Serving a mission agency “at home” gives quite a different perspective to mission than being “on the field.” Because I get to see what is happening for people preparing for missions, as well as caring for missionaries serving overseas, it gives me a chance to consider how we might be able to help people be better prepared for the realities of what they will face.
Time and time again, I have realised that the stress people experience on the field and in preparing for the field, is impacted by their own expectations.
Here are some expectations we need to be wary of.
- Lots of people have done this before so it should be fairly straight forward.
- God has called me to mission so He will make the path smooth.
- I’ve done lots of research, I’ve read all the books, so I have a good idea of what to expect.
- I’m from a cross-cultural family so adapting should be easy.
- If I go with a good mission agency they will help me with all my problems.
- You need to be a super-spiritual Christian if you want to be a missionary.
- You need to have a gift for preaching or be a doctor to be a missionary.
- Missionaries always struggle with team conflict.
- This is going to be really hard and full of suffering from beginning to end.
- I need to have a plan for how this is all going to work.
- I need to be married to cope on the field.
- I’m going to home school my kids and be fully engaged in ministry at the same time.
I’m sorry if this pops your bubble, but none of these expectations are realistic! Every missionary has stories of both joys and struggles, success and failure, sacrifice and fulfilment.
Instead, here are some things you should expect.
- Expect to learn more than you teach.
- Expect the unexpected.
- Expect everything to cost something. When you take on something new (like having a baby) you will need to give something else up.
- Expect to need other people to advise you or help you.
- Expect yourself and other people to fail at times. (So give both yourself and them lots of grace.)
- Expect to keep growing in your relationship with God and allow Him to change your mind about things.
- Expect to develop relationships with other people that look and feel different from what you have experienced before.
- Expect God to be in the driver’s seat, and let go of the steering wheel so that you don’t crash.
- Expect pain on the journey, but also expect to grow and find God in a deeper way because of the pain.
- Expect fun on the journey, people to laugh with….and really good food.
Next steps
Try to honestly identify your own expectations. You may want to consider the missionaries you know, the books you have read and your own experiences that may have formed these expectations.
What do you need to let go of? What do you need to embrace?
