Being a Christian worker on the foreign field is hard. We love it, but often times we have a hard time expressing some of the difficulties.
Here are a few of our secret confessions:
- Coming Home is Overwhelming
We are always excited to visit home and see friends and family, but it often turns out to be stressful. Western countries move at a much faster pace than most of the places we work. Driving is faster, communication is faster, life in general is just faster.
On top of that, even though we may look the same, our time abroad has changed us. We are different. We have been removed from the fast culture shifts of the west and often feel out of touch. We are hidden immigrants in our own country; we appear to belong but are different on the inside.
We love seeing friends and family. You can enrich our time home by being patient and giving us space to express what’s really going on inside. Give us a listening ear. Ask us questions and really seek to understand. Give us time. It will really help us feel refreshed and ready to head back out to the field.
- We Get Discouraged
We like results as much as you do, but many of the places we work are hard ground to plow. It can be years between seeing any visible forward movement of the Gospel. We know God is working, but we get discouraged. And we probably won’t mention that discouragement in a newsletter. We want you to be excited about our work. It’s hard for us to tell you just how difficult things are.
Often times we dread writing home with correspondence and newsletters because we don’t have anything but tiny victories to share. They are big to us, but we feel like they will seem small to our supporters and prayer teams.
You can help us by staying in touch and listening with compassion. Avoid asking questions about results. Believe us, if we are seeing any, we will share them without you asking. Instead, ask us how you can pray for us personally. Try to read between the lines in our newsletters. Keep in touch and encourage us. Remind us that you are praying and believe in our work. We know it’s true, but we need to be reminded.
- We Hate Asking for Money
We love our work, but the part we don’t love is the challenge of raising funds for the work God has called us to. Sure, about .003 percent of the missionaries out there actually love raising money, but most of us aren’t in that group. We dislike it and it always feels awkward. But it is a necessary part of doing the work God has called us to do.
In general you can assume we are underfunded, but we will never tell you that. We will just say things like, “God always provides.” And He does. But a little more funding could really take some pressure off.
You can help by giving monthly, even if it’s only a small amount. We survive off of small gifts from faithful supporters. Really, we do. Your gift makes a difference and we know that a $5 gift is just as much of a sacrifice for you as $500 is for others. So don’t be afraid to give small gifts. We value them and are honored to have you as part of our team.
So there you have it—our secret confessions. We love the work God has called us to and we thank you for partnering with us to bring the gospel to the entire world!
Original article: www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/3-secret-confessions-of-a-missionary
by Joël Malm
Joël Malm is an author, speaker and life coach who leads outdoor expeditions around the world through his organization Summit Leaders. He has extensive experience abroad with missions and international humanitarian work.
@joelmalm summitleaders.org
