Missionary Confidential

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!” » Read the rest of this entry «

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 the rest of this entry «

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 the rest of this entry «

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 the rest of this entry «

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

So the scary word “missionary” was before us. God had made it clear that this was what He wanted for us, and it was rather daunting. Unlike some Christians I have met, this had not been a goal for either of us at any point in our lives, before or during our marriage. We were not PKs (Pastor’s Kids) or MKs (Missionaries’ Kids), nor were we hyper-religious. We did not grow up reading stories of famous missionaries. While I believed in the Great Commission and had much respect for those in the mission field, it didn’t seem like it was for me. It seemed weird. And difficult.

The questions started swirling around: what will this look like, how will we live, what about funds and, most importantly, where will we go? Some of our lack of comprehension about missions was further complicated by the fact that the large denomination that we were raised in (they are not responsible for sending us here, by the way) sent and paid missionaries at the administration level, discouraging the fundraising process or individual churches sending missionaries. We had a missionary or two speak at our respective churches, but because the need to appeal for funds was absent it seemed that few were willing to talk to churches about what they did in the field. » Read the rest of this entry «