Reverse Furlough, Part 1: The Good Stuff

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:

Transparency
You can fool people in short bursts, but if we weren’t really doing what we’ve said we’re doing this whole time it would have become very obvious after about a day or so. It’s also helpful for pastors of supporting churches to see a ministry item in use that their church has donated.

Clarity
Study and observation from a distance, while helpful, is no substitute for direct immersion in a culture. As our visitors got to interact with and question those to whom we minister, you could see the understanding of the spiritual climate here starting to sink into our visitors. Actual experience of the culture appeared to reinforce what we’ve been reporting all along and, though our supporters certainly believed our reports, you can tell that they “get it” now. No amount of videos, writing or photos can replace experience.

Minimal Time Loss to Ministry
While each of these interactions interrupted some minor ministry details, overall we were not absent from regular church and ministry functions. It’s not that we think we’re super-special, but our ministry is in too tender a stage at this time to deal with a 6 month to a year departure from us; it would only serve to reinforce the nationals’ suspicion that, like many others before us, we may not be fully committed here (which we are). We don’t rule out a short-term (2-3 month) visit back to the States at some point in the future, but it’s very clear that now would not be the right time.

Demonstrate Accountability to Nationals
This point would have to be considered whether helpful within your mission field’s culture, but our nationals are typically suspicious of a Christian worker/missionary/pastor who shows up in their country, seemingly out of nowhere and unknown to anyone. If they don’t have a prior relationship with your sending agency or church it takes much, much longer to establish trust. Some unknown church donating equipment, through our nationals’ cultural lens, appears that something may be demanded of them later. Since our nationals have been able to meet most of our visiting sponsors, it’s put faces and personalities to those who pay for us to be here, and it’s defused suspicion about perceived obligation over material donations.

Next Post: “Reverse Furlough, Part 2: The Not-So-Great Stuff”