Missionary Confidential

This Is What It’s All About

“Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ’Well done.’ ” It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet.
—Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost For His Highest”, February 5

Pastor v. Missionary: What’s The Difference?

One of the things that caught us off guard in our mission field was the perception of missionary in the field being different than the pastor in a foreign mission field. Although we are missionaries in every sense of the word, one of us is a licensed pastor.

We figured this out when people here were surprised at the pastor fact. They were shocked to hear preaching from a missionary. This was very perplexing to us. Perhaps it is our denominational background in the States, where missionaries were also pastors and were sent to pastor new churches in mission fields. It appears that the concept of missionary in our field is one that comes alongside an existing church to handle lay ministry. Regardless, the pastor aspect has now become an asset.

But it made me think: what is the difference between a pastor and a missionary (if both are licensed or ordained to preach)? Read More…

We’re in a Blog Carnival

Another Missionary Confidential blog-first: we’ve been featured on a Blog Carnival focusing on missionaries. A big shout out to Missionary-Blogs, and check out the “Advice For Aspiring Missionaries” at their blog. Don’t know what a “Blog Carnival” is? Here’s the Wikipedia on it.

The Double Life of The Missionary

Now that we’ve lived in Western Europe for several years without returning to the States (at all), we’ve found that some things once foreign to us have become second nature. In short, we’ve adapted. Not completely, sometimes intentionally, but there have been changes. So much so that we even compiled a list of lifestyle and vocabulary changes that are normal to us now, plus a list of things that still seem unusual to us. It was amusing to review, but it also hammered home another fact: we live a double life.

Of course, that sounds scandalous at first, but it’s not tawdry or salacious. It’s not even being dishonest. Because of our origins and the fact that our financial support comes from the States, we will always have “a foot in the States” despite our best intentions to assimilate to our new life here. Read More…

Perspective on Western European Missions

I was thrilled to read this article by Ed Stetzer on European missions: I3 Paper: Why Europe? For anyone who might wonder what kind of spiritual need there might be over here, this is an excellent overview complete with statistics and thought-out observations.

The section on church planting was very true, and I especially appreciated in insight on successful church plants. Best quote: “Just because it [church planting] ‘worked’ in your context doesn’t mean it will in another.”

How I Became a Missionary, Part 5: “No Plan B” and Conquering By Continuing

This is the final posting in a series on how I became a full-time missionary to Western Europe. Click for “Part 1: My Backstory”, “Part 2: Ashes in My Mouth”, “Part 3: Learning the Ropes”, and “Part 4: You’re Nuts”.

Originally we understood entry as missionaries into our part of Western Europe as a matter-of-fact situation. Check in, show documents, everything’s okay. But when our immigration officer expressed suspicion about our motives and revealed changes in immigration rules, it seemed as if everything about our ministry was about to collapse. Had we been wrong all along?

At one of our last interactions, my mother had asked if we had a “Plan B” for, you know, when it doesn’t work out—her words. I thought she meant different ways of entering the country under various situations (student, employee, etc.). She meant something more specific: move back to our hometown, get “normal” jobs, and never leave the country again. “Come on, it’s very likely you won’t like it ,and you need to have a plan when it doesn’t.”

“We don’t have a ‘Plan B’” was our response. Missions was the plan, but if it had to evolve and change from our first attempts, so be it. God was directing us, so there was no need for a “Plan B” as she defined it. Realise that I do believe God encourages levels of planning and preparation for future issues, but hers was an encouragement to stop following God’s direction. We just weren’t going to do it.

In the end, we just had to be patient with our officer, who has become much more trusting after seeing us over the years. But that doesn’t mean that Satan didn’t stop throwing what he could at us to discourage our trust in God. Substantial funds fell away, and the dollar lost a huge amount of strength. Our reputation was unfairly damaged by a jealous Christian. Meanwhile, fellow missionaries dropped like flies around us, and cracks began to show in our marriage. Read More…

How I Became a Missionary, Part 4: You’re Nuts

I’ve been posting a series on how I became a full-time missionary to Western Europe. Click for “Part 1: My Backstory”, “Part 2: Ashes in My Mouth”, and “Part 3: Learning the Ropes”.

With our “marching orders” from God, we set out to begin the fundraising process and, at the same time, reveal our future plans to friends and family. Because of our denominational history and our family’s lack of encouragement in ministry or missions, we knew that this would not be easy.

I wish I could give a report of hugs, joy and excitement from those who knew us well, but you can probably anticipate that’s not part of this story. We explained God’s call, our heart, the (very) long-term nature of our ministry in Western Europe, and the fact that we were about to sell off or give away most everything that we’d accumulated during our marriage. Yes, everything: car, furniture, basically all you would find in a three-bedroomed house. I do not mention this out of pride but the fact is necessary to understand people’s shock and disapproval.

Friends received the news with polite looks of concern, you know, the pained grimace of a smile with the drawn out, “Well, if that’s what you want.” I know that they were quietly reviewing the other ministries we’d been involved in and (understandably) thinking that this was just another phase for which we were liquidating our life. Some felt we wouldn’t even make it out of the States. Read More…