Missionary Confidential

Lose Yourself: What is Your Identity?

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. Read More…

Are Genuine Relationships Possible When You’re a Missionary?

One of the things I’ve learned since being in the mission field is that the word “missionary” carries a significant amount of baggage for both Christians and non-Christians alike.  Some of it is well-intentioned and respectful, other reactions are more telling about people’s perception of missionaries.  But it was this post on another blog that suggested working a secular job internationally with a missional intent (and the subsequent comments) that made me ponder if it is possible to have an authentic relationship with both Christians and non-Christians in your mission field as an identified missionary.  Does the perception by others of our assigned “agenda” to convert (or at least proclaim) discourage people from accepting our interest as an authentic relationship?

In the referenced post, I asked the author, Grady Bauer, to clarify his statements about a “truly authentic set of relationships in a different culture”:

“I think one of things those of us in full-time ministry, regardless of location, struggle with is relationships. If I’m a full-time missionary in a country…who do I connect with along natural lines? Very few people. Work can lead to relationships that are created authentically, not me targeting them with the gospel. Hobbies and mutual interests also serve this purpose as do volunteering with a public organization. It helps us to connect with people in ways that make sense and seem more authentic.”

I’ve let these thoughts sit in the back of my mind for a while, but what prompted me to explore further was this recent search term here at my blog:

“Do the missionaries really like me?” Read More…

What is the Difference Between Missionary and Missional?

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’?”

Am I Less of a Missionary?

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. Read More…

Are Short-Term Missions Sabotaging the Conversion to Long-Term Missionaries?

As I’ve mentioned before, “short-term missions” continues to be one of the most popular search terms that Missionary Confidential receives. And further evidence are the sheer number of inquiries we receive at our personal blog. 97% ask about mission possibilities spanning from one week to a year and are usually to take place in between college breaks or as a filler while the person “figures things out”.

I’ve already stated my feelings in “How Effective Are Short-Term Mission Trips?”, more from the perspective of the long-termer dealing with the short-termer, but I recently stumbled upon an article that put into words something that I hadn’t quite put my finger on yet. While the article is mainly about how missionaries choose their field (another topic for another time), I was very interested to read the very last section which dealt with the assertion that short-term mission mentality is a huge deterrent to people becoming long-term missionaries.

While it sounded a bit shocking at first, especially the section on “Anti-Long-Term Sentiment”, I started to replay what many other Christians said to us as we were preparing a few years ago for full-time mission work. “What will you do when you come back?” came up a lot, usually wanting a detailed agenda of work and living circumstances in the States. We hadn’t even gone to the field at that point! “You’re only going for a year or two, right?” or “You will come back because America needs you to serve here,” also were stated frequently. Read More…