sick or we encounter a hardship, many people will say, "Just come home." I am home. There are hospitals and doctors here when I need them. I have a house here, my kids go to school here, our pets are here, our friends, church, everything is here. However there are times when we must go back to the US (home), when there are things such as cancer or extenuating circumstances that would deem us unable to serve on the field
5. We have a lot of people to please
We have a sending church that often frequently wants updates, supporting financial partners* that want visits or updates every time we are in the states, , a local national church that looks to us to be examples to their congregation, bosses, team members, our children's school, and other relationships we have to foster. We often find we cannot please everyone
6. We wear a lot of hats
We are church planters, evangelists, friends, parents, spouses, counselors, team mates, church members, pastors (at least temporarily but sometimes that's years and years), teachers to homeschooled kids, etc. Again, lots of people to please
7. Ministry is hard
Ministry is not just going around and handing out Gospel tracts and water bottles, going home and being done. It is doing life with people, and missions can be messy. You often run into cultural sticky situations where wisdom is needed because the Scriptures don't explicitly say how to handle such a situation, and you hope you are handling it rightly. It does not make us less spiritual to go on vacation a couple times a year
8. Our children are generally more well rounded and do well in the job market
Many times people assume our children are missing out by being somewhere other than the US. But for every little league game they miss out on, they are having other opportunities that far outweigh that. They are bilingual, sometimes trilingual. They are very sensitive to world news and welcoming to strangers and outsiders. They often have a tenderness that only cross cultural living can bring
9. We appreciate you
It makes our day to know someone has prayed for us, that you give financially so that we can go. We are forever indebted to those who have sent us out. We think of our church families back home and our hearts leap with joy. We love visiting you and being with you
10. Jesus is so worth it
For every hardship that missions brings, the joys are so much more. We get a front row seat to what God is doing in other parts of the world. God delights in His name being spread and the nations hearing it; we get to see the power of God up close and personal! It is irreplaceable and I often say to myself, "I can't believe they pay me to do this. I get to wake up everyday and talk to people about Jesus."
*we are fortunate enough not to have to raise our own support but we are an outlier
