Posted by C. Holland on Nov 27, 2009
We could see the fear growing for a few months before it happened.
It started when one of our missionary friends asked for a semi-regular meeting for accountability and “venting” about the ups and downs of ministry in our notoriously difficult neck of Western Europe. The request made sense and was a great idea. But it quickly became apparent that the real agenda was how to deal with an overwhelming fear.
“What if they kick us out, me and my family?” he said nervously. “I’m hearing of other people’s visa not being renewed. It wasn’t supposed to be this way!” When we had each arrived in the country, visa renewal for missionaries was pretty much a foregone conclusion unless you’d done something incredibly illegal. Stamp, stamp, another renewal was what had been assured each of us as we prepared to come over here.
But shortly after our arrival, word started spreading amongst missionaries and Christian circles that immigration issues weren’t going to be so easy in the future. This much was true and backed up by legitimate news sources. It was at this point that the scaremongering began. Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Nov 20, 2009
“Reverse Furlough, Part 1: The Good Stuff” is available here.
Yet, like all things, there are some not-so-great things to consider about the Reverse Furlough:
Adapting to Different Expectations
Some sponsors just wanted a “look-see” and really didn’t need much in-depth information. Others wanted all the info, background and history we could provide. One group was more motivated to do repair work on our building than anything else. The difficult part of adapting was that it was almost impossible to tell what each of these groups wanted before they arrived, so we were learning on the fly as to what they wanted to see or experience.
Mission Field Also a Popular Tourist Destination
We didn’t realise with the first couple of guests how much this played into their expectation of the trip. You start figuring out quickly who came here to actually see/do ministry and who came on a vacation under the guise of a “mission trip”. Everyone seemed to suffer from the misconception that we were only engaged in ministry on Sunday for an hour, so we would certainly have the rest of the week to play tourist with them. “What sights do you want to see?” they’d ask. It was really, really hard not to have a snarky reply like, “This is your trip, not mine. I’ve already seen [tourist attraction], and I don’t spend my days wanting to see it week after week. I thought you were interested in ministry, not tourism.” Because no one wanted to drive or rent a car over here, it fell to us to chauffeur people around which took a huge chunk out of our days. I’m cool with people taking a couple of days out to see our country; just be upfront and tell us this, and don’t expect the entire “mission trip” to run like a tour package when you said you wanted to see/participate in ministry.
Costing Us More Than Planned
While a trip back to the States for a year would cost us considerably more cash, the earlier supporter visits quickly taught us to be upfront with our visitors about how much our budget could support them, too. The food, electric, petrol and heating bills all increase when we’re accommodating a visitor and, while we welcome visitors, it’s necessary to plan for these increases, asking for assistance from the visitor if necessary. We had a supporter surprise us with a visit a year and a half ago, who hadn’t understood the exchange rate or the high cost of basic living here, so he attempted to get us to pay for everything. We simply could not afford to do what he asked, and it ended up losing us his support. Had we known he (and his group of five) were coming over, we could have communicated and planned much better. Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Nov 18, 2009
A few weeks ago another set of our supporters visited us for a week, making them the fifth group to visit us this year alone. Because they’ve somehow stacked within a few weeks of each other, most of this has happened over just a few months and has made for a lot of repetition in explaining what we do here. I’ve honestly forgotten who hadn’t heard which ministry story before—and who graciously heard it again for the second (or third) time.
I like to think of these as “Reverse Furloughs”. As long-time readers of this blog know, we are not sent by a mission agency and so do not have a required time that we must return to the States. We have chosen to remain in our field the entire time since entering the country for various reasons. So this means that, though we communicate exhaustively via online and print sources, the best way to find out about what we do in ministry here is to come and see it for yourself.
I’m not discounting any missionary’s need to return to the States for fundraising, training or even simple refreshing. It should be between you and God when/why you need to return and for how long. For a great article dealing with redefining the traditional furlough back to the States, check it out here at MissioMishmash. That being said, there are some great aspects to the Reverse Furlough: Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Nov 09, 2009
Regular posting at Missionary Confidential had been delayed slightly due to more supporters staying with us to inspect our ministry. Add to that what might have been the Swine Flu (though I can’t be certain), and it makes for quite the interruption to daily life. Thankfully things are falling back to whatever passes for normal in this missionary’s life, so more posts are forthcoming including:
- “Reverse Furlough”: my thoughts on the pros and cons of supporters visiting your ministry in the field
- “Scaremongering”: why rumours and gossip, veiled as “information”, end up harming missions ministry
Posted by C. Holland on Nov 07, 2009
Kevin over at the “Life.Outpoured” blog talks about the importance of missionaries adapting (yet staying within God’s law) to the culture in which they minister, and it goes beyond clothing and acting. He gives some great points to consider in “(Missionary) Etiquette 101″. My favourite: “Begin to think like a citizen of heaven, not of a particular country.”
Posted by C. Holland on Nov 03, 2009
Childhood is hard enough when you have your original culture to contend with, but MKs (missionary kids) have an additional culture to adapt to, yet try to maintain friendships and relationships back “home”. I can’t imagine the struggle at such a young age, but the blog “The Other Side of Missions” gives a good perspective on this struggle: “My Peculiar MKs”
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