Missionary Confidential

How I Became a Missionary, Part 3: Learning the Ropes

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 More…

How I Became a Missionary, Part 2: Ashes in My Mouth

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.”

Leaving church as I became an adult was never a consideration for me.  Be it boring or plain or virtually absent of people my age, I still wanted to be in God’s house, worship Him, and hear teaching from the Bible.  By this time my parents didn’t seem to care either way if I went or not.  So, unlike many of my youth group friends, I continued to go to church.

My lifestyle was what I would call “good citizen”: not diving into the vices, trying to be a good person, avoiding being a bad witness.  I eventually got married, and we were both employed in secular work.  Because we came from a poorer background, making money and living the good life became a priority.

After many years and too many irrelevant details, we found ourselves doing well enough to move from our impoverished hometown to one of the most desirable locations in the States.  Our business was thriving, so we could work from home—for just a few hours a week.  We lived moments from the ocean, went on clothes shopping trips, and ate regularly at high-cuisine restaurants.  Time was plentiful, so we could even pursue extravagant hobbies.

Throughout this time we regularly attended church, had daily quiet times, and even became highly involved as lay assistants in the local ministry.  I would not say we were far away from God, nor were we absentmindedly going through religious habits, and our marriage was sound.  At this point, you’re probably thinking, what’s so wrong with this scenario?
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How I Became a Missionary, Part 1: My Backstory

This week I’ll be posting a series on how I became a full-time missionary to Western Europe.

Because my parents became Christians when I was a toddler, my childhood was rooted in an evangelical Christian upbringing in the States. Making a decision for Jesus at age 10, I was sent to Christian school for the last six years of schooling (in the States, that means Junior High and High School; for those in other parts of the world, Secondary School). My first paid job was working in a Christian bookstore, and I was a member of the Youth Group council at my church. Attendance to various church functions was an enjoyable occurrence for me on Sundays and Wednesdays. I wasn’t “made” to go like a lot of my friends in youth group. And I honestly didn’t get mixed up in all the vices that many teenagers typically pursue.

If you look topically at these facts about my life, some would say it was a given that I’d follow the path to missions work. But scratch beneath the surface and you’d find that, at points, I was heading the furthest away from Christian service that one could get.  Read More…

Missionary Defined

One of the things we ran into time and again during our fundraising in the States was some Christians’ odd definition of missions/missionary. Because we’re serving in Western Europe, there were a handful that objected to us calling any of what we do “missions” or ourselves “missionaries.” After questioning people, it became clear that most people define Missions/Missionaries by the following three criteria:

I could go on and on about the flaws in this kind of thinking, but What is a Real Missionary? and Definition of a Missionary say it much better than I am able.