As I was enjoying my juice I made this morning after a simple workout, I realized I had never shared thoughts with anyone about why I love being a missionary! Just so you know, this didn’t come out of some “I need to be grateful” exercise I was doing, although that’s probably a great place to live in. I really just thought this is a good topic that might help senders and partners of missionaries see from our point of view. It also may answer some questions on whether you are called to be a cross-cultural missionary. I hope you enjoy it.
#5 – The Stretch
Choosing to uproot and travel to a faraway land has got to be one of the hardest things we have ever done. Starting life over in a new place in one’s own culture is hard enough, but in a different country and different language? So why is this one of my favorites? Because it forces one to stay flexible and adaptable. When we stay flexible and adaptable, we are able to handle the new wine God wants to pour into us. We don’t want to become stale and stiff. Jesus talks about this when He uses the illustration in Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5. He says, “You can’t pour new wine into old wineskins.” By moving to different places, learning new languages, cultures, and bureaucracies, we are forced to press into the Lord, trust Him, and change! I’m so grateful for the stretching we have been through as it helps us expand our capacity to help others, train others, and launch others to transform the world for Christ.
#4 – The Discovery
I love learning new things, from science to sociology, from philosophy to history, from geology to geography. Our long-term missionary experience has been in Europe. After 15years in Europe, I can say I have discovered some of all these topics, and more. Each ministry travel trip is an opportunity not only to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God, but also a chance to learn from others. When we think we know it all and we are the only ones bringing others information and education, we fall into the pit of pride and arrogance. Embracing new discoveries, asking questions, honoring others in their culture, all these principles embraced and employed, create desire in others to know our God. I love that we get to discover more and more about people and their culture every day. God speaks to us through it all. Science was created to discover the mysteries of God, and I think it’s sad to see how many have turned it for prescribing moral and ethical codes of living.
#3 – The Food
OK, it probably goes without saying. But, if you have a one-mind stomach, living in a foreign country is probably not for you. Do you know how many of our friends go all the way to the other side of the world to stay in their own national hotels, eat their traditional food from back home, and don’t make an effort to speak the native language? I’m sorry, but if your vacation time looks like that, I have serious doubts you will be able to handle living somewhere foreign/different long-term. Food changes take effort, trial and error, hopefully not too dangerously. One has to step out of one’s comfort zone. The first time I had snails, I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. But after a couple of bites, I thought, “This is actually quite good”. But you know anything is pretty good with enough garlic and butter. LOL! I love trying new dishes out, and I have had quite a few allergies to foods since a child. Somehow, I have found a way, and so can anyone. Some may not like French food, but I found most of it to be made with quality products and produce, along with an attention to detail. I am not talking about 1-2 star Michelin restaurants either (I have never eaten in one). New foods are definitely one of my top 5 reasons I love being a missionary.
#2 – The Family
Living on the mission field in a foreign country with a different language is definitely not for the fainthearted. It is at minimum, a very stressful life. Because the learning curves are so high, and often the governments can be unforgiving of errors made, the family is put to the test, especially the marriage. I can say without a doubt that being on the mission field has forced Christy and I to have to work things out on a much more detailed and intense scale. So often we think, “This would be so much easier in the states,” or, “Now we have a little taste of what immigrants go through in the US”. We realize that the best place for anyone to be is “smack dab” in the middle of God’s will. Because of the strains of culture, we have had to do many things together that in the states we would have divided and conquered. Of course it makes things slower, but we are able to spend more time together. In the end, the more Christy and I are functioning healthy in our communication, sex, and finances, the healthier our entire family will function. So I am super grateful for the honor of being a missionary and the benefits it brings to my family. God uses everything, nothing goes to waste.
#1 – People
It may not be a mystery to you, but just in case someone reads this that doesn’t know me, I LOVE PEOPLE! We will spend eternity with PEOPLE. The only thing we can bring with us to heaven is PEOPLE! But people have issues, and they aren’t easy to get along with, and they are “needy”, and they make messes. All this is true, but universal. No matter where you go on the planet, if you can arrive at communicating, you’ll see that we are all sinners, struggling with fear, rejection, insecurity, abuse, neglect, and so forth. So what makes me so happy is meeting new people and getting to know their stories. People’s stories are what make them who they are. I don’t believe we can truly know someone until we listen well to their stories. Our stories explain everything. But in order to dig those stories out of them, they have to trust you at a certain level. What a wonderful challenge to all of us, to extend love and grace to others to such an extent and in such a manner, that they open up their stories to us. People are so precious to Jesus. He died for them on a cross, because He had an image in His mind of what heaven would look like populated with all these restored, reconciled, beautiful people, all extending love, one to another for eternity. Yeah, I’m so honored and excited to be a missionary because of the people.
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