Of all the lessons that foreign missions ministry has taught me (and continues to do so), the top of the list has to be that we are shaped by our location and culture more than we realise.  Most anyone who has lived in a foreign country for a decent stretch of time would probably recognise how true this is.

When you meet a fellow Christian from another country, there are some great similarities and kinship that’s experienced through our Family in Christ.  It’s difficult to describe to others, but there is an understanding of what it’s like to press on with life as a Christian in this fallen world.  They know what you’ve seen, and usually understand how fellow Christians experience life.

Then there’s the point that you realise that their Christian experience has differed than yours.  Their “favourite songs” are ones you’ve never heard, or methodology in worship services is, well, just different.  Nothing wrong or sacrilegious, but jarringly different to your exposure.

Who and what you are surrounded by is bound to influence your perception and choices.  Even when I’ve worked with missionaries who are firmly resolved to not lose one bit of their “American” accent, actions or attitude, over time even they begin to start using phrases here that wouldn’t ever be used “back home”.  They don’t notice it, and can become alarmed when informed of this, yet for all their determination to resist, the phrase or action creeps back in.  Bear in mind that these are things that are completely inoffensive both here and to Americans, nor would they be anything wrong in God’s view at all.  They hear it used over and over again, or perhaps people here understand them better when they say that phrase.  It just happens, even if they purposely try to stop.

The anger and fear that I’ve witnessed when a missionary realises that they’ve changed is striking.  It appears to them as if they’ve lost a part of their identity, a part of what defines them, and, to put it bluntly, the change freaks them out.  I know that we personally act and speak differently since being in the field, and not a few of our friends and family have politely (sometimes sternly) reminded us that we’re “still American” or should “act/talk more American”.  All this has done is reinforce in me that first and foremost, my identity is in Christ and my citizenship is in Heaven.

As Christians, Christ and His ways, His laws, His thoughts are to be our starting point.  This knowledge I’ve always believed, but now in the situation of changing cultures this wisdom is moving from my head to my heart.  The more we’re around someone or something, the more we become like them.  We humans can’t help it.  I believe it’s why the potter/clay analogy is used; we are impressionable beings, able to take shape according to the influence of another.

Once Jesus is established as our example, all other identities are up to where He places us.  Those identities may alter according to our circumstances, but it doesn’t negate our place in Christ.  Whether I act more or less “American” doesn’t diminish the fact of where I was born or lived most of my life.  It doesn’t mean any ill will towards my American family or friends, either.  It just means that I live somewhere else now that differently shapes my experience of life.

You’ve probably already guessed that I would invoke Paul’s entreaty to “become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23).  But it’s the phrase that summarises Chapter 9 in my Bible that says it all: Paul Surrenders His Rights.  If I need to change language, actions or appearance (within God’s law and direction in the Bible) to reach people in another culture for Christ, so be it.  I only need to be concerned with God’s direction in my life, and nothing more.

Related posts:

1. The “Just Be Yourself” Paradox
2. The Search Terms I Get…
3. Doing Ministry at Arm’s Distance

As much as I try to plan ahead with my writing and to focus on certain topics, I’m still surprised how often a germ of an idea for a blog post seems to come out of nowhere.  I’ve mentioned before about the search terms used that direct people here, and as usual I was taking a peek at the recent ones.  While I seriously considered asking the readers of this blog the “best job for a missionary leaving the field” (yes, an actual search term in the last few days), another search term caught my attention.

So, considering all the recent discussion about the definition of “missional”, I present you with a search term that I posit as a question and look forward to your answers in the comments:

“What is the difference between ‘missionary’ and ‘missional’?”

Related posts:

1. Pastor v. Missionary: What’s The Difference?

Somedays I think that I don’t see missions like a lot of other people do.  Consider the following:

In an email update I received from one of our supporters, the writer mentioned that her current reading was all missionary biographies, so she quoted Hudson Taylor with the implication that I must also be familiar with it.  It was a nice quote.  I had not heard it before, nor have I read missionary biographies.
When meeting a Christian here in the field, she assumed that we grew up, like herself, hearing stories at bedtime of the noble and heroic Christian missionaries in the heart of Africa.  Surely this is what prompted our missionary call?  Surely not.
Through this blog, I was contacted by a man interested in becoming a missionary.  One of his questions was: “Where in the world would you like to share the Gospel where you haven’t been able to yet?”  It’s a good question, but I honestly drew a blank.  I’d never thought of that before.
On our initial fundraising tour, people meeting us afterwards usually opened their greeting with. “You were missionary kids, right?” or “Your parents were missionaries, of course?”  Without divulging personal details, quite the opposite is our reality.  Not only were our parents only somewhat involved in their local church during our respective childhoods, they are now infrequent attenders at best, and all hold deep disappointment at our choice to be full-time foreign missionaries.

My whole life I’ve never fit into the pigeonholes people have tried to place me.  It shouldn’t surprise me that I don’t fit the missionary stereotype, either, and on the surface seem like less of a missionary.

Perhaps it’s because I don’t come with the fuzzy, feel-good past that everyone seems to think encourages the desire to become a missionary.  It’s not a sordid, law-breaking history, but it’s pretty dysfunctional considering my parents are Christians.  And I made some bad choices on my own along the way.  Maybe it’s because church was a stable source of constancy in my young life, but I wouldn’t say anyone ever personally encouraged me to become a missionary.

Perhaps it’s my tendency to try not to over-think things in the short term future (please don’t read that as not being prepared or lacking strategy; there is a difference).  Because I see my life as mission, whether in a foreign land or not, I expect to share the Gospel wherever God has planted me and whenever that chance may come.  I don’t yet have a burning desire to witness in Uruguay, but in no way does it mean I’m reluctant to do so if God put me there.

And, despite my voracious reading appetite, I’ve never had a specific interest in reading the life stories of other missionaries.  I think nothing wrong of reading such things, it just doesn’t register as something I’d like to read.  As someone raised Southern Baptist, I know that Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong were missionaries a long time ago, and we took an annual collection in each of their names for missions.  That’s about it.

I’m doing what I’m doing because God wants me here right now, though I could have, as a pastor friend of mine says, “written my ticket” to anywhere within or outside of ministry in the States.  I’m here despite the rejection, not acceptance, of my family and some friends.  Though I don’t have a massive familiarity with historical missions work, I know the country I’m in desperately needs to know born-again Christianity, and God is blessing our consistency with the gradual building of trust amongst the nationals.

So, am I less of a missionary because I don’t fit a profile?  Perhaps, yet I really enjoy where I work and what I do.  I’m so grateful that God can use a broken person like me.

Related posts:

1. Missionary? Not My Kid: When Your Parents Don’t Approve
2. How Effective Are Short-Term Mission Trips?

Over at Wrecked For the Ordinary, a young missionary has written a great piece about people’s perceptions (and, more importantly, misperceptions) about missionaries today.  Without knowing it, she’s summed up quite a few of the themes and threads here at my blog.  Best quote:

“It feels like what I am alluding to is something like this: ‘I am a professional at telling people about Jesus. And you’re not, cause you work a 9-5. Only, I shouldn’t say professional, because I am on (cringe) support. Wanna give me money?’”

Check it out here: “Lottie Moons or Ex-Pimps: We’re All Missionaries”

Related posts:

1. Stuck in a Moment, Both Young and Old

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.”

No related posts.

If you write a blog, run a website or are some form of IT professional, then you already know that you have access to a staggering amount of statistics about your website. While these can vary, nowadays you usually can view how many people viewed your blog or site from certain countries or see which search engines (such as Google) they used to find you. Additionally, you can also see what search term or phrase they used right before they clicked on your site address.

You can probably figure out what most of the search terms/phrases would be for Missionary Confidential, but as I reviewed the list from the entire life of this blog thus far, I started noticing trends. Some are good points, some are confusing, some cause concern, and a few even made me laugh, though I doubt they were meant that way.

I’ve grouped the most interesting ones for your review:

Curiosity
People want to know these things, evidently. Some of these may be answered in future posts.

Doubts About Continuing
I was heartbroken over how many and how often these terms showed up. There are obviously a lot of missionaries that are conflicted about their next step. Or some missionaries are trying to avoid leaving.

Financial Issues Are Popular
The only answer I can give is, “depends on the situation and the missionary.”

When Things Start Getting Serious
I appreciate the candour of these search terms.

There Are Some Problems
It appears these are from people who had unfortunate interactions with a missionary. Or it’s missionaries trying to understand the bad reputation in some circles.

Made Me Laugh, Mostly
Some of these I’m just not sure what they were thinking.

Questions That Should Be Asked More
I hope in future that more Christians start seriously asking these questions amongst themselves and in their churches.

Related posts:

1. When Missionaries Leave on Bad Terms
2. What is the Difference Between Missionary and Missional?
3. The Best of Intentions: Missionary Superhero

One of our supporters showed up last week. We barely knew her, but she was planning a vacation to our mission field and thought it would be great to stop by and visit. Having gone through this before, we knew the drill what we would be asked and which areas would be key to show our supporter.

Because of the distance from where she was staying, an overnight stay with us made the most sense and we were happy to accommodate. We met up with her and began the tour. First we showed her the church that we work with, which is a Gothic-style, small building in need of repair. Despite the improvements and maintenance needed, it is a beautiful building, complete with stained-glass windows of angels and mortals looking up to heaven. Being American like us, our supporter was astounded by the church, partly because there aren’t too many like this in our home state.

After showing the surrounding areas and explaining the spiritual need of the country, we continued on to our house. As she walked through our place, it was then that she made the statement, with a smile, “I can’t call you a missionary!”

We live in a small but nice house. We have all the accommodations that we had back in the States (refrigerator, oven, TV, bathroom, etc.), and our view happens to be of the countryside. It’s great, and we love it. But it was challenging our supporter’s view of how missionaries live. She didn’t say it maliciously, and she didn’t leave in a huff. She didn’t even say why this particular situation disqualified us from being missionaries, but I know what it was. It was too nice. Not rich, not ostentatious, not even abnormal for the nationals’ standard of living. Just not impoverished squalour.

The unspoken definition of mission work seems to not include us as missionaries because: a) we do not minister in an open-air situation or in a non-church-like structure, b) we do not live in a tent, hut or a third-world situation, and c) evidently having a nice view to look at is a problem. I’m still trying to find where in the Bible it gives specific lifestyle instructions for missionaries. Perhaps I’m missing something?

Even a friend of ours who grew up as a missionary kid in the Philippines told us that his family encountered a similar experience when a supporter discovered that they had a microwave there.

Meanwhile, the reality of our situation is that our location is provided by our church. We are also tentmakers, so our fundraising only covers a portion of our living expenses; we technically make up the lion’s share. Our entertainment outlay is non-existent as we don’t go out to movies, concerts or theatre; and restaurant dinners are reserved for special occasions, like birthdays. We have not given Christmas or birthday gifts to each other for years. Replacement clothing is purchased during sales. We refuse to go to ministry fundraisers here as they require black-tie expenses. Vacations, few and far between, have mostly been due to the generosity of others offering accommodation.

Don’t get me wrong. I love living here, and we do have a nice place to stay. God is blessing both us and our ministry, and we are eternally undeserving. But it’s not exactly like we’re partying or throwing supporters’ money at our entertainment.

I didn’t try to explain all of this because she couldn’t see past her perceptions. We’ll probably lose her support, even though she admitted that we were doing genuine ministry here and hadn’t been deceptive. Maybe there needs to be a re-education about being a missionary today.

Related posts:

1. How I Became a Missionary, Part 3: Learning the Ropes
2. Thank You For Communicating
3. The Search Terms I Get…

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)? Most pastors I know in the States were actually raised and sometimes educated in a completely different part of the nation, different enough to make it culturally significant. Many pastors must uproot their entire family to a brand-new place with different customs and expectations, meaning they are no longer near extended family. While pastors may not have to fundraise in the traditional missionary way, they are vital to the financial upkeep of their church. There are bi-vocational pastors who must work a secular 40-hour a week job. And some pastors do not receive the approval of their vocation by extended family members.

To be honest, we really see ourselves not as missionaries or a pastor, but as ordinary, broken people, Christian by God’s grace and mercy, living out our lives. We would do ministry according to God’s call whether it be in our town of birth or anywhere else in the world. How God chooses to fund the ministry is His decision. Perhaps the definition of “missions” needs to be revisited, because I believe the mission field is everywhere, whether it be in your home town, at your place of work or even your school. Actually, to me missions is anywhere you interact with people who need Jesus, even if they may be everything or nothing like you.

Related posts:

1. What is the Difference Between Missionary and Missional?
2. The Search Terms I Get…
3. Want to Be a Missionary? Ask Yourself This

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.

I know now why a lot of people run back home and away from ministry (and sometimes,unfortunately, away from God), but we refused. Romans 8:37 kept coming up, we were more than conquerors, and I had heard it once said that we “conquer by continuing”. There can be times that we are supposed to stop going in a direction, but God had set this in our hearts so firmly, that we began to see the attacks as arrows from the Enemy trying to keep up off balance. We kept praying, sought Christian counsel, and surrounded ourselves with those who also believed in what we are doing today.

It is not easy. It is not remotely glamourous. It is the most challenged I have ever been and continue to be. But if God is truly calling you to the mission field somewhere, I can definitely encourage you to become a missionary.

Related posts:

1. How I Became a Missionary, Part 4: You’re Nuts
2. How I Became a Missionary, Part 3: Learning the Ropes
3. How I Became a Missionary, Part 2: Ashes in My Mouth

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.

One of our fathers told us that he would store everything for us once we moved—since we wouldn’t last three months anyway. One of our mothers, with tears streaming down her face, told us that she could not support (meaning emotional and financial) this decision but should we decide to return permanently, we were offered a one-way ticket back to the States. She would not visit us in Europe, and years later she still has not. I suppose our parents always thought their children were to live close by, be highly educated in a flashy profession, own a mansion and drive a fancy car. They just couldn’t understand what would motivate us to give up everything to move to another country, have less money, live in much smaller accommodation and drive an economy car. And, yes, all four parents are still active evangelical Christians.

The flip side to such reactions was the emotional and financial support that we received from others, sometimes from the most unexpected person or couple. The majority of my secular co-workers actually respected our motivation and reasons for going. We had been told that the people you expect to support you won’t, but we’d be surprised who does. And we still are.

Fundraising amongst multiple churches was an experience in itself. I often referred to it as our “dog and pony show”, complete with portable information table and various pieces of information. Every church was different, and you had no idea what style or expectation was before you. Some were friendlier than others. Sunday after Sunday, we repeated the same information over and over. Many people expressed an intent to financially support us yet never did. Thank God for those who followed through!

The biggest hurdle we had to overcome was people’s narrow interpretation of missions (mentioned in a previous post here). Because we were going to a European country that is also a popular tourist destination for the States, many at first had a difficult time understanding the spiritual need here. Some encounters took all of my diplomatic know-how. The weirdest exchange was with a woman who strongly felt that God would never send any American out of the States to do ministry anywhere as she felt that the States was “God’s chosen country”.

It took us quite some time to raise enough funds, and fit in a fact-finding trip, but we finally set off permanently for Western Europe with just two pieces of luggage each and a laptop to our name. Just days after we landed, jet-lagged and wide-eyed, the government changed the parameters for missionaries entering the country. Our hearts sank when our immigration officer tersely stated, “we have a problem,” and promptly separated us for further questioning.

Next Post: Part 5, “No Plan B” and Conquering By Continuing

Related posts:

1. How I Became a Missionary, Part 3: Learning the Ropes
2. How I Became a Missionary, Part 5: “No Plan B” and Conquering By Continuing
3. How I Became a Missionary, Part 2: Ashes in My Mouth