Month: August 2020

Stress and burnout often affect missionaries working cross-culturally. Member care providers can do much to prevent or lessen the damage caused by mismanagement of cumulative stress. Best practices in missionary care call for self-care by the missionary and intentional care by the sending church or organization. The author suggests essential member care interventions that will help maintain the health of the missionary.

Introduction

In twenty odd years of providing pastoral care for missionaries, the critical issues that have surfaced most often in my experience are problems related to stress management and personal burnout. In addressing these issues, I have found several critical issues that must be addressed in order for the missionary to maintain a life balance: stress levels, awareness of stressors, and maintenance of emotional and physical reserve levels. How well one manages stress affects not only the individual but their family, their co-workers, and their ministry.

Stress is normal. It is our body’s reaction to an emotional or physical life challenge. Stress can be positive if it activates our body and our mind. When we encounter stress, we marshal every resource the body has to react quickly and sufficiently to the stressors. However, if stress is prolonged, physical and emotional energy reserves will be exhausted, resulting in the development of harmful or negative forms of stress reactions.

Experiencing stress does not mean we are lacking in strength, professionalism, or spirituality. It means we are finite human beings created to need fellowship with God and relationships with other finite humans. We also require work, rest, sleep, exercise, and food. In the same way, missionaries need an understanding of what stress is, an ability to identify the symptoms of stress, and coping skills for managing stress.

Understanding Stress

If we define stress at the most rudimentary level as a transaction between the missionary and the environment, any event that cannot be managed by the available resources becomes stressful. Stress is, therefore, what we experience as we adjust to our continually changing environments.

Recently, during a debriefing of a couple returning stateside that had experienced several troubling events, I learned that only one had been severely traumatized. The other spouse was coping quite well. The couple’s response was different because of their perception and interpretation of the events that brought them home. How an individual appraises a situation will determine whether it is stressful. Our behaviors are shaped by many factors including our core values, beliefs, expectations, culture, and subculture. Likewise, our range of coping skills and strategies is determined by the same factors. How we think about stress matters.

Stress can be understood developmentally by beginning with common, basic stresses that occur at work or within a family. If the basic stress level is not addressed adequately, the stress moves to another level defined as cumulative stress. Burnout occurs when all resources for dealing with the cumulative stress are exhausted. Traumatic stress or critical incident stress is caused by situations outside the range of everyday experiences, when the missionary’s life is perceived to be under immediate danger. Traumatic stress can develop into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a pathological condition requiring professional mental health care.

The Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale is a standardized measure of the impact of common life events over a period of a year. The scale is based on the observation that important life changes, positive or negative, will induce stress. Because stress is cumulative, by adding the values assigned to the life events, one is able to obtain a rough estimate of how stress is affecting one’s health. Nine items on the scale are life events at which a missionary moving to a new field would likely experience stress. Adding the values assigned to those events results in a mid-range score indicating a 50% chance of a major health breakdown within two years. Yet, the Holmes and Rahe scale does not include the factors most common to cross-cultural workers—adjusting to a new culture, language learning, maintaining financial support, maintaining a devotional life, and spiritual warfare. Add these to the Holmes and Rahe scale, and one would have an even higher risk of health breakdown.

Why does cumulative stress appear to be the most frequent form of stress encountered by missionaries? Missionaries often bring to the field qualities of selflessness and idealism. With high personal standards, a divine call to make a difference, and a results-oriented philosophy, they become vulnerable to stress when the needs are overwhelming and they are facing limited resources. Although cumulative stress is, to a large extent, inherent in missionary work, measures can be taken to ensure that it remains within reasonable and manageable limits.

The reality in our American church culture is that we rarely admire and encourage those who maintain a margin of time and energy, nor do we appreciate and encourage those who create healthy boundaries for themselves and their families. There appears to be an admiration and support of the “it’s better to burn out than rust out” attitude. Such an environment, which pressures one to prove one’s worth and success, can establish a drive that destroys a healthy balance in ministry. When missionaries are thought of as super-human, they can become driven by unrealistic expectations that threaten their physical and emotional health.

Symptoms of Stress and Burnout

When a missionary experiences chronic stress, and demands exceed their coping resources, burnout will likely occur. Burnout is an exhaustion of normal stress coping mechanisms. The difference between normal stress and burnout is one of intensity. For example, fatigue becomes exhaustion or irritability becomes unmanaged anger. If not addressed, burnout will play havoc with relationships, ministry, and personal health.

There is no formal assessment that provides the diagnosis for burnout, unlike depression or other mood disorders. Recognizing the symptoms is the first step in assessing this destructive challenge to one’s health and ministry. There is a wide range of symptoms. Three areas that appear to be principal signs of burnout are:

1. Emotional exhaustion.
2. Disengagement from work and family.
3. Reduced performance in everyday tasks.

One does not suddenly burn out. The person undergoes a process marked by physical, emotional, and behavioral indicators that can be identified and addressed at an early stage if one is aware of the symptoms.

Signs of stress:

• Physical symptoms: overtiredness, headaches, sleeping disorders, changes in appetite, and back pains.
• Emotional signs: anxiety, mood swings, crying spells, apathy, irritability, frustration, and guilt.
• Mental signs: forgetfulness, loss of motivation, negative self-talk, poor job performance, and negative attitude.
• Relational signs: loneliness, social isolation, resentfulness, anti-social behavior.
• Spiritual signs: feeling of emptiness, feeling unforgiven, loss of life purpose, loss of prayer life and worship.

The most common symptoms of burnout are feelings of isolation and lack of support from teammates, family, or organization; loss of enthusiasm; increased rigidity; and negativity. Emotional exhaustion constitutes the main characteristic of burnout. Becoming familiar with the following symptoms will enhance one’s facility for self-care.

Symptoms of cumulative stress that have become chronic:

• Chronic sleeping disorders
• Somatic problems and exhaustion
• Deterioration of mental capacities
• Loss of memory and efficiency
• Loss of self-esteem
• Focus on failure
• Profound disillusionment
• Rejection of values or faith
• Unwillingness to take leave
• Risk taking

The systemic causes of burnout can come from a lack of support and, if a person has a high need for feedback or affection, a lack of recognition. Working in a high-risk, unstable environment requires exceptional vigilance and readily accessible resources both internally and externally. The loss of control in a high-risk situation can generate burnout quickly. Competitiveness, unforeseen changes in team organization, and changes in work strategies can be additional systemic causes. Finally, missionaries that have few protocols for self-care, are experiencing poor physical, mental, or emotional states, and sustain a high degree of perfectionism are extremely vulnerable to burnout.

Coping with Stress

Preventatives Generated by the Missionary

Learning new coping skills is critical to maintaining health. The effects that stress has on us can be positive or negative. As a positive influence, stress can move us to action and allow us to evaluate a situation from a different viewpoint. The negative impact can result in a rollercoaster of emotions and moods.

Much can be done to decrease cumulative stress and make it manageable. Learning to take care of oneself and recognizing the importance of an adequate support system is a major step in the right direction.

Start with “Who am I?” Know who you are and what you will allow to be changed about you. Recognize that you are fallible, will make mistakes, and that you cannot fulfill everyone’s expectations. Learn to write your own life script. If you do not, there are plenty of well-intentioned people who will gladly do it for you.

Stop comparing yourself to others. No matter what they act like, everyone else is also human and fallible.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can be very helpful by identifying your personality preferences. The MBTI will show how you are energized, take in information, make decisions, and orient yourself to the world around you.

Share and communicate clearly. Find someone to share your fears, doubts, and disappointments with. Especially at times of physical danger, take time to talk and share your emotions. Spend intentional time with co-workers that share your culture. It is important to relax and be yourself around those that understand you in the context of a common culture.

Sabbath rest is critical for maintaining balance in life. You need daily, weekly, and annual breaks that provide time to replenish your emotional and physical reserves. God made the Sabbath rest for people. Our bodies have a divine rhythm of work and rest. The Sabbath is a picture of the rest and care we have all been designed to need in order to maintain health and productivity. Practice it without guilt.

One life-long missionary attributed her longevity in a highly stressful mission work to the practice of Sabbath rest. She reportedly practiced the weekly Sabbath, a week-long Sabbath every seven weeks, a month-long Sabbath every seven months, and a year-long Sabbath every seven years. While that may appear excessive, she was able to maintain a long and effective ministry that few can claim.

Take relaxation seriously and cultivate margins in your life. Plan for physical sports activity, an exercise program, or active games with family or friends to reduce stress. Unplug from technology and build margins that exclude cell phones and the Internet.

Stay attuned and take notice of what factors cause you the most stress. Be sensitive to precursors that indicate you might be under too much stress. If you are struggling, seek the help and support of co-workers, family, or friends. Listen to them if they recommend that you may need to seek professional attention.

Know the internal and external sources of stress.

Internal: Health Spiritual struggles Emotional struggles Life stages Unrealistic expectations Negative attitudes Emotional pain

External: Marriage and family Major changes Social relationships Living situation Work/ministry situation Unsettled future Situational crises

Are you getting enough sleep? Recovering from chronic stress and burnout requires replenishing your resources by removing or reducing the demands. Sleep can help replenish your energy and reserve.

How is your spiritual life and practice? Ron Koteskey states:

The factors that help you cope with stress are summarized in the three enduring things mentioned by Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians 13.

Faith. In addition to faith in God, faith in yourself as a person created in God’s image and called into his service will help you cope.

Hope. Rather than feeling helpless, having not only the hope of eternity with God, but also hope in your future, knowing that he has good plans for you, will help you cope.

Love. Finally, having both God’s love and the love of his people to give you support in the stressful situation you face daily, will help you cope.1

“For the Son of man also came not be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45; ASV). Jesus was both the Son of God and Suffering Servant. In his earthly ministry, Jesus experienced unimaginable stress. How did he cope with stress? First, there was the primacy of prayer. In his deepest times of stress, Jesus went to the Father in prayer. Second, he affirmed he affirmed that he could do nothing without the Father (John 5:19; 8:28). In his servanthood, Jesus served without drivenness or compulsion. He knew that God, the Father, loved him so that he could serve the multitudes without the need for recognition. Like Jesus, we are to find the fulfillment of our deepest needs in relationship with the Father.

Preventatives Generated by the Supporting Church
or Sending Organization

Do proper pre-field training. Be preventive by determining that the candidate is healthy and prepared to meet the challenges of the cross-cultural assignment both physically and emotionally. With the abundant resources and support systems stateside, it is easier to address problems and bring resolution before departure.

If a walking path comes near the edge of a cliff, a warning sign and a safety fence can protect hikers from falling over the edge, or a first-aid station at the bottom of the cliff can tend to the unfortunate person who wanders off the path. Prevention is obviously the rational measure. Sending healthy missionaries to the cross-culture assignment is the first step in prevention. Individuals experiencing depression, anxiety, or other unresolved issues will leave their home support systems and, to their dismay, will find only an exacerbation of their personal issues in their new environment.

In particular, pre-field psychological assessment can help identify and address problems before departure. The MMPI-2, 16PF, and FIRO-B are standard assessment tools that can be beneficial to the pre-field preparation of the missionary.

Sending a candidate ill-prepared mentally, emotionally, and spiritually is like throwing a non-swimmer into the pool for his first swimming lesson. He may dog-paddle for a while, but he will not learn to be an Olympic swimmer until he has a coach and proper training. Training candidates in interpersonal skills, communication, conflict management, team development, decision making, language learning techniques, and rest and renewal is critical to the “basic training” of the front-line worker. The provision of a Personal Development Plan (PDP) for the new missionary as well as the seasoned missionary provides additional sources for managing personal and cultural stress. On-field and post-field development plans can strengthen the worker and assure longevity. Lifelong learning and re-tooling are necessary to meet the demands of expanding ministry challenges that create stressors.

Maintain regular check-ups by member care personnel or pastors to missionaries. Planned, consistent use of assessments like the CernySmith Assessment (CSA) will measure progress and provide a voice for the missionaries. Using the CSA periodically after arrival on the field, then annually, will assure the missionaries that they have someone to tell their story to in full confidentiality. Everyone needs a confidant. The CSA can also be used for debriefing following a critical incident or on return to the missionary’s passport country. Member care personnel should not assume that long-term missionaries have less need for similar attention and investment of time. The reality of spiritual warfare is that even the most experienced missionary can be wounded, requiring the need of immediate care.

Member care visits on-field establish a pastoral bond with the missionary. Regular on-field visits by a member care professional provide the missionary another safe outlet to share personal or group concerns. Utmost effort should be made to establish trust and confidentiality. Such a climate may take multiple visits to create. Someone has said the first visit response is, “Thank you for dinner,” the second visit, “Oh, it’s you again,” and finally, the third visit, “Okay, here’s what it’s all about.”

On-field team members can play a vital role in the prevention of cumulative stress in co-workers. When becoming aware of negative trends, the team should provide the missionary an opportunity to rest and talk about the causes of stress being experienced by the missionary. Team members are the first responders and can provide important immediate care.

Recommended Tools for Member Care Providers for Pre-field, On-field, and Post-field Assessment2

The CernySmith Assessment (CSA) is a comprehensive online questionnaire developed by Leonard J. Cerny II and David S. Smith that queries the degree of stress a person is experiencing regarding personal, social, cultural, and organizational experiences (http://cernysmith.com). The CSA provides a snapshot of current stress-management skills and adjustment. This assessment can be taken pre-field as a way to create baseline data that can be compared to any later CSA taken on-field or post-field.

The GoCulture Assessment (GCA), developed by Carley Dodd of Abilene Christian University identifies sixteen intercultural factors called the Cultural Readiness Indicators and five Leadership Style Indicators that show strengths and challenges (http://gocultureinternational.com). The assessment provides self-improvement worksheets for developing stronger skills in cultural adaptation. The assessment developer claims that use of these coaching questions can improve cultural adaptation by as much as 85%.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The Linda Berens Institute (http://lindaberens.com) uses the insights of the MBTI to help individuals shape a stress-resilient work environment.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is the most widely used psychometric assessment of adult personality and psychopathology. An alternative version of the test, the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) is a streamlined version with fewer questions. The MMPI-A version of the test is designed for adolescents, ages 14 to 18. It is recommended that the test be used in addition to other assessment tools.

Unlike the MMPI-2, the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) is a measure of normal-range personality. The 16PF measures sixteen personality traits, which can predict a person’s behavior in a range of contexts.

The Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) assessment provides insights into how an individual’s needs for inclusion, control, and affection can shape his or her interactions with others within a group setting. This is an excellent tool for coaching and team building.

The Thomas-Kilmann Inventory (TKI) is designed to measure a person’s behavior in conflict situations. The inventory measures five conflict-handling modes: Competing, Accommodating, Avoiding, Collaborating, and Compromising.

The Team Performance Inventory (TPI) is a resource for assessing a team’s stage of development and performance. The inventory provides insights into the dynamics of the team with evaluations of the team members’ commitment and the tasks needed to improve performance at each stage of team development. The inventory also identifies the appropriate leadership style and the tasks needed to lead the team to high performance.

Stress Questionnaire

Because everyone reacts to stress in their own way, no one stress test can give you a complete diagnosis of your stress levels. This stress test is intended to give you an overview only.

Answer all the questions, but just check one box that applies to you, either yes or no. Answer yes, even if only part of a question applies to you. Take your time, but please be completely honest with your answers.

		Yes	No
I frequently bring work home at night.
Not enough hours in the day to do all the things that I must do.
I deny or ignore problems in the hope that they will go away.
I do the jobs myself to ensure they are done properly.
I underestimate how long it takes to do things.
I feel that there are too many deadlines in my work/life that are difficult to meet.
My self-confidence/self-esteem is lower than I would like it to be.
I frequently have guilty feelings if I relax and do nothing.
I find myself thinking about problems even when I am supposed to be relaxing.
I feel fatigued or tired even when I wake after an adequate sleep.
I often nod or finish other people’s sentences for them when they speak slowly.
I have a tendency to eat, talk, walk, and drive quickly.
My appetite has changed, have either a desire to binge or have a loss of appetite/may skip meals.
I feel irritated or angry if the car or traffic in front seems to be going too slowly/I become very frustrated at having to wait in a line.
If something or someone really annoys me I will bottle up my feelings.
When I play sport or games, I really try to beat whomever I play.
I experience mood swings, difficulty making decisions, concentration and memory is impaired.
I find fault and criticize others rather than praising, even if it is deserved.
I seem to be listening even though I am preoccupied with my own thoughts.
My sex drive is lower, can experience changes to menstrual cycle.
I find myself grinding my teeth.
Increase in muscular aches and pains especially in the neck, head, lower back, shoulders.
I am unable to perform tasks as well as I used to, my judgment is clouded or not as good as it was.
I find I have a greater dependency on alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, or drugs.
I find that I don’t have time for many interests/hobbies outside of work.
A yes answer score = 1 (one), and a no answer score = 0 (zero).	TOTAL:

Your score:

Most of us can manage varying amounts of pressure without feeling stressed. However, excessive pressure, often created by our own thinking patterns and life experiences, can overstretch our ability to cope, and then stress is experienced.

4 points or less: You are least likely to suffer from stress-related illness.

5–13 points: You are more likely to experience stress-related ill health, either mental, physical, or both. You would benefit from stress-management counseling to help in the identified areas.

14 points or more: You are the most prone to stress, showing a great many traits or characteristics that are creating unhealthy behaviors. This means that you are also more likely to experience stress and stress-related illness (e.g., diabetes, irritable bowel, migraine, back and neck pain, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, or mental ill health such as depression and anxiety). It is important to seek professional help or stress-management counseling.

Tips to help improve your score:

• Review the questions that you scored yes.
• See if you can reduce, change, or modify this trait.
• Start with the ones that are easiest and most likely to be successful for you.
• Only expect small changes to start with; it takes daily practice to make any change.
• Support from friends, family, and colleagues will make the process easier and more enjoyable.

Willard Walls is the director of A Lamp Unto My Feet (http://lampmembercare.org), a member care ministry of Missionary Health Care and Training International. Will has served as pastor in local churches in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and for twenty-three years he worked as a state university campus minister. He and his wife Ruth were church planters in England from 1995 to 2004. For the next ten years Will served as Member Care Division Director and then Director of Pastoral Care for Christian Missionary Fellowship International (http://cmfi.org), where he continues to serve as a member care consultant.

Bibliography

Koteskey, Ronald L. “What Missionaries Ought to Know about Culture Stress.” http://missionarycare.com/brochures/br_culturestress.htm.

This article focuses on challenges encountered by missionary families when they return from the field. Former missionaries, member care professionals, recently returned missionaries, and missionary children were surveyed. The article also references a body of literature that addresses reentry issues. The most commonly reported challenges were the culture shock of initial reentry, grief and homesickness, practical issues of re-acculturation such as housing and jobs, loneliness, loss of identity, children’s adjustment, and cultural frustration. Suggestions for missionary care are offered.

When our family returned from South Africa more than two decades ago, we encountered numerous challenges, both expected and unexpected. Since that time we have prayed for and encouraged other missionaries going through that same process.

In preparation for this article, I surveyed former missionaries, member care professionals, and recently returned missionaries. This qualitative research included missionary kids (MKs) and their experiences of repatriation. These findings, our personal experiences with missionary families, and our own family’s reentry have several common elements. They also confirm other research results and the growing literature that addresses the challenges of what is commonly called reentry—the experience of returning to one’s passport country after time spent living abroad.

Every missionary experience is different, but there are shared elements. Culture shock is one. Reentry is another. Although single missionaries face many of the same challenges as families, they also encounter unique difficulties. I limit this article’s scope to missionary families’ reentry experiences.

Reentry is difficult to navigate. It has similarities to culture shock and is sometimes referred to as reverse culture shock. In fact, “most expatriates find readjusting back home . . . more difficult than adjusting overseas ever was.”1 The experience is so different, so foreign, so disconcerting that it can be difficult for missionaries themselves to understand it, let alone explain it to others.

Unfortunately, for many years the challenges were not widely recognized or understood. However, research and a growth in anecdotal literature has shed light on the challenges and strategies related to the bewildering experience of “coming home.” (For this article, “home” refers to the missionary’s passport country, although many missionaries also refer to their country of service as their home.) Marion Knell in Burn-Up or Splash Down states the adjustment takes at least a year, and Robin Pascoe in Raising Global Nomads writes it can take up to two years.2

It should be noted that the context of a family’s return from the field impacts their experience of reentry. For example, an unexpected return because of medical crisis, being recalled by their agency or church, or an emergency evacuation creates additional stressors. The scope of this article deals with the more common challenges of reentry and not with special circumstances.

Initial Reentry: Anticipation Turned to Shock

Missionaries put great effort into preparing to go to the culture they will serve. They work hard to learn language and customs and to acculturate to their new ministry context. Most do not anticipate facing that process when they return to the land of their birth. However, there are elements of these same tasks during reentry. The work of reentry can be a shock, and it can take an extended period of time to feel normal in their home culture. In fact, they may never feel completely at home in their own culture again.

Several elements add up to create the shock of coming home. Some returning missionaries fail to anticipate what they will encounter. There is expectation and excitement. They look forward to reunions with family and friends, eating favorite foods, visiting favorite places, and taking part in remembered activities. They anticipate returning to what is familiar only to find many things have changed. It is not what they remembered, and they are surprised when home no longer feels like home.

Often, returning missionaries have idealized the past. They have dwelt on good memories but forgot sad times, difficult family relationships, or frustrations they once experienced in their church. This is natural, but it can add to the shock of return.

It is also easy to forget that things at home have changed. The hometown, the church, and the culture all moved on over the years. It can be a shock to realize that people in the church who were loved and remembered have also moved on and been replaced by others with whom the missionary family may have no history or attachment.

Grief and Homesickness

Preparations for leaving the field include packing clothes and personal items to take to a new home. But the journey also includes some hidden baggage. Families often fail to recognize the grief they carry with them. They feel the loss of people, place, lifestyle, and work in which they were heavily invested. For many, leaving means never seeing their foreign home or beloved people again.

Even when grief begins to ease, feelings of homesickness may continue. One missionary mentioned missing the worship that was more energetic and animated than Western-style worship. Another said she wept through communion for months thinking of the connection it represented to their mission church family who were also sharing bread and wine on that same day.

MKs reported similar feelings. They listed homesickness, leaving part of themselves back where they served, grief for loss of culture and friendships, and not being able to return “home” (meaning their mission home). One college student MK posts periodically on Facebook about missing “home and family,” referring to her African home and family.

Unfortunately, some who receive missionaries during reentry do not understand the feelings of grief and loss. They may not grant the time or space for them to work through those feelings. Family, friends, and churches may feel confused or even offended. They regard the missionary family as having come home where they in fact belong. They feel the family should be happy to be there.

Practical Re-Acculturation

In some respects reentry means missionaries must start over just as they did when they went to the field.

One might think of it like a house fire in which one loses everything. Purchasing a house full of furniture sounds like fun but can overwhelm even the most avid shopper. In our experience, we did not know where to get quality furniture for the best price. We had not re-acculturated sufficiently to know how to furnish an American home. Consequently, I always hated the dinette set we bought. It continually reminded us how naïve we were in those early months, and the ugly table and chairs became a family joke.

Traditional events that local people automatically know about can be distressing for recently returned missionaries who have spent time immersed in another culture. For instance, figuring out homecoming for their high school student or helping a daughter plan a wedding can make parents and children feel embarrassed, because these are events everyone knows how to do. They feel they should know too, but the years of absence make it feel foreign. The cultural clues and guidelines are no longer instinctive. Many relate feeling humiliated about needing to ask how things are done when they think others will not understand their ignorance.

One of the more challenging aspects of repatriation is finding work for one or both spouses. With most positions requiring online applications and with fewer jobs available, the whole job-seeking system has changed in recent years. Anyone who became unemployed during the latest economic downturn can testify to this. The prospect is even more bewildering for reentering missionaries. One survey respondent also mentioned that time spent overseas may actually be seen by potential employers as detrimental to one’s employment qualifications.

Other practical aspects of relocating may include organizing children’s education, navigating the medical system, and adjusting to technical advances. Shopping is commonly mentioned because of the abundance and variety of things available. One missionary took a picture of a display of fifty toilet seats at a home goods store. He sent it to a friend in the country where he had served where a choice of three or four toilet seats was the norm. Numerous missionaries mentioned the overwhelming aspect of grocery shopping because of the number of choices in everything from salad dressing to cereal.

Financial experiences vary widely depending on agency policies, awareness of sending churches, and other factors. However, even in the event finances are adequate, starting over is overwhelming. When lack of financial resources is an issue the stress is even greater.

Loneliness

Many missionaries and MKs experience loneliness in the first weeks and months of their repatriation.

Words prove inadequate to relate the lessons, memories, and experiences of their time abroad. They realize nobody understands that part of their lives, and this creates a sense of alienation.

Marion Knell writes, “The hardest thing is not just that no one understands you, but that few are really interested in where you’ve been or what you’ve been doing.”3 One recently returned missionary said, “I think if I could wrap up our experience (of reentry) it was one of disillusionment. While many people helped, many others did not seem to care.”

Loss of Identity

Missionaries on the field have a sense of purpose. They have confidence in their calling and are involved in fulfilling ministry. Returning from the mission field produces a loss of that identity. This is an unsettling challenge.

Knell explains the loss this way:

Back home you are nobody; you have no defining status at work, socially, or sometimes even in the family. While people are away, the roles they filled before have been taken over by others, and the gaps they left in the fabric of society and family have been filled. Life goes on when you are not there, and your return is something of a shock and a resurrection. It’s as if you have come back from the dead; no one quite knows where to put you.4

One survey respondent wrote, “I am still figuring out who I am now that I’m not a missionary.” A member care person and former missionary wrote, “Losing the title missionary is a huge loss, and they aren’t sure what they are now. They wonder if they will be able to do anything significant for the kingdom that truly has an impact.” A recently returned missionary stated, “I loved my work in Africa, and I miss it tremendously.” This couple had to find whatever jobs they could to get reestablished in the United States. Years of kingdom work can feel as if it is reduced to paying the bills.

To a certain extent, missionary couples have a shared identity. If one spouse returns to a ministry-related position and the other spouse must accept a non-ministry position to help with the family income, that spouse will likely feel the loss of identity more acutely. A society that identifies and values people by their work automatically creates dissonance for missionaries during reentry. What missionaries have lost cannot be easily replaced.

Children’s Adjustment

There is an abundance of research and literature on MKs and other third culture kids (TCKs). However, I mention it here because it is one of the greatest reentry challenges for families with children. Seeing their children suffer and having no quick-fix remedies causes more anguish for missionary parents than any other challenge. Many parents have worried and wept because of their children’s unhappiness.

MKs lack the cultural rootedness of children who grow up in their own culture. The literature often describes them as being at home everywhere and nowhere. MKs in this survey reported not fitting in, feeling different, being excluded, being “weird,” not knowing how to act, and not having friends. An MK may have excelled in a sport like field hockey, cricket, or rugby in the host country but may not even know the basic rules of some American sports. They know and understand food, humor, and other aspects of the country where they served but feel ignorant and backward in their home culture. In their host culture they were recognized as foreigners and generally excused for mistakes they made. At home they do not look like the foreigners they in fact are, and they feel they are expected to know and should know how to live there.

Cultural Frustration

The ways in which missionaries change while they are on the field often lead to cultural frustration when they return home. Their adaptation to a new culture enables them to appreciate new ideas and ways of doing things. Even their value system has often shifted.

Knell writes, “Reverse culture shock is also reinforced by the clash of values many people feel returning to their homeland. After some years living in a different society with different values and priorities, the expatriate subconsciously, or in some cases, consciously, adopts many of these values.”5 For example, missionaries often change when they are immersed in a culture that values people and relationships over material goods and productivity.

One former missionary listed “dealing with negative feelings about American culture, including church culture” as a reentry challenge. Being surprised and distressed by cultural negatives is a common acculturation adjustment both in going to a new culture and returning to one’s own culture. It is common for such missionaries to feel impatient with Americans and American culture. One former missionary explained:

I told my wife that we needed to approach Americans the same way that we approached the Maasai. That is, we needed to study them, try to enter their lives and understand their worldview. We should not expect that Americans will try to enter our Kenyan experience. In fact, I shared with her that most would not actually care that much about what we did in Kenya.

Another said, “One important thing I heard coming back was to treasure the stories of people here as much as the stories of those from overseas. I don’t think I am the only MK who has struggled to treat Americans and this culture in general with the same respect and patience with which we treat people of other cultures.”

Some Practical Suggestions

Missionaries can contribute to their own effective reentry in several ways. They can make an effort to adjust expectations and attitudes before they arrive. Knowing about common experiences and frustrations inherent in repatriation can guide missionaries through the process.

Missionaries and their children need to be patient with themselves when it comes to the adjustment period. It takes time, and many think they should be doing better and that it should not take so long.

But even with their own best intentions and preparations, missionary families need loving people to help them through the initial phases of their return. Missionaries and their children need time to grieve. They need safe and empathetic people to patiently hear their story. Not everyone will be interested or take the time to listen, but even a few caring people can provide what is needed during the adjustment time.

Supporters, families, agencies, and churches can all contribute to the well-being of returning missionary families.

There are wonderful stories of churches providing generously for the immediate practical needs of their missionaries. Examples include housing, vehicles, introductions to children’s school personnel, and restaurant and department store gift cards.

One church has a shepherding group for each of its missionaries. They meet with them before they leave for the field, stay in touch during their service, and debrief with them on furloughs and when they return.

Agencies often offer debriefing, counseling, or retreats. They may also make missionaries aware of outside resources such as Barnabas International, Families in Global Transition, Interaction International, or residential counseling programs for missionaries.

Several MKs stated that the greatest help was the support of family and friends. One MK said what helped most was “people willing to listen even though they don’t understand. I know they won’t ever fully understand, but they give me undivided attention.” The saddest note was from an MK who wrote, “I honestly have not had much help. I don’t know of anyone around me that can help me, so I feel lost.”

Parents especially appreciate people who try to understand and help their MK. In one case, the youth group of one family’s home church had all but dissolved when they returned permanently from the field. This was the group that had provided friendship and fellowship for those MKs during their furloughs. Church people prayed and shared the concern with one another, and eventually one person said they knew someone who had a child in the Young Life group at school. Young Life students were told about the MK in their midst. They made it their goal to include and involve him in their group. They were patient and persistent, and some became his lifelong friends.

No one understands an MK like another MK or TCK. According to Storti, “third culture children only feel truly at home not in any particular place but when they are in a gathering of other third culture children.”6 One way to help MKs is to make sure they have opportunity to be with other MKs. Retreats, mission conferences, and college campus groups can provide that. They may require an investment of time, effort, and finances by concerned churches, denominations, or agencies, but such opportunities are absolutely essential for MKs. Some suggest that not only should opportunities be provided but attendance at a minimum of one MK event should be required for MKs experiencing reentry.

A former missionary commented that “being adopted by a church to see them through all the transitions and adjustments” was most helpful. People do not need to know exactly what to say or do. They just need to be interested and patient. If both the missionary family and their support group will remember that it takes time and it does get better, they can forge a special bond while moving forward together.

Rather than rush missionaries and their children into speaking engagements and meetings, the church or agency can require a time to recuperate, rest, and reflect. It will be even better if there is a strategy in place to provide practically and financially for that to happen.

People who have lived overseas can be invaluable to the returning family. These people do not require extensive explanations or persuading. They know what it is like and can offer helpful suggestions and encouragement.

Neal Pirolo offers suggestions in his book The Reentry Team, in which he lays out a plan for the cooperation of mission agency and church to minister to missionaries who are returning from the field.7 When missionaries, their churches, agencies, friends, and family recognize the reality and importance of the reentry process, they can work together to bring about a healthy transition.

Verna Weber is a Consultant for Member Care at CMF International, a missions agency in Indianapolis, IN (http://cmfi.org). She and her family served for eleven years in Johannesburg, South Africa, as urban missionaries. After the family’s reentry to the US she taught in Christian higher education for nineteen years in family studies, human development, and missions.

Bibliography

Knell, Marion. Burn-up or Splash Down: Surviving the Culture Shock of Re-entry. Atlanta: Authentic Publishing, 2007.

Pascoe, Robin. Raising Global Nomads: Parenting Abroad in an On-Demand World. Vancouver: Expatriate Press, 2006.

Pirolo, Neal. The Reentry Team: Caring for Your Returning Missionaries. San Diego: Emmaus Road International, 2000.

Storti, Craig. The Art of Coming Home. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 2001.

Though transitions such as reentry can seem overwhelming, missionaries can prepare well for these transitions by listening to and learning from the stories of others who have already walked that road. In this article the author shares constructive insights both from her family’s reentry story and from the InterMission ReEntry workbook.

In 1991, my family of six moved to Texas after having lived in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa for 15 years. At the time, research on missionary care was sparse. My resources in Africa were limited, and I could only find one book on the subject of reentry. This book was not just for missionaries but also for business and military personnel. Entitled Cross-Cultural Reentry: A Book of Readings, the book was edited by Clyde N. Austin.1 Published in 1986, the book was fairly new on the market when I was looking in 1988. We had met Dr. Austin while visiting Abilene Christian University, so I decided to give it a try. The book was probably recommended by Dottie Schulz when I took a seminar class on the Missionary Woman.

At first I thought it would be difficult learning about reentry just by reading a book that seemed to pertain to our family only partially. However, I persevered and learned how business, military, and missionary families shared similar needs regarding reentry and family adjustment. I began to appreciate learning from other kinds of expatriates so I could apply their experiences to my own family. I would like to share with you a few of the lessons that I learned at that time and applied to my family upon our return. These insights eventually contributed to the development of a new ministry called InterMission, which is designed to help others through reentry, as well as to help and encourage missionaries on the field. The second section of this article therefore presents some of InterMission’s reentry material.

Lessons from My Family’s Reentry

One of the first lessons that I learned was that we were not alone. Of course I knew that many families had returned from the mission field before us. My own husband’s parents and grandparents were among them. It was, however, a new concept to realize that all of the families of missionaries I had known had internally gone through many of the same struggles. From a distance, it was not easy to realize that other missionaries had trouble fitting back into US congregations, thought shopping was a nightmare of choices, and really did not know what to do with all the local family traditions into which they were expected to fit. One of the reasons for this difficulty was that I had not yet learned to ask about and listen to other missionaries’ stories about reentry. In retrospect, I remember hearing my husband’s grandparents, A. B. and Margaret Reese, having returned to the States after about 30 years in Zambia, lament that they no longer felt any purpose in their ministry or their life. They wished they had spent their retirement years in Africa where they could continue to bless others. (They blessed many in Arkansas but they could not see that as easily.) They did not feel that they really found their role in the US congregation. At one ReEntry Seminar with my InterMission team, I related a story about having so much trouble buying a hair bow for my daughter at Wal-Mart. I had been used to a limited range of choices, but at Wal-Mart there was a display five feet high and about fifteen feet long. I was overwhelmed. When I finished the story, one of the returning missionaries in the group said, “I thought I was the only one that had that trouble.” Everyone in the group assured him that they had each had the same experience with cereal, bread, or some other item. As missionaries we had also developed our own family traditions at holiday times. Coming back to being closer to family physically, we were expected to be at all holiday gatherings since we had missed so many. We were happy to do so but did feel the conflict with our own family traditions.

Another lesson was to say goodbye well to the country where we had lived so long and the people we had learned to love. Since we had been working in the later years with World Bible School follow-up, we had traveled and worked in many places. We made trips and said goodbye to some of our favorite people and places. We visited local congregations. We made personal presents for each family in our home congregation in Kempton Park, South Africa. When the day came for our departure, the entire congregation came to the airport. We stood in a huge circle and sang praises to God. One of the things we told them, our children, and even ourselves was that we would always be friends, no matter where we lived. (This was before email, Internet, and Facebook.) Twenty-three years later this still holds true. We are still friends with many there. We may not see each other often or even communicate regularly, but if one of us needs something from another, all we have to do is ask, and help is on the way.

The next major lesson I remember is that the missionary family needs to take time for themselves between saying goodbye on one side of the ocean and saying hello on the other. Since we were flying from Africa and already had to make a stop in Europe to change planes, we decided to spend two weeks in Europe on the way to the States. Lack of resources made it challenging, but God took care of all our needs, and the time allowed us to get our emotions on a more even keel. Arriving in Germany, we were exhausted from all the packing, cleaning, and saying goodbyes. Our first challenge was the heavy rain that ruled out staying in our tent and forced us to find a bed and breakfast. We spoke no German, but the proprietor could understand John’s Afrikaans. When we wanted to locate church services in Italy, no one answered the church telephone on Saturday. Since it was a long weekend, the banks in Italy were closed, so we could not change money or buy food. (This was before ATMs.) Finally, someone at the church arrived early for services and gave us directions over the telephone. When we arrived at the church building, longtime friends and teachers from Harding University were there at worship. They took us in for the next several days, feeding and blessing us both physically and spiritually. Though the holiday itself was taxing, we were in much better shape emotionally to fly to our sponsoring congregation and begin the process of being welcomed and cared for at “home.”

Before reading Clyde Austin’s book, I had not had much education in understanding Third Culture Kids (those raised in a culture different from their parents’ home culture). I was married to a TCK and was raising another four TCKs, but I did not have a larger perspective on the subject. I was not completely prepared for the idea that my children would fit the “hidden immigrant” profile, meaning that in the US they would look like everyone else but would not sound or think like their peers. When we arrived, we had one in high school, one in middle school, one in elementary, and one starting kindergarten. There were many foreigners in the public schools my children attended. The two oldest, however, did not want to appear different; they wanted to fit in with local peers. After three days of speaking with a lovely South African accent (sounding mostly British to US ears), my teenage children tired of answering the question Where are you from? and switched to a perfectly pitched Texas accent. They kept their thoughts to themselves and began to blend in and appear like everyone around them.

Since beginning to learn about reentry from Dr. Austin’s book, I went on to earn a master’s degree in Family Studies in 2002, writing a thesis on “The Strength of Missionary Families: A Descriptive Study of Missionaries among Churches of Christ.”2 One of the main places I found to do research on missionary families was in the library Dr. Austin had set up as part of the Robert and Mary Ann Hall Chair of Psychology & Intercultural Studies at Abilene Christian University. (Currently, Dr. Steve Allison holds that chair.) So again I was very thankful to Dr. Austin for helping me on my way.

Our personal reentry story has continued as my husband John and I established a ministry called InterMission in 2006 with other veteran missionaries. Clay and Cherry Hart, Kent and Nancy Hartman, Edward and Sharon Short, and John and I are all volunteers who serve other missionary families to help them in their transitions. Each couple has over 16 years of foreign experience, and two of us were reared as TCKs. We host a Global Reunion camp for TCKs and their parents each July, we hold ReEntry Seminars on weekends twice a year for those that have recently returned, and we go annually to mission points around the world to host a five day InterMission to encourage those on the field. More details are available at http://intermissionministry.org. In addition our own four children, their spouses, and our twelve grandchildren have all lived and served (or continue to do so) in five different mission fields on three continents. Helping missionaries is our passion and our pleasure.

Guidance for Reentry from InterMission

The following material is adapted from InterMission’s ReEntry Seminar handbook.

1. What is reentry?

This is the simple term that means a person has left a country that was foreign to him and returned to his home country. This time away could have been short or long or somewhere in-between. Reentry involves the adjustment back to the home culture.

2. Reentry begins when you leave home in the first place.

Reentry is affected by the leaving of the foreign culture. Were we able to say goodbye in a satisfactory way to our friends, the church family, the local shopkeeper, and the household help? How about saying goodbye to favorite places like our house, the park where we played with the kids, our get-away hiding place on the beach, in the mountains, or in the country—did we take time for this?

Reentry is also affected by our thoughts of the home culture while we were overseas. It is easy to glamorize thoughts of home when away for a period of time. Everything becomes better when we haven’t seen it for a while and are struggling to learn a new way. Coming home to reality can sometimes be a real shock.

Another part of reentry that happens before we return is the simple fact that we and our family have changed because of our experiences. As Christians, we missionaries pray for the Lord to mold and make us into better people. Without necessarily realizing it, we have been affected by our experiences. We have learned patience by having to work with rules we do not understand and governments that don’t really care. We have learned humility by working in a culture where we understand less than little children and where we find out there is more than one right way to accomplish a task. Our ability to love has been stretched to love many different kinds of people. Our adaptability has taken on new dimensions as we eat foods we have never heard of, shop in markets where we have to learn to bargain, and worship in languages foreign to our ears.

We also have to realize that the United States has changed while we were away. In the years away, new politicians have come to the forefront. New stars have become popular. The culture has been changed by movies, clothing styles, and let’s face it, lots of immigrants. The local congregation has probably changed as well. People have come and gone, new programs have been started and new people may be in leadership. Our friends and family have also had growing experiences. That loved one who died while we were gone is now going to be missed more than ever. That new baby you haven’t even seen is now a walking, talking person.

3. The arrival home phase

Most experts agree that reentry is much harder than first entering into a foreign culture. When we go to a foreign culture, we expect everything to be different. We expect to be misunderstood. We expect not to know the cues of the culture. We expect not to look or sound like anyone else. When we return to our home culture, we expect everything to revert to normal where we are easily understood and we recognize the cultural rules. Yet, because of all the changes that we have just discussed, this is not possible. The fact that our mind does not expect this makes it harder still. Just staying in the home culture there is a lot of difference between being a teenager or a college student and being a responsible adult with a young family. There are adjustments to make. If we leave our home culture not long after college and then return to pick up the reins of a career, we have all of those adjustments to make on top of reentry.

There are several major issues in this phase. One of the first we notice is that we have a hard time communicating our experiences. What can really be said at worship services when someone says, “Hey, great to see you. How was your time overseas? Aren’t you glad to be home?”? Even if you manage to get in a few sentences, you will soon be interrupted by someone across the foyer who stops by to invite your friend to lunch. Telling our stories is difficult. We have to summarize those feelings and experiences with words that are wholly inadequate. Then we have to find someone that is willing to listen for more than a couple of minutes.

Another issue, especially for the wage-earner in the family, is the feeling of a loss of time or even training. Others our age have advanced from entry-level worker to manager. A master’s degree is no longer good enough as all our peers are finishing their doctorates. Those who have been gone a while will find that somehow they missed out on investments and building up retirement. As missionaries, we have good experiences under our belt, but it is hard to translate them to marketable skills.

Fitting back into a local congregation in the US can be a big issue for a missionary. First, he has been the elder, preacher, youth minister, decision maker, direction setter, and more on the field. If he did his job well, he has transitioned out of those jobs on the field and helped others learn to take his place, but he was still in a position of respect and some authority. Back in the US, the missionary feels (at the beginning) no more involved than a long-time visitor. He has no jobs or role in the congregation. No one comes to him for advice on what to do. Often, in this day of the “professional” minister, he may not even get to preach for his home congregation. Ladies class, the local benevolence ministry, or the Bible class program does not revolve around the missionary wife as it might have done on the mission field. Also, there could be issues about independence. One recent missionary talked about how he had to get permission to buy a package of paper at the local congregation, when overseas, he had been in charge of making the decisions on spending the large building fund they had raised. Besides money, there is also the fact that the missionary, while he is on the field, is often accountable to no one. He has to make his own schedule, decide on his own work load, and set his own goals. He is accountable to the home church, but they are not with him every day.

Adjacent to this role change, the missionary has to redefine his or her identity. We have to be careful to define ourselves as “How does God see us?” rather than “How does man see us?”

Also related to this are the changes in the church culture while we were overseas. As mentioned, the church has probably undergone changes. Now we, as missionaries, have to work to catch up. Some of the changes will be easy to accept. We may have to wrestle with some of the changes to decide if they are scriptural. What if we decide they are not? What are our choices?

One of the most obvious issues that affect people on reentry, whether they have been gone one month, one year, or one decade, is their attitude toward materialism. Getting out in the world and seeing that most people do not live with the huge amount of choices and things that Americans have is quite an eye-opening experience. Coming back to overwhelming abundance can be very difficult. It is hard to throw away leftover food when you have seen the hungry. It is hard to throw away good plastic plates, cups, flatware just so we don’t have to wash them (in our dishwashers). It is hard to “run get something to eat” when you have lots of food in the pantry. It is still a shock to see what people register for on wedding and baby shower gift lists. How many choices do we as Americans feel we really need?

The last issue in this phase has been eluded to already, but it deserves more attention. The returning missionary family needs to find its sense of purpose in the home country. On the field, we often do things we wouldn’t normally do or endure things we normally would not accept, because we feel the Lord put us there for a purpose. Back home it is sometimes easy to get so caught up in the busy life that we feel God doesn’t purposefully guide us anymore. We tend to forget that there are people all around us that need the gospel.

4. The survival phase

The survival phase also starts before you ever get off that airplane. Experts agree it is beneficial to reflect on your time overseas as a family. This is a time to release your experiences mentally and say goodbye. When possible, it is best to do this before you have to say hello. If you did not have the opportunity to take some time off on the trip home, then make an opportunity as soon as possible upon returning.

Take the time to grieve over the things you have lost because you gave of yourselves to the Lord. Realize that this grief is real and don’t be afraid to express your feelings toward the issues you face. Realize that the grieving process takes time. You will also need time to heal and adjust.

Approach the home country as you did the foreign field. Take it slow in making changes and being critical. Take the time to find out why people do what they do. Don’t be overly critical.

It is important to your wellbeing to be able to tell your story. Find some avenue to do so, such as a friend who is willing to sit and listen. Use your experiences in teaching Bible class (but remember that it was inappropriate to make constant comparisons between the mission field and your home culture, and apply the same wisdom in reverse). Think of great lessons you learned and write articles for magazines and the like. That experience overseas has made you a better person. Use your transformation to bless others.

Take a little time to do some career evaluation. Since you are not the same person who moved overseas, maybe you do not still have a passion for the career you thought you wanted. Be willing to try it for a while to find out, but also be willing to change to what suits your new skills and emotions. You may find that your years overseas have given you new skills and opened new doors for your future. (There are counselors that do testing and counseling on career assessments if you need help.)

Be open and honest with your mission committee, elders, or family about your needs. Be willing to ask for help and guidance instead of feeling that you have to do everything by yourself.

Use your ability as a self-starter to benefit the local congregation. Let the other members continue to do what they are doing well, and look for jobs that no one has thought to do. Start that international outreach ministry with all the foreigners in your community. Who would know better that they need to feel loved and welcomed than someone who has walked in their shoes? Use your experiences and your new perspective to bless other ministries. Also, remembering your purpose, help others learn to reach out to their neighbors.

Because you want others to listen to you, you have the opportunity to learn to be a great listener to others. Put your compassion to work. Don’t just think about yourself and your needs but think about how to help others.

Life is full of transitions. May the Lord help you as you make this one for His service. May He bless you for the time you have given in other cultures for Him. May He make your life richer and fuller because of the experience.

Beth Reese worked with her husband, John, as a missionary for sixteen years in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa. She worked in personal evangelism and ladies’ ministries. The family returned to the US in 1991.They led a number of God Bless Africa campaigns to Zimbabwe and Ghana. Beth earned an MA in Family Studies in 2002. Since that time she and John have taught classes on missionary families in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the United States. In 2006, they helped form InterMission, a missionary care organization that offers missionary care by and for missionaries (http://intermissionministry.org). She currently lives in Austin, TX.

Bibliography

Austin, Clyde N., ed. Cross-Cultural Reentry: A Book of Readings. Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University, 1986.

Reese, Joy Beth. “The Strength of Missionary Families: A Descriptive Study of Missionaries among Churches of Christ.” Master’s thesis, Abilene Christian University, 2002.

One of the major concerns in missionary care is the experience of missionary children who transition to their parents’ culture of origin. Knowing some of the major challenges they may face and taking proactive measures to address them will lessen the impact of reentry. In this essay, the author explores some of the critical issues in missionary kids’ experience of reentry and offers practical advice for helping them adjust.

I remember the first time I read the book Grandfather’s Journey to my group of first graders while living and teaching in Connecticut in the 1990s. It was a story written by Allen Say, who left Japan to come to America at the age of 16. He wrote about his family’s cross-cultural experiences and ended the book with the following:

After a time, I came to love the land my grandfather had loved, and I stayed on and on until I had a daughter of my own. But I also miss the mountains and rivers of my childhood. I miss my old friends. So I return now and then, when I can not still the longing in my heart. The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.1

My eyes welled up with tears as suppressed memories of my childhood growing up in Korea came to the surface. It had been almost 20 years since I had left Korea at the age of 17. I had finally adjusted to living in America and had even given the appearance of being the all-American woman. Yet, most people whom I worked with didn’t know my story. They didn’t know that I spent most of my childhood in a foreign country. They didn’t know how un-American I felt at times, with values, goals, and dreams that were unlike their own.

Shortly afterwards, I moved to Bangkok, Thailand, to homeschool the kids on my brother’s mission team. A one-year commitment turned into seven wonderful years working closely with three missionary families. I felt at “home” not because I was in an Asian country but because I was living in community with families who were having experiences similar to those that I had growing up in a foreign country.

In 2007, my brother’s family made final preparations to return to the United States. They had gone to Thailand as a young couple. Now, 16 years later, they were returning with five biological children, ages 8 weeks to 15 years, and one newly adopted Chinese daughter. None of their children had ever lived in the US. My brother was concerned about their transition to life in America so he signed the family up to go through a one-week reentry program at Mission Training International (MTI). Since I had never gotten any debriefing when my family left Korea, I felt I could benefit from the experience, so I also registered to attend the program. What an amazing week it was, hearing others tell stories that were so different than mine, yet we had so much in common. I felt safe sharing my own story and found myself processing not only my time in Thailand but also my childhood in Korea.

I also saw how the week benefited my brother’s children, as they had safe places to tell their own stories to peers and to discover who they were as kids with a mixed cultural identity. I asked my 9-year-old niece what her takeaway was from the week, and she said, “I learned it’s OK to cry.” It made me wonder how many missionary kids had suppressed the grief and loss they felt when returning to their passport country because they didn’t want to offend anyone or hurt their parents’ feelings. It made me realize that I had never truly grieved the losses that I had felt when leaving the home of my childhood. It was then that I discovered my new calling: working with missionary children and their families.

In January I completed seven years working at MTI. My role has evolved to Program Coordinator of the Children’s Debriefing Program. Being a missionary kid, an educator, and a missionary as an adult has helped equip me to serve the returning missionary families who come through our Debriefing and Renewal (DAR) program. The training I have received from the experienced staff at MTI in the “make and break” issues facing returning missionary families has rounded out my personal experiences. In this essay, I explore some of the critical issues in missionary kids’ experience of reentry and offer practical advice for helping them adjust.

Reverse Culture Shock

It has been said that reverse culture shock is more difficult for missionary families than the initial cultural shock of entering a country of service. How can that be? What makes reentry so difficult for missionary families and especially for their children? For MKs who have spent a significant part of their growing up years in another country, they are not “coming home” as their parents might be. Their experiences, values, and thinking patterns have been molded and influenced by the culture they have grown up in. America may be the foreign country to them.2 They may look and sound like an American kid but think and act very differently than their American peers. They are “hidden immigrants” trying to navigate cultural norms that they are not accustomed to, but without the grace, patience, and help that is extended to immigrants who come to America.

Among the critical issues MKs experience when returning to their passport country are grief and loss, identity issues, relationship negotiation differences, and transitions.

Grief and Loss

One of the biggest issues in reentry is the loss of home, friends, pets, community, and life left behind in another country. When well-meaning friends and family greet the grieving MK at the airport with a cheery “Welcome home!” the MK’s heart immediately shuts down. They question whether it is OK to express the fact that they would rather go home than be in their parents’ passport country. So the MK puts on a facade of happiness when their heart is breaking. If grief and loss are not dealt with and expressed, then there are chances that the MK will have difficulty moving forward, assimilating into the American culture, and making new friendships.

Addressing grief and loss actually begins before a missionary family has left their adopted country. Saying goodbyes well is important and means visiting favorite places for the last time, having sleep-overs with best friends, hosting celebrations, and finding caring homes for beloved pets. Taking time to express love and appreciation for those who were part of the life of the missionary family affirms and validates their experiences and relationships and allows them to move through the grieving process in a healthy way.

Peter Jordan wrote a simple little book entitled Re-Entry: Making the Transition from Missions to Life at Home that is full of practical ideas for families to consider when preparing to leave their country of service.3 My brother’s team read the book when they prepared to say their goodbyes. The oldest kids on the team were given specific chapters to read and process. Jordan’s counsel generated creative ideas that the team took to heart, and the last month was full of wonderful experiences that will be forever imprinted in the hearts of the team kids. As my brother’s family made their way through the security checkpoint at the Bangkok International Airport for the last time around 4:30 in the morning, he got a phone call from his team mate. He was told to look up towards the glass wall that separated the checkpoint from the main terminal. There stood their team mates and kids with a large banner pressed against the window that read: “Well Done, Allens. We Love You. Go In Joy!” The love shown tempered the grief felt by both families as they said goodbye to each other after sixteen years of living and working together in community.

Grieving takes time and each person does it differently. Younger children tend to process grief a little at a time. A young MK may cry initially and then move on quickly, seemingly adjusting well, only to have a meltdown months later when a sight of a dog reminds him or her of a pet left behind. It is important to sit down with the child and allow them to express their grief. Even better, cry with them. Don’t be impatient with the grieving process. Eventually, the meltdowns will lessen and become times of sweet reflection on the life and loved ones he or she has left behind.

For MK teens, having to say goodbye one time too many can cause them to put up walls with the intention of not making any new friends. We have had teens come through our debriefing program stating, “Why bother making new friends when we will have to say goodbye again.” They must be convinced that we were meant for relationships and having new, wonderful friends is worth the pain of eventually having to say goodbye. We tell the MKs who come through our debriefing programs, “If you are hurting, it’s because you have loved well and have been loved well.” Sometimes, being able to process grief in the presence of other MKs is what the MK needs. Knowing that they are not alone in what they feel is validating and helps them to process their emotions and move forward through the grief process.

Every MK needs a safe place to express their grief, pain, and anger over the loss of friendships and life left behind. Only when they have expressed and released that grief can they move on to new relationships and a new life.

Identity Issues

“Who am I?” is a question that every person asks at some point in their lives. For an MK, it is made even more difficult from living in another country. MKs are part of a larger group of people who have lived cross-culturally called third culture kids (TCKs). Children from military, international business, diplomatic, and missionary families all come under the umbrella of the term TCK.

David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken wrote a book entitled Third Culture Kids: Growing Up among Worlds. They developed a definition of the TCK that continues to be influential:

A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.4

Each MK is unique in their “TCKness,” and how much their experiences shape who they are depends on many variables. These include how old they were when they moved overseas, how much they assimilated into the host culture, and who their close friends were—national or expat kids. Other important variables are the extent to which they learned the national language and their schooling experience (e.g., home-school or boarding school, national or international school). Living in third world countries where poverty is right outside their front door can shape an MK’s worldview and at times cause them to be critical of America’s wealth and waste of resources. Experiencing civil war, team conflicts, or cultural or family crisis can also impact an MK’s heart and shape who they are.

Embracing who they are as TCKs will help MKs to understand why and how they respond to life and others the way they do. But, claiming their identity as a TCK for their core identity can actually put up walls rather than build bridges when entering relationships in their passport country. Some TCKs wear their identity as an entitlement rather than a privilege. They identify so strongly with their experiences living cross-culturally that they isolate themselves. Being a TCK is not all there is to each MK’s identity. As with any other part of their identity (e.g., being a student, good soccer player, artist, teenager), roles evolve and change over time. There is only one thing that will never change: their identity in Christ. Embracing Christ as their core identity will free them to love well, extend grace to others different than themselves, and enter into new relationships with humility.

Cultural identity is a layer of personal identity that becomes complicated for MKs who are entering their passport culture to live. They have spent their growing up years learning the rules and cultural norms of their host country. Now they discover the rules have changed and they are not quite sure how to engage in their passport country. Initially, MKs may be unaware of or unsure how to navigate the cultural differences. In an attempt to connect with those like themselves, they may gravitate toward others on the fringes of society, such as immigrants or other TCKs who are not from the US. Sometimes they may be drawn to anti-social groups because they feel such a disconnect with the mainstream groups. Parents and supportive friends need to look for any cultural or social miscues that the MK may exhibit and gently help them to modify their behavior or thinking in order to be culturally appropriate. It may be necessary to help them navigate the social waters by providing opportunities for their MKs to connect with potential new friends at church, at school, or within their new community. Discernment and godly judgment needs to guide parents and their MKs in this process, because there may be times the MK must be willing to stand up and resist some cultural norms that are not in line with Christian principles.

Relationship Negotiation

I remember struggling to make friends with my peers when I returned to the States at the age of seventeen. I perceived them to be shallow, not very spiritual, and closed-minded. I was critical and wrote off potential friendships without giving them much of a chance. How wrong I was! If I knew then what I know now, my entry into the American teen scene would have been much smoother.

Discussions and dialogue within the MK caregiving community in the last several years have revealed keys to how MKs versus their American peers approach new relationships. Living cross-culturally has conditioned MKs to go deep quickly in order to make friends, because people are transient in the international community, moving on even as relationships begin to blossom. Their American peers tend to take their time when introduced to a prospective new relationship, slowly revealing more of themselves as they see that this new person is trustworthy. Thus, a disconnect happens. MKs view their American peers as shallow and not worthy of pursuing because they tire of the initial small talk, while their American peers feel that their personal space has been violated with too much information, too soon. MKs need to be coached that just as they should be culturally sensitive when relating to people in their country of service, they should also be culturally aware when seeking out relationships with American peers.5

Another nuance in how MKs approach new friendships is how they tell their story. MKs frequently make connections with other MKs/TCKs by telling their story using geography words. For example they may say, “When I lived in France, I skied in the Swiss Alps all winter,” or “I rode elephants when I lived in India.” If speaking with another MK/TCK, this creates a bridge of potential connection as they swap stories of adventures and interesting things they did in their country of service. But, if they initially share these stories with their American peers, it can immediately put up a wall with a person who has never been out of the US and has no frame of reference to receive or process the story. MKs need to find a point of connection when telling their stories with their American peers. They could say, “When I was in seventh grade I was on the school soccer team.” This allows an opportunity for connection to occur between two people who may have very different backgrounds and experiences. Going slow, finding common ground, and being patient with the process will allow MKs ultimately to make the close, deep relationships that they desire.

Transitions

We all go through transitions at some point in our lives, whether from one job to another, one state to another, or one grade to another. Missionary families face unique challenges when transitioning from one country to another. It comes with added stress, loss of identity, having to relearn cultural norms, unmet expectations, and being misunderstood, to name just a few.

MTI has developed a transition model based on the work of David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken that has become an effective tool in helping missionary families understand what they are going through in reentry. The five stages of transition are:

1. Settled: Rooted Stage; roles defined; established routines; belong within a group
2. Unsettled: “Pulling up” Stage; fear of unknowns; sense of loss; deciding what is important
3. Chaos: Confused Stage; no role; problems magnified; routines changing daily
4. Resettling: Surface Stage; redefining values; risk taking; vulnerable; establishing new routines
5. Resettled: Newly Rooted Stage; established roles; “at home;” accepted in a group

Giving a missionary family a common vocabulary for what they are going through and how they might be feeling in each stage helps them to go through the change in a healthier way. One mother emailed me saying that her four-year-old daughter spoke up one day after going through our DAR program and said, “Mom, I’m in chaos stage!” Instead of having a meltdown, she was able to express to her mother how she felt. Her mother was then able to address what was causing her daughter stress.

A missionary family will not transition completely until each member of the family has crossed “the bridge” and feels settled. For each family member, being “resettled” may look different. Dad may need to have a new job or ministry to feel settled, while Mom may need to have boxes unpacked and rooms in order to feel at home. Little brother or sister may need to have their own bed and be surrounded by their special stuffed animals to feel settled and at home again. For pre-teens and teenagers, being resettled boils down to having a new group of friends. They are at a place in their social development where relationships are paramount to their wellbeing. They need to have a place to belong.

There are other “bridges” that MKs cross that make the transition seem overwhelming. Some of the bridges may be:

• Going through puberty
• Adapting to the American school system
• Teen subcultural differences
• Value and cultural differences
• Grieving process

MKs may not have the maturity of an adult to handle all the changes that they are going through and at times they may shut down and go into a depression. Being in “chaos” stage on several bridges can be too much for them to handle. Parents and a supportive community need to be observant and ready to support their MKs through any transition issue they may be going through. Sometimes, counseling is necessary in order to help a struggling MK get through their crisis.

Be Prepared!

Reentry for MKs and their families can be a complicated process. Knowing some of the major challenges they may face and taking proactive measures to address them will lessen the impact of reentry. Good communication within the missionary family, a supportive and understanding receiving community, and time to process changes and adapt to a new life in their passport country can help MKs and their families handle the reentry process in a healthy way.

Laura Allen is the Program Coordinator for the children’s debriefing program for missionary families in transition at Missions Training International (http://mti.org), where she has worked for the last seven years. Her focus is debriefing children and working with their parents. Laura spent 16 years growing up in Korea in a missionary family. A teacher by trade, she holds a master’s degree in early childhood development. Laura taught for 13 years in private and public schools in the US and participated in a church plant in New Haven, Connecticut. She also spent 7 years homeschooling missionary kids in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bibliography

Jordan, Peter. Re-Entry: Making the Transition from Missions to Life at Home. Seattle: YWAM Publishing, 1992.

Phoenix, Michèle.“MKs and Relationships: The Time/Depth Dilemma.” http://michelephoenix.com/2014/09/mks-and-relationships.

Pollock, David C., and Ruth E. Van Reken. Third Culture Kids: Growing Up among Worlds. Rev. ed. Boston: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2009.

Say, Allen. Grandfather’s Journey. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

In coming to Swaziland, southern Africa, my husband Sean and I imagined permaculture might play a role in our garden or mission work. However, it wasn’t until we found ourselves at a Permaculture Design Course in South Africa that we realized how interwoven the principles and practices of permaculture were becoming in our practices, garden, and missional intent. As a way to establish a permanent culture of living, permaculture principles encourage communities to be imaginatively resourceful and resilient. These applied principles shape our production of food, the design of residential areas, as well as our community work.

In reflection, we saw how permaculture principles echo Christian ethics. We have nuanced our Christian missionary perspectives in light of permaculture principles and practices. It is through the collective, collaborative lens of permaculture and Christian ethics that we view our work. It is from this place that we move out, going about our business of bringing a little more of Christ into our corner of the world.

Observe and Interact

“Observation of nature gives us firsthand experience, as opposed to books, teachers, Internet, which are 2nd and 3rd hand sources. We need to observe, recognize patterns and appreciate details that may often be small, slow, subtle, cyclical or episodic.” 1

When first looking at a piece of land, dreaming of what redemption can come to the soil and people, what plants will grow to feed us, what trees will thrive to shade us, and what animals will prosper to help us in our work, the first place we start is water.

We look at where our closest water source lies and how the water moves across the landscape. We examine where the water pools and where it runs quickly. We observe how the water rushes across the ground during a hard rain. After water, we watch how the sun moves throughout a day, throughout the change of seasons. We watch long enough to see which animals and birds venture across this space, even interacting with them, following them to their holes or nests, learning where they come from, what they do, and where they go. We see neighbors and how they use our common fence line, their patterns of living and moving. Hopefully, in the intentional watching, we learn what not to touch or change and what energy we can use and how. From these observations, we begin to build a plan, a design for the space that incorporates our findings.

This permaculture principle, like all of them, is cyclical. You begin by listening and observing. You determine a necessary action and start moving toward that action. Then you realize your actions are not received well, so you stop and listen some more. When you think you’ve observed and dabbled in interactions enough, you start movement again.

Author, activist, and educator Bill McKibben addresses how “big” we humans have become, especially concerning science, the world’s working, and specifically the climate. In an interview with Krista Tippet on Speaking of Faith, he recalls the last three chapters of Job, when God responds to Job’s incessant begging for answers and reasons why he has suffered.2

Just when Job is feeling big, like maybe he has some answers, as if he could teach the Creator a thing or two, God responds. “Where does the light come from, and where does the darkness go?” (38:19).3 “Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?” (39:19). The mere questions from God shrink Job back to being small again. He seems content to acknowledge, “I was talking about things I knew nothing about” (42:3). Job seems content to become small and let the shrinking happen, recognizing God is God and Job is not.

In our current world, it is easy to assume we have the answers. As McKibben points out, reading God’s questions for Job through today’s lens, we could respond, “Hell yes!”4 Hell yes I know the morning light comes from the earths’ rotation and orbit around the sun. Hell yes, we can breed a horse for its strength or (heaven help us) genetically modify its DNA so it has a silkier mane. In all that we Westerners do we can easily find the answer of how and why. The mystery is erased.

McKibben continues, “We have become very big. Our job is to get small again.”5 Creation has begun to reap the harvest of humanity becoming too big. Problems of soil loss and degradation in large-scale agriculture; giant corporations who cannot loan to the poor on company policy; and the waste that nation after nation has no place for. It’s time to become small again.

Richard Rohr calls this idea “the beginner’s mind.” In Everything Belongs, this Franciscan priest and author points out that we must not journey through life assuming we know, assuming we see, but we “must always be ready to see anew.”6

In Luke 18, we encounter an image of Christ welcoming the little children to him. He admonishes his listeners that “anyone who does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it” (v. 17). The beginner’s mind. Getting small again. Shrinking the ego, the brain-with-all-the-answers, stepping out of the center, and allowing God to orient us. Allowing us to learn together, re-center ourselves in humility, and begin through questions.

Quieting our have-all-the-answers minds in order to allow the child-like mind to step forward, Sean and I entered into our new lives in Swaziland. Learning from the mistakes of former mission workers who graciously shared with us, we sought not to have answers but questions, not only to talk about valuing local talent but also to have community leaders guide us. We intentionally moved slowly for the first six months, focusing on listening and learning over teaching and telling. Learning siSwati. Learning how to get around. Listening to the people around us, talking to other missionaries, getting to know whatever Swazi we came across, and speaking to NGO workers. We asked questions instead of giving answers.

Our six months of intentional listening spilled into nine months, then a year. In that time we slowly began more “work.” Out of such listening came eventual pursuits in response to our community. Sean started a garden with Make (Mrs.) Lulane on a common piece of land; I taught expecting moms at the hospital. Sean researched and introduced fuel-efficient stoves to some Swazi friends; I helped my first doula client. Slowly, the word spread as it does in a small town where everyone walks and has plenty of time in that walk to chat. Invitations happened.

“The people of Masini are asking if you will come and show them this stove.”

“Can you help my friend who is also pregnant?”

And with the invitations, we walked deeper into the neighborhood. Sean kept returning to Masini, a town just 2.5 miles from our little rented place. A proper Swazi community, everyone hauled their bathing, cooking, and drinking water from the Mkhondvo River. During the rainy season, most people planted maize on their homesteads. A few adventurous folks planted moringa trees, okra, cabbage, and Swiss Chard.

It was to this community that Make Lulane begged us to move. Not so she could gain anything from us. Not so we might build her a house, or bring electricity or television. No, she insisted, “You want to live in a community, so I will give you land. Come to my home. Be my neighbor. My husband and I are happy with this. We will take nothing from you. I just want you to have a home where you can start your work.”

She begged us so desperately once that I told Sean, “We have to seriously consider moving onto her land. If we keep refusing, she may become offended.” Make Lulane’s invitations highlight a crucial piece of our application of the “observe and interact” principle. We had hoped that by watching folks, listening, and interacting with them, that they might invite us to live with them. “Why don’t you move here?” traverses culture and language much better than “We decided to purchase a prime piece of real estate in a community where no one wanted us, or a place that did not fit our needs because we jumped in too quickly.”

As life would have it, the family we sub-leased our servant’s quarters-house from was moving soon. Forced to find a new home, Sean headed into Masini. A friend took him to a nice rondavel (round house with thatched roof) with a fenced property and flat, agricultural land. Two weeks later we moved into a community where we were invited—into a community that oriented herself along the river.

Such invitation and welcome seems to be fruit from our slow movement, listening ears, asking mouths. Our attempts to speak siSwati impress our neighbors, telling them, “I care enough about you to learn to speak your language.” And we are not only interested in the language of their tongues but of their lives, their gardens, their birthing experiences, and their education. We hope our interest will eventually turn into a way for us to come together, learning to speak a larger, louder language of grace and love that causes the whole of the nation to turns its head towards Masini, to observe and interact with the way we are living here, next to our river, amongst each other, and on our homesteads.

Use Edges and Value the Marginal

“The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.”

Edges attract a lot of activity, being a crossroads and meeting place for creatures and people alike. For example, the edge where a forest and meadow meet has more activity than deep in the forest or in the wide-open meadow. At our place, the fence edge gets a lot of action. Neighbors’ cows chow anything sticking through to their side of the fence; the goats shove their heads through gaps and demolish anything on the borders. Children run to the fence and greet us as we work in the garden. Our dog respects the edge, not venturing beyond it. Birds sit here, chirping and tweeting, cleaning themselves and scoping the next seed-extraction site. We’ve spent as many hours patching, building, and adding to the fence as cultivating the space it protects. Action happens at the fence. There’s activity on the edge.

So too with Christ. He spent his ministry not only on the streets, but also in the synagogue. His healings happened on the road; people gathered in open places to hear him teach. He, himself, was an edge. He drew together people from the margins and people from the “in” crowds of society. His kingdom was and is for the rich and poor, the educated and uneducated, the sinners and the “righteous”—for all. His way of living wasn’t like “us” or like “them;” he created a new way, a third way.

Turn the other cheek. Give them your cloak. It’s not just a literal admonishment for non-violence or charity, but an invitation to live in a third way. In Jesus’ way, when we’re smacked, we don’t hit back, and we don’t walk away. We look our assailant in the eye and boldly offer our other cheek and allow the weight of our presence to be felt and acknowledged. In such reactions lie a tinge of subversion and humble rejection of societal norms. Through such subversion of our systems people begin to question: What is this other way? Our echoing of Jesus’ third way raises eyebrows and the people lean in. Watching. Waiting. Listening. Eager for what we’ll show them.

Early in our lives here I made a debilitating mistake. Swaziland has a population of 1.2 million, 5% being white. Over 800 Americans alone live here, running NGOs, facilitating missions, and working at the embassy. South African families of European descent have also moved into Swaziland, enticed by her peaceful nature and cheap labor, so a minority population of white folks live here. Early on, I decided to be different than the other expatriates, missionaries, and “white” folks around me. I worked tirelessly to make sure I was kinder than them, didn’t hire a gardener to do the gardening for me, and even proved my difference by advancing in siSwati. In short, I feared being too much like the culture I came from. I feared drawing too deeply from my twisted roots of ethnocentricity, materialism, and superiority. I didn’t want to be the NGO that came into a community, installed a community garden, and walked away before anyone could tell us, “We don’t have water for these crops.” Yet, in my attempts to be “less than” the Swazis I met, I sought to be “better than” the expat community. My twisted attempt at humility and listening and learning puffed up my own pride. My head swelled, and my heart shrunk.

This tension tore me between being friends with a South African couple and their maids. I would visit my Swazi friend, Ncamsile, at her homestead, which looked much like where I lived. We’d chat, have tea, and look at her field of maize. The next day I’d visit my friend Jean’s house, which looks much like the middle-class home I grew up in. At Jean’s house, Ncamsile sheepishly greeted me in siSwati, hanging her head low as she washed dishes in the sink, then brought a tray of tea to her boss and me on the porch. And the lovely boss lady and I would have a wonderful chat, gazing out over her flower garden, discussing life. But the tension between these two worlds threatened to tear me apart.

Immaturely, wrongly, I degraded my Expat friends to my Swazi friends. My twisted thoughts told me, “By belittling the one, I will esteem the other.” Such action only reflect badly on the belittler—me.

In short, I kept my physical and emotional distance in friendships with these affluent folks. The questions I asked prevented me from ever drawing near to these neighbors.

How could I be friends with anyone who lives in this golf estate? Clearly, we have nothing in common. They have running water; I have a tank outside. They have four bedrooms; I have a one-room rondavel. Their budget is ten times mine. They report to work at an eight-to-four job at an orphanage; I create my own work, gardening, doula-ing, and showing up at church events. This chasm grew between me and the people who spoke my language fluently, knew where my hometown was, and who sought relationship with me. By pushing away from this growing expat community, I shoved myself into isolation, where loneliness crept in.

I was a person on the edge, living in a space between two worlds, and I threw myself off the fence. Instead of embracing my unique position of friendships with people from two worlds that often misunderstood each other, I rejected it. Instead of inviting such friends together to share a meal, I segregated my life. White friends and Swazi friends. There were two boxes. Two labels. And I aimed to keep them separate because I felt guilt.

There’s still quite a tension. Push it too far, and I’ll be using the gospel to advance my pocketbook, pride, and capitalism. Don’t push it enough, and I’ll start thinking I’m better because I live in a one-room house. It is only through Christ’s illuminating presence in my life that the delicate balance can be struck. There’s an edge to live on. I can live at the space between two worlds. I can take bucket baths in my house, Swazi-style, or steal hot showers from the clubhouse . I can speak siSwati, tell jokes, and laugh with an old gogo grandma. I can speak my mother tongue, ask how someone’s doing, and be a listening friend. It is in this kind of living that I begin to see more of Christ. I am a creator of love, goodness, light, joy, and peace amongst my human neighbors. Whether we are rich or poor, we all need gentle correction when we’ve done wrong. We need challenges to grow from. We need people to live on the edge with. We all need acceptance from the people around us, and invitation to live more deeply, more fully as echoes of Christ’s third way. We need reminders that there is an edge, a place teeming with life, full of love and friendships.

And I’m stirring the pot with my very presence. I am asking people to re-examine these walls erected between “us” and “them.” By standing at the fence, talking to everyone—Swazis, whites—my presence values the marginal.

Use Small, Slow [Creative] Solutions

“Small and slow solutions are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and produce more sustainable outcomes.”

Conventional farming tells us to feed our crops using chemical fertilizer. Even for a quarter-acre homestead garden, I could drive to the supply store, purchase several pounds of fertilizer, don a HAZMAT suit and spray my crops. My crops would grow with the chemical “nutrients” I had sprayed on them. It’s a quick, more costly, instant-gratification response to a need.

Permaculture farming tells us the answer is much slower, much smaller. In order to feed our crops, we must first feed our soil. Months before we plant, we compost. We create soil out of manure, grass cuttings, and kitchen scraps. We employ worms to “farm” compost for us. And 18 days after I’ve turned my hot compost 5 times and watered it bi-weekly, it’s finally ready to feed my plants. This solution takes about 30 times the input of time, yet almost none of the cost. Additionally, it’s a lasting solution, unlike conventional farming’s chemical answer. Sure, I’ll keep adding compost to my soil, mending it, reconciling the microbial life; however, at some point, the soil will reach its potential as a self-regenerative system.

This specific permaculture principle is: “Use small, slow solutions.” However, I would expand it to, “Use small, slow, creative responses to everything.”

Jesus incarnated as a small, slow, creative response to man’s sinful bent. He could have come as a King, decreeing we love one another, demanding we turn the other cheek and journey two miles when asked forced to accompany a Roman soldier for one. He was not a God-man of projects and big programs, but one of spending time and being with people. Not only he did stand to teach the thousands, but the Gospels show he poured more time and energy into healing people—one broken, lonely, misshapen person at a time. In a crowd, he focused on one. His very essence and manner was of humble, small actions.

Sean and I could get pulled in a lot of directions. Put the word out that you work for free and might know something about moving water without electricity, and people will think of work for you to do.

“Move here. Start a farm to give our community jobs.”

“Let’s start an agricultural training school. You can facilitate and teach hundreds of people a year about farming your way.”

While these requests floored us, we only desired to work intimately with less than 5 families in our community. Yes, the lure of transforming a whole nation of 1.2 million appeals. Yes, having a large orphanage or farm or school or project attracts donors who pour in their “‘atta girls” and piles of cash. Such “big” projects are easy to hang our hats on, or point to and say, “Look what we’ve done.” Yet, Sean and I cannot sustain the large and complicated. (Who can?!) We see a God who moves differently, smaller even. He moves through relationship and being with people, just as much at teaching and healing people. Instead of “getting bigger”, Sean and I move out from ourselves, first getting our garden to actually grow a healthy crop. Then we may have a teeny bit of advice to offer when someone wonders why his or her hectare of sugar beans didn’t germinate. We commit ourselves to staying small, so that we might move slow, and be creative advocates for the growth of our home turf.

In addition to staying grounded and centralized in our location and work, we seek creative responses to everything. In Swaziland, being white tells people we probably have disposable income, so we get a lot of requests for financial help. In our response, we aim to creatively exchange resources with people. Often we circumnavigate the exchange of the emalangeni (Swaziland’s currency), instead choosing to trade man-hours, edible resources, or services when it is applicable.

Outside the closest grocery store, a mother and her two daughters sell fruits. The mother travels 30 minutes to town on a public bus, to purchase apples, bananas, and oranges imported from South Africa. She loads her boxes of fruit back onto a bus and then sets up her “shop” on the curb of the grocery store’s parking lot.

Over a year ago, when we moved into the neighborhood, I met these three. The ten-year-old schoolgirl, the pregnant teenager, and their siSwati-speaking mother. Over my initial purchases of fruit, I managed to fumble through, “Please speak slowly, I’m learning siSwati.”

The daughters’ eyes lit up. “Oh, you’re learning siSwati,” they said in English.

I laughed and said, “Well I’m trying. But only if you speak it with me, please.” And so began the delight of a friendship where they sell fruit and I buy it. A relationship where they teach me, and I learn.

It didn’t come for more than a year. Or maybe my siSwati wasn’t good enough to hear it for a year. But then it came last month. A request. A plea. An asking. Annunciating slowly for me, the Fruit-Selling-Mama said, “Your friend [the youngest daughter has been referred to as “my friend” since I met her], needs a uniform for school. Can you please help me buy a uniform?”

My heart sunk. Crap! Panic set in. Now what do I say? We’re not in the business of giving anything out for free, but school’s important. This is delicate, and I must respect her in my reply. Research DOES show that a young girl is more likely to complete school if she just has a uniform and a few pencils. And I don’t want her to drop out like her older sister because she got pregnant. Frozen to the concrete, stunned, I wished Sean were there to help me. I stuttered a feeble reply that I would think about it and speak to my husband, which I did.

Sean hatched a plan I liked. I scribbled down what I wanted to say to this mom. Then Nomduduso, our tutor, helped me translate it. Ten whole days later, I headed to the grocery store, armed with my grocery list, resolve, and my translated response to Fruit-Selling-Mama.

I approached with a full page of siSwati phrases. After greeting her, I launched into my reply. We walked through how much profit she gets from a given box of fruits. We talked about how I don’t like to give anything to anyone because it makes me feel like a bank (she laughed), and it complicates our relationship. Instead, I prefer supporting people in the work they are already doing, “like buying fruit from you instead of in the store.”

I told her, “I’m wanting to make jam or apple sauce, so I’m hoping you can help me with my problem. Could you get me one or two boxes of peaches or apples?”

At first she just peered at me from under her hat’s brim. What? Her eyes asked. Her question rested between those squinting eyes, the scrunched eyebrows. How does this connect to the uniform problem?

I continued, “And I was thinking, maybe with the extra profit you’re going to get, you can buy a uniform.” And she exploded. Into clapping hands, laughing smile, dancing feet, and swelling pride. Yes, yes. This was a good idea. She could do it. She would be happy to earn the money for the uniform.

And so I got some apples, which I turned into scrumptious applesauce. And Mama got a paycheck, then a uniform. And we both kept our dignity and took one small step toward more relationship. A step toward a solution we can all live with. It’s a solution we can sustain because I eat a lot of applesauce.

Our lives in Swaziland are like our budding garden. For months we hacked down weeds, mended the fence, composted grass, hauled manure, babied seedlings, and mulched beds. For handfuls of months we’ve listened, studied language, wrestled with life on the edge, failed at life lived among the marginal, and sought creative, small responses to both our needs and those of our community members. As I sit here, amongst the garden on a coveted plastic chair, the yellow finches tweet along the fence line, swooping into our chicken coop to scoop some seed. The chickens cluck quietly, fluffing and dusting their feathers in the improving soil. A towering oxheart tomato shades my skirted legs. Our landlord passes wearing his wife’s wide-brimmed, pink hat that shades his eyes. A voice from underneath the brim shouts,“I can see the lemon grass is growing. Soon you will make tea.” I nod and smile, bobbing the wide-brimmed straw hat that rests on my own head. “Yebo.” “Yes, I hope so. And then we will drink some together.”

A fancy silver car dashes up the road, passes our drive, backs up quickly, then blasts down the driveway. Our Afrikaner friends come to pick up their puppy that we dog-sat for the long weekend. After packing up the dog bed and food, they give me a big “Thank you so much.”

And I respond, “As the Swazis say, ‘Wemukelikile.’ You are welcome here anytime.”

Nicole’s first endeavors into cross-cultural living started with inner city Newark, New Jersey, where she taught high school students English. Since 2012, Nicole has lived in Swaziland with her husband Sean and their faithful Jack Russell, Thor. Their blog exposes more of their journey at http://boehrig.wordpress.com.

Missionary lifestyle has long been subject to vigorous discussion. What do the Scriptures say regarding the topic? Do the words of Jesus when sending His disciples apply today? Do the epistles add any clarity to the question? Do the instructions of Christ apply to missionaries only or equally to all of his followers? The Scriptures are consistent when they are allowed to speak for themselves.

What is the appropriate lifestyle for a missionary? If given a choice, most missionaries might opt for a mansion instead of a mud hut. Should they? Lifestyle decisions are very personal (or so the Western world assumes). Do missionaries have the right to decide how they should live? Those preparing for missionary service are encouraged to follow the instructions of Christ. Missionary trainers often say the pursuit of personal rights culminates in the acceptance of Jesus as Lord. Once that right has been exercised, only responsibilities remain. Is this a proper reading of Scripture? Must we abandon our right to lifestyle choices as a messenger of the cross?

Exhortations of Scripture

When one studies the requirements for discipleship, it is quickly observed that two areas of concern are mentioned: people and possessions.

1. People. Jesus asked his followers to put him first—above other people, especially family members (Luke 14:26). In point of fact, his first followers left parents and fellow workers (Mark 1:20)—though they were promised a new and larger circle of relatives (Mark 10:29–30).

2. Possessions. Distrust of wealth was a central teaching of Jesus (Mark 4:19), for the wealthy will find it difficult to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23). Hence, the Master encouraged renouncing all possessions, selling them, and giving the proceeds to the poor (Luke 12:33–34). When called into discipleship, the followers of Jesus left their jobs (Mark 1:16–20). When sent into the mission field, the disciples were instructed to leave behind their possessions (Mark 6:8–9). The recipients of their message would provide their needs (Matt. 10:10). Those who left their possessions were promised an abundant reward (Mark 10:29).

Analysis of Commitment

What did Jesus mean? Do his exhortations apply today? For whom did he intend these extraordinary demands? The texts under consideration were addressed to the “disciples.” The term disciple referred narrowly to “the twelve” (John 2:2) and broadly to “those who believe” (Matt 10:42). In this section of the article, comments will be restricted to the narrower sense—those Jesus sent out as missionaries.

1. Specific demands. When the Lord called the disciples to become “fishers of men,” they left both employment and family (Luke 5:11). It was a practical consequence of changing vocations. Those who answer the call to mission should, out of the necessity of the assignment, sever their ties with employment and relatives in order to go overseas.

2. General requirements. While the specific demands mention the disciples by name, the general requirements refer to unknown persons. Three requirements are stated. First, whoever plans to follow Jesus should weigh the cost of insecurity, which likely grew out of the specific demands above (Matt 8:18–20). Second, whoever follows Jesus should put his mission above all other human plans (Luke 9:59–60). And, third, whoever wants to follow Jesus must make an absolute commitment without regrets or afterthoughts (Luke 9:61–62). These general requirements have a single purpose: In order to be with Jesus, to be his missionary, one must be ready for everything and prefer him over all things. These requirements do not ask for concrete renunciation but refer to an unconditional commitment to the Lord—a commitment that takes priority over all other values.

Preparations for Mission

The preparation of the twelve and the sending of the seventy-two are concerned with the opposition that the messengers would encounter: hate, persecution, and death (Matt 10:17–24). Thus, the Lord issues special instructions to his missionaries.

1. Strategic arrangements. Christ sends his messengers in pairs (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1). They are to greet no one along the road (Luke 10:4). They are forbidden to move from house to house (Luke 10:7). These missionaries are also given particularly strict instructions concerning what they could take on their journey (though the stipulations varied).

Provisions for Mission	Matt 10:9–10	Mark 6:8–9	Luke 9:2–3
Bread		No
Bag	No	No	No
Money	No	No
Staff	No	Yes
Extra tunic	No	No
Sandals	No	Yes	No

The Gospel of Mark began the list of instructions with the words, “take nothing for the journey” (Mark 6:8) but allows a staff and sandals (Mark 6:8–9), both of which are prohibited by Matthew. What does all of this mean? It seems that the intent is not ascetic poverty (or scorn of wealth) but functional poverty (or necessity of the task). In others words, mission requires haste. Therefore, missionaries are to travel light, to be unencumbered. God (and the good will of the hearers) would provide (Matt 10:10; Luke 10:7; 22:35). It is apparent, however, once the conditions change—namely, when they encountered hostile situations—Jesus recommends different behavior (Luke 22:36).

2. Spiritual preparations. Though Jesus sent out the disciples as peaceful envoys, they would eventually confront opposition (Mark 13:9, 12). Initially, the religious leaders would attack the missionaries (Luke 21:12). Later, the messengers of the Lord would be “hated by all” (Mark 13:13), which included their very own families (Matt 10:21; Luke 21:16). These hate and persecution sayings are placed in the context of sending out the twelve as well as the suffering at the end of the age. Matthew places them in both contexts (Matt. 10:17–18; 24:9), while Mark and Luke restrict them to the eschatological discourse alone (Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12–17). Opposition was obviously a common experience for the first missionaries. It is, likewise, a similar experience for their contemporary counterparts (Matt 10:25).

All of the passages that address missionary preparation revolve around the idea of being “with Jesus” (Mark 3:14; 5:18). Since he was central, all other realities (family, occupation, security, and self-affirmation) were thrust to the periphery. The missionary texts concentrate on the decision (rather than the behavior) of commitment. “Denial of oneself” is the bedrock of missionary service (Matt 16:24–28). Such submission requires “forsaking all.” The urgency of mission demands “taking nothing for the journey.” Nevertheless, behind all of these stipulations is the example of the Lord, the model of self-renunciation (2 Cor 8:9).

Characteristics of Ministry

The history of the early church echoes the requirements which were clearly articulated during the ministry of the Lord. How did the early church respond to his demands? Did they alter any of them and, if so, in what way?

1. Acts. Because Acts was authored by Luke, we are afforded an opportunity to see how he views the extraordinary demands of Jesus operational in the life and growth of the young community of faith. First, the attitude of the early church toward money is quite clear. The Lord insists on his followers divesting themselves of their possessions in order to share with others, especially with the poor (Luke 12:33; 14:33). Describing the life of the first community of believers in Jerusalem, Luke shows in a concrete way how such sharing is done. Those who have possessions sell them and place the proceeds at the apostles’ feet to be shared or distributed according to the needs of each one (Acts 2:43–45; 4:32–45; 5:2). In the Gospel of Luke, the sharing is with the poor in general, while in Acts the sharing is with believers in particular. Divestiture does not lead to poverty but community. The same theme plays out in other texts (Acts 11:29; 20:33-35). Though Luke makes no allusion to the sayings of Jesus in Acts, it is clear that the renunciation was not asceticism—a repudiation of wealth—but the creation of a community of believers through the sharing of wealth.

Second, the attitude of the early church toward suffering is also clear. For example, Stephen prays for those who are in the process of stoning him to death (Acts 7:60). So, too, Paul endures hardship for Jesus’ sake (Acts 9:16; 20:23). Paul and Barnabas put their lives on the line for the Lord (Acts 15:26). They attach no value to their existence (Acts 20:24); therefore, they are ready to die for Christ (Acts 21:13). They are glad to suffer humiliation for “the sake of the name” (Acts 5:40, 41). Such was and is the calling of a missionary.

2. Epistles. The letters describe the messianic significance of Jesus and his effect on the behavior of the first century saints. It is no surprise, then, that the historical elements of his life and ministry are almost totally absent in the epistles. Still, the letters announce several radical demands which closely resemble the requirements of discipleship enunciated by Jesus. The following are pertinent. First, Christians need an enduring faith. The early church suffered various trials: hunger, thirst, abuse, insult, imprisonment, beatings, and poverty (1 Cor 4:11; 2 Cor 6:4–5, 10). Such was the fate of every believer (2 Tim 3:11–12). Yet, those who suffered were abundantly blessed (2 Thess 1:5; 1 Pet 2:19–20; 4:13–14). The epistles obviously reflect Jesus’ emphasis.

Second, a community of possessions is necessary. Paul insists on churches helping poor saints (Rom. 15:26; Gal 2:10). Therefore, he organizes a collection for the believers in Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:1–4). He calls it a koinōnia, that is, a sharing (2 Cor 8:4). The sharing of material possessions is a proof of Christian-ness (1 John 3:17; 4:20), a demonstration of the correct understanding of a believer’s relationship to money (1 Tim 6:17-19; Heb 13:16). Quite clearly the disciple of Jesus must be free from dependency on material things (1 Cor 7:31; Phil 4:6). All of this echoes the sobering challenge of Jesus (Matt 6:25–34).

Third, discipleship demands a deep love. The compassion of believers is distinctive in a world of secular values. They are called upon to bless those who persecuted them Rom 12:14; 1 Cor 4:12), to return good to those who hurt them (Rom 12:20), to avoid anger (Col 3:8), and to show courtesy to everyone (Titus 3:2). If those are not outrageous enough, believers are also to refrain from revenge (Rom 12:17; 1 Thess 5:15; 1 Pet 3:8–9). Even though there was injustice, believers are not to demand their rights (from fellow saints) (1 Cor 6:7). Rather, the followers of the humble Galilean must bear with others (Col 3:13), carry their burdens, (Gal 6:2), and refrain from judging them (Rom 14:4, 10). If correction is needed, it must be carefully administered (2 Thess 3:15; Eph 4:32). All of this requires a new attitude (Col 3:12). The teachings of the post-resurrection epistles are strikingly similar to the pre-resurrection sayings of Jesus. Faith in Christ calls for a radical reorientation of a believer’s relationship with both God and man.

Significance for Today

What does all of this mean for us today? How should a missionary understand these radical sayings?

1. Particular instructions. All of the requirements for missionary service can be clustered around four instructions. In other words, Christ called for drastic actions that measured faithfulness.

First, the missionary must follow Jesus. In order to be his messenger, one must deny oneself, take up the cross, and follow him. This will lead to opposition, persecution, and even death. To walk with the Lord, one must put him ahead of family and possessions when they stand in the way of complete commitment. When sent into mission, the messenger relies on the grace of God (Acts 14:26).

Second, the missionary must love others. To love our fellow human beings, one must refrain from judging and condemning. The missionary is called to forgive, to reconcile, to avoid harsh words and bad feelings—to be compassionate as God is compassionate—toward both his fellow missionaries and the local people.

Third, the missionary must live a life of humility. The kingdom is given to those who hunger and thirst for it, who suffer till it comes, who are as defenseless and powerless as children. Though works of righteousness are required, no matter how much is done, the missionary will be an “unworthy servant.” For the Master will never be indebted to the slave.

And, finally, the missionary must share his possessions. Riches are a permanent danger, though poverty is never presented as a goal or asceticism a way of life. Missionaries are to be suspicious of money because it tempts them and those to whom it is given to place their trust in material possessions. The call to sell everything must be seen in the perspective of giving, distributing, and sharing with the saints in order to form community.

2. Appropriate interpretations. As radical demands, these unusual sayings often appear impossible. This may be due to Jesus’ use of paradoxical expressions in order to make striking, unforgettable images. It is useful to form a taxonomy of these statements. On one hand, some of the radical requirements cannot be taken literally: become a child, carry your cross, and give to everyone who asks. These statements are designed, as exaggerated expressions, to suggest that extreme (though not literal) action is necessary. On the other hand, many of these radical demands contain degrees of literalness, that is, they are literal “in some circumstances” over against “in all situations.” In some circumstances, such as going the second mile and letting everything possessed be taken away, the demands apply to events where a greater power inflicts abuse. In every situation, such as renouncing oneself and losing oneself, the demands are definitive orders to obey.

Relevance to Mission

How do these outrageous stipulations apply to contemporary missionaries? A cursory reading of the text reveals an unchanging core of requirements in the shockingly drastic suggestions of the concise and riveting message of Jesus. He leaves no wiggling room (except where the radical requirements cannot be taken literally). He allows no options. There is no debate. Christ must be put above everyone and everything else (Col 1:16-18). He must be obeyed (Luke 6:46).

1. Disturbing challenge. The Lord confronts self-confidence, overturns self-indulgence, and shatters self-sufficiency. Faced with these demands, the missionary feels powerless. And, even when the radical expressions are placed in their contexts, they are still disturbing. There is always the temptation to diminish their relevance, to decrease their importance. One can kill their intensity through endless exegesis. Or, as it has often happened, one can reduce their rigors by assigning them to certain groups, such as monastic orders, which relieves the masses of their responsibility. Though the interpretation of these extreme demands is not always literal, they cannot be set aside as simply pious daydreaming.

When the situation warrants it, missionaries must risk their lives. When circumstances require it, they must share their material possessions, must forgive their oppressors, and must walk humbly among the proud. Of course, the committed will constantly fail (though they must not declare the undertaking impossible nor assign the responsibility to someone else). Instead, missionaries will suffer the tension and reproach associated with the challenge of their calling. Rather than alleviate the pain through clever interpretation, rather than relegate the task to others, ambassadors of the gospel will take seriously the radical demands of their Lord (in spite of the disturbance these requirements bring). Missionaries accept being challenged beyond their capability, troubled by their failures in trying to do the difficult, but they are happy that it ignites their faith to anticipate the fullness of the kingdom, to dream of heaven where these extreme commitments will be a way of life.

2. Deliberate acceptance. The motive for accepting the extravagant demands of Jesus revolves around the coming of the kingdom. The sovereignty of God calls for radical change—conversion (Mark 1:14–15). The reign of God overturns established norms, traditional structures, and past behavior. A new lifestyle, a comprehensive reorientation of values, is required. When these demands are detached from the kingdom, they slide into rigid legalism. When stripped of the kingdom connection, they become misguided humility that has no place in missionary service (Col. 2:20–23).

The motive for living these radical requirements is threefold. First, they are a stepping stone to being with him (Mark 3:14; 5:18). To walk with him, to be his disciple, means sharing his mission, accepting his fate. Thus, we leave family and face opposition to be “worthy” of him (Matt 10:37–38), to be his disciple (Luke 14:26–27; 33). Second, these extravagant demands are the way of being godly. In other words, the reason to love others, especially those who do not love us, is to become like God (Matt 5:45). We are called to “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). This “perfection” or maturity is unconditional love, namely, sacrificing oneself for the good of others. By behaving in this way, the follower of Christ “lives in God and God [lives] in him” (1 John 4:7–11, 16b).

Third, these outrageous requirements are an avenue of blessing. The missionary accepts the difficult conduct required by Jesus with good reason. In announcing the extraordinary demands, the Lord mentioned what—at first glance—might appear to be a self-seeking motive. Such attitudes and behaviors are the conditions for having treasures in heaven (Matt 19:21), obtaining life (Mark 9:43), or entering the kingdom (Mark 9:47). Everything surrendered for Jesus’ sake will be restored a hundred times over (Mark 10:30). Deeds done in secret will be rewarded openly (Matt 6:6). Therefore, the messenger of God becomes a servant, shares with the poor, avoids anger, does not judge (or condemn), endures violence, and loves his enemies because rewards accompany such conduct. In other words, silhouetted behind these challenging demands is the golden rule: “do unto others what you would have others do unto you” (Matt 7:12). Clearly, such attitudes and behaviors have their compensation (Luke 6:38).

Radical living is not the commitment of a select few, elite saints huddled in a secluded community off the beaten path. The extraordinary demands of Jesus are addressed to all who believe. Taken as a whole, situated in their proper context, and correctly understood, these outrageous requirements are not—in the first century or in the twenty-first century—the responsibility of any particular group. They involve all who claim Jesus as their Lord. If missionaries had been more attentive to this fact in the past, if they were more attentive to it today, the aroma of Christianity would be compelling and the mission of God would be nearer to what he wanted it to be.

After attending Abilene Christian University and Fuller Theological Seminary, Ed Mathews received his Doctor of Missiology in 1980. He taught missions for thirty-eight years at Abilene Christian University. He was chairman of the Department of Missions for twelve of those years. During his tenure, he taught various missions courses: Theology of Mission, World Religions, Ethnotheology, History of Missions, Missionary Research, and Leadership Training by Extension. He retired in 2008. Ed continues to live in Abilene, Texas. He uses his time to write on missions, teach a Bible class on Sunday morning, and chair the mission committee at a local congregation.

Gailyn Van Rheenen. Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies. With Anthony Parker. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014. 512 pp. Hardcover. $26.47.

In the new edition of Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies, Gailyn Van Rheenen, with Anthony Parker, significantly broadens Van Rheenen’s first edition. By examining the expansive theological underpinnings of missio Dei, as well as current strategic missionary methods, Van Rheenen allows the practice of mission to grow out of God’s call to missions, into a transformational knowledge of practical ministry.

The book is divided into nineteen chapters, beginning with the overarching metanarrative of missio Dei in the Bible. Since this is a massive undertaking, I expected only a cursory nod to the biblical perspective on missions. However, the writers do an excellent job of bringing the central theme of the missionary story of God into focus in the first few chapters. Van Rheenen and Parker have drawn upon their numerous years of both academic and field experience to present the biblical foundations of mission.

Following the historical section are three chapters that stress the motive or “heart allegiance” for being a missionary and various types of missionaries, followed by the cycle of being a missionary. These chapters’ practical nature makes them valuable to the reader interested in becoming a missionary. Pre-departure through reentry time periods are surveyed. Because preparation and in-depth training is so vital to the success of long-term service, even prefield educational classes are suggested.

Readers should appreciate Van Rheenen’s efforts to communicate the nature of mission in the history of the church. The God who made covenant with the people of Israel, making them a light to the nations, is the same God who inspires missionaries today to stand up to injustice and spread the faith around the globe. Human history—and mission history—is a story of “people in relationship to God.”

It’s all about relationships! Another theme of the book is the need for culturally sensitive eyes as we approach cross-cultural missions. Foci on cultural awareness, living incarnationally, entering a new culture, learning from those around you, and becoming multicultural place the emphasis right where it needs to be—on the cross-cultural missionary. Although Van Rheenen does not give the missionary recruit all the tools needed to be successful, he does provide tools to begin to work out how to cross cultural boundaries successfully.

Much has been written about strategies for missions. This book arguably boils strategy down to the essentials and gives models and examples for planting and nurturing churches. The question, “What do I do about the money?” is addressed in a chapter on using money in missions and just may eliminate some of the serious dilemmas that historically have resulted in “division, jealousy, and trauma” on the field. New missionaries, and some old ones too, have a tendency to be naïve about money in initial stages of ministry. This chapter is a great place to start the discussion for making plans prior to reaching the field.

Van Rheenen does not shy away from the controversy associated with short-term missions but instead embraces the debate in chapter eighteen, “The Benefits and Challenges of Short-Term Missions.” He states, “North Americans who minister in a Third World culture are spiritually touched and transformed and begin to see the world with new eyes. The recipients of the missions, however, are frequently impacted in negative, though unintentional, ways” (431). Van Rheenen acknowledges the challenges of short-term missions and encourages people facilitating missions in modern churches to see both short-term and long-term efforts as vital to reaching the whole world.

The book accomplishes its task by including case studies and examples from current scenarios around the world, taking the reader on a journey of discovery in the world of missions. “Jim and Julie” (fictive prospective missionaries) are used to engage the reader and better assist in seeing ourselves in the role of missionary. Each chapter concludes with a “Reflection and Application” section that asks questions related to the chapter’s material, allowing the reader to apply the newly gathered information to her own life and ministry. “The Personal Inventory” portion of this section requires the student to reflect personally on what God is calling her to do with the newly gleaned material.

Van Rheenen’s highly revised book makes a fresh contribution to the education and preparation of prospective missionaries and new believers alike. This book could easily serve as an excellent resource or textbook for an introductory college course on missions, or for a congregation considering mission and cross-cultural engagements. By forming the conceptual framework for missions in theology and practice, this book helps the reader see herself in God’s call.

Linda Whitmer

Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies

Johnson University

Knoxville, Tennessee

Scott W. Sunquist. Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013. 448 pp. Hardcover. $21.48.

Fuller Theological Seminary has a long history of leadership in the global mission movement, and the recent contribution of the dean of the School of Intercultural Studies furthers that reputation. Scott Sunquist, dean since 2012, provides a comprehensive, balanced, and fresh introduction to world missions with his recently published book, Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. The weighty (448 page) volume is intended to serve as an introductory textbook, and would be most suitable for upper-level undergraduate or introductory graduate-level studies. It has been particularly well received in the missiological discipline.1

Several aspects of Sunquist’s personal background find expression in his writing. First, he is an academically accomplished historian, with earned degrees from Gordon-Conwell (MDiv) and Princeton (PhD) and a combined total of 27 years as professor of church and missions history at Trinity Theological College (Singapore), Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and now Fuller. He is author of several books, most notably the (to date) two-volume History of the World Christian Movement, coauthored with Dale Irvin.2 As a result, Understanding Christian Mission is replete with historical perspective and a wealth of footnotes that reveal a familiarity with primary sources and wide exposure to current literature, both academic and popular. Second, Sunquist is an ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church (USA) whose personal theological leanings are also shaped significantly by Pentecostal pneumatology and Eastern Orthodox spirituality.3 The volume is richly theological throughout, bringing Orthodox and “Spiritual” (to use Sunquist’s term) correctives to an ecumenical Protestant perspective. Within that mix, he also values the contributions of Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism, so that the volume at times feels like a round-table conversation. Third, Sunquist is a missionary and evangelist at heart, having served in Singapore for eight years and with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship for six years. Thus, while the pragmatic contributions of his book take a tertiary position behind history and theology, he still writes with the added flair of first-hand experience and with conviction of the essentiality of active evangelism.

Understanding Christian Mission is organized into three parts: History, Theology, and Practical Issues. Thus he follows the tripartite structure that has become standard in missiological introductions of recent years4 but alters the standard order, giving history the primary place before theology. This is not a denigration of theology but rather an admission that constructive theology relies upon a clear perception of our current historical situation. The entire volume—all three sections—ends up being quite pointedly theological, as the book’s thesis demonstrates: “Mission is from the heart of God, to each context, and it is carried out in suffering in this world for God’s eternal glory” (xii). The Preface expands on this thesis, illuminating the all-important interplay of suffering and glory that Sunquist traces throughout the volume. The Introduction is substantive (21 pages) and helpful but somewhat disjointed, covering the history of the discipline of missiology, the varied definitions of mission, and nine “contextual concerns” that shape the current missiological discussion.

Part 1 covers mission history in five chapters. Ancient and Medieval Mission surprisingly skips over the New Testament era to focus on the monastic movements of the fourth through fifteenth centuries. Colonial Missions, Part 1, covers the global expansion of Roman Catholicism. Colonial Missions, Part 2, fills a common lacuna with its presentation of early Catholic and Protestant missions to the ancient Christian peoples of the Near East, then presents an overview of missions to the First Nations of North America. Chapters 4 and 5 are an overview of Western Missions (1842–1948) and Postcolonial Missiologies (1948 to present), with significant emphasis on the changing missional thrust of the conciliar movements (Edinburgh, IMC, WCC, Lausanne, etc.). In each phase of history, Sunquist focuses on the “issues” that shaped missiological thought and practice: slavery, colonialism, confrontation with other religions, the role of women, unity in mission, secular theologies, and the rise of Pentecostalism, just to name a few. These “issue” discussions are elucidating and well chosen, but due to the breadth of coverage the factual historical overview is at times quite brief. The historically minded missions professor will want to provide supplemental material for his or her students.

Part 2 is the theological heart of the volume, presenting mission as flowing from the Triune God. Chapter 6, “Creator God as the Sending Father,” may be described as a well-worded restatement of storied theology in a missional hermeneutic, such as has become common fare in the vein of Chris Wright’s landmark work.5 Chapter 7, “Jesus, Sent as the Suffering and Sacrificing Son,” is a particularly well-rounded presentation of the centrality of Christ in Old Testament expectations, Gospel stories, early church experience, and eschatological fulfillment, with clear extrapolations for missions (most notably the nature of the gospel and the crucial role of suffering). In light of the faith malaise that confronts today’s university and seminary students, this chapter is especially appreciated. Chapter 8, “Holy Spirit in Mission,” is less impressive. The discussion of the Holy Spirit is generally helpful, but only occupies 13 pages before the attention turns completely to the missiological concepts of culture and contextualization for 26 pages. The rather tenuous connection is that the Holy Spirit works in all cultures. In the end, neither pneumatology nor culture theory is presented with the richness it deserves.

Sunquist describes Part 3 alternatively as an ecclesiology and as pragmatic issues facing mission today. It is some of each. Chapter 9 is indeed a very good ecclesiology, centering the church’s dual raison d’être in worship and witness. Chapter 10 then zooms in on witness, defining the church’s evangelistic role in a way that is biblically broad, evangelically sound, and full of conviction. Sunquist remarks, “There is something to offend pretty much everyone in this chapter” (315); I, for one, thought it right on target. Chapter 11 is less provocative—a basic introduction to the urban challenge such as one might get if Conn and Ortiz’s tome were boiled down to a concentrate.6 Chapter 12, on partnership, is particularly disappointing. Sunquist seems hardly to be aware of the significant dependency issues that are still propagated in the name of partnership, or at least does nothing to help students of mission become aware of them.7 The final chapter, on spirituality, is a superbly fitting conclusion, tying history, theology, and ecclesiology into one personally motivating package, taking a page from Bosch’s Spirituality of the Road.8

Helps at the end of the book include an appendix chart of twentieth-century ecumenical councils, an extensive bibliography organized topically, and scriptural and topical indexes.

The above summary highlights several of the strengths of the volume: a strongly theological approach, a thought-provoking historical analysis, and bold and faithful chapters on Christology, ecclesiology, evangelism, and spirituality. Another laudable characteristic of Sunquist’s writing is his ability to introduce major movements of Christianity in terms apprehensible to students. For example, his brief but well-placed introductions to the dispensationalism of J. N. Darby (110–11), Pentecostalism and A. B. Simpson (128), Hoekendijk and the Social Gospel (140–42), and the emergence of evangelicalism (159–61) help bring students up to speed without veering off topic. In general, Sunquist is to be commended for staying focused on mission thought while drawing perspective from a wide swath of religious and secular history.

Teachers of mission face a choice of approaches for an introductory missions course. Sunquist’s strengths and weaknesses can best be seen in comparison with other text options.9 One widely used text is Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions.10 While Sunquist offers a much broader introduction to mission than Tucker, the motivational and personal element that comes from reading stories of missionaries past is one of the most significant holes in Sunquist’s history.11 Consequently, a pairing of Sunquist and Tucker would be most welcome for students. Gailyn Van Rheenen, Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies, offers a much more strategic, how-to approach;12 Sunquist does not touch such practical aspects as worldview, culture shock, sustainability, church planting strategies, or reentry. Anthropology, long a staple component of missiology, gets barely a second glance. Students preparing for a missionary career would do well to start with Sunquist as a foundation for strategic training in the vein of Van Rheenen. And then there’s Bosch. While David Bosch’s Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission should not be classified as introductory-level, it shares much in common with Sunquist: historical-theological study of mission, trinitarian rooting of the missio Dei, and concern for evangelical ecumenism. Each of Bosch’s twelve “Elements of an Emerging Ecumenical Missionary Paradigm” finds clear expression in Sunquist (though without Bosch’s clarity of organization). However, a comparison with Part 1 of Bosch—164 pages of biblical exegesis—reveals Sunquist’s final major weakness. The bulk of Sunquist’s theology is systematic rather than biblical.13 Sunquist’s approach avoids Bosch’s neglect of the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit but fails to offer students the richness of insight that comes through exegetical wrestling with the most primary of primary sources: the Holy Scriptures.14

Even with its shortcomings, Understanding Christian Mission stands as one of the most well-rounded introductions to Christian mission today. Teachers of mission would do well to consider it as a key textbook, especially if supplemented as noted above. Moreover, students of any discipline who want a one-volume entrance to the world of missiology will do well to start here. Sunquist is to be thanked for this key contribution; may many take up his call to participate in the suffering and glory of Christ!

Danny Reese

Missionary

Huambo, Angola

ZANE PRATT, M. DAVID SILLS, AND JEFF K. WALTERS. Introduction to Global Missions. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2014. 280 pp. $34.99.

Zane Pratt, M. David Sills, and Jeff Walters offer a new introductory text for undergraduate and seminary students on the nature and challenges of global missions. Introduction to Global Missions contains minimal footnotes and concise definitions of important nomenclature as it builds a cumulative case for missions, especially to underserved and unreached people groups. Divided into four sections, the book explores biblical and theological foundations of missions, the history of global missions, reflections on culture and contextualization, and missions practices, particularly emphasizing church planting and discipleship.

The volume initially appears to be a welcome contribution for the conundrum of many introductory courses in missions: the choice between the standard, highly technical works (few of which garner even a mention in this book) or texts so basic, so introductory, that they serve students little, if at all. Written by three experienced practitioner-scholars with previously published material in the field, this volume looked to fill the gap in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, Introduction to Global Missions ultimately disappoints with its narrow theological vision, often dated and clunky syntax, and unnecessary caricatures of those outside the evangelical fold.

From the outset it is an echo chamber of mutual affirmation. The book is written by three men who currently or previously were colleagues at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, published by B&H Academic (an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Lifeway Christian Resources), and endorsed almost exclusively by Southern Baptists. A more forthcoming title would have been Introduction to Southern Baptist Global Missions. The text becomes increasingly narrow in its perspective and application as it progresses. It is not only lacking in the use of gender-inclusive language, due undoubtedly to the explicit complementarian perspective of the book, but there is no mention of women serving in any form of missions outside of the preface (vii) and a brief nod to Lottie Moon and Amy Carmichael (124). Throughout the volume, when the authors say “Christian” what they really mean is evangelical Christian. This form of “orthodox evangelical theology” consists of specific theological particularities including: Adam and Eve were historical persons (71), a calvinistic orientation on the sovereignty of God (73–74), biblical inerrancy (75, 211), original sin (76), eternal conscious torment in hell which will include the unreached (77, 83–88), strictly complementarian roles in regard to the office of pastor/elder/overseer (211), and yet a deafening silence and openness on specific eschatological interpretations (90–91) and other theological positions not central to the SBC tribe. This is most clearly seen in the description of an “unreached” people group as a population “in which less than 2% of the population is Evangelical Christians” (29, emphasis added).

Written in language like a popular-level work, this title would be inappropriate as a seminary-level textbook. This is made clear by the explicit identification of recent high school graduates as the readers of the text (149). Ironically, one of the most succinct and insightful sections of the volume, which discusses the challenges of culture shock and language acquisition, was excerpted from another work by M. David Sills (224–31). This unit merely serves to highlight the quality with which this entire text could have been written but was ultimately unable to accomplish.

Introduction to Global Missions also employs caricature to distinguish itself from other parts of the Christian tradition with which it has sometimes significant difference. This includes assumptions about issues like hermeneutics:

The fact that unregenerate men and women are capable of reading contradictory messages into the text of Scripture is no reason to despair of the ability of believers, with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, to discern the meaning of the Scripture clearly. Many methods of popular Bible study do indeed lead to wildly divergent interpretations of the text, but such methods often have little to do with what the text actually says in its context, and responsible exegesis leads to remarkably consistent results. (75)

There is also an immense minimization (less than a page covering the first five centuries after the New Testament) and caricaturing of Roman Catholic missions history:

Whether in the new world or in Asia, the lasting legacy of Roman Catholic missions was often a syncretistic mix of Catholic Christianity and animistic religions. Forced conversions, cultural differences, and poor methods of contextualization left many “converts” continuing to worship their old gods but with different names. Churches replaced shrines and saints replaced pagan gods, but only on the outside. Roman Catholic missions opened the world to Christianity, but later missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, faced great difficulty in unraveling the mix left behind by the early conquering churches. (106)

This prejudice is heightened by the entirety of the sixth chapter, which reflects only the positive contributions of “healthy missions,” a designation used numerous times in surveying the expansion of the Christian faith in “the Great Century and beyond” (115).

Lacking in overall depth and scope, Introduction to Global Mission fails to engage the contributions of many important scholars and practitioners or the larger Christian tradition generally. It provides the reader with no acknowledgement of any positive developments in missiology outside of Protestantism and recognizes no developments or documents to be as important as the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board and the Baptist Faith and Message, with an occasional nod to other evangelical organizations like the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization.

Ultimately, this text will be helpful to those wishing to create an introductory course in missions for conservative evangelical undergraduate students who theologically resemble the Southern Baptist Convention. Those looking for an introductory text outside of this slice of evangelicalism would do well to look elsewhere.

Michael Hanegan

Writer/Blogger

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Who Cares?

This issue of Missio Dei is about a spiritual legacy. Clyde Austin’s life confronts us with important questions, not the least of which is, Who cares? His story poses that question differently than the isolated missionary hears it, of course. The indifference of the rhetorical Who cares? still rings loudly in the ears of many struggling servants of the kingdom. So the question is indeed important, not on the lips of careless congregations but when senders truly ask themselves: Who cares? Who will?

The church might easily underestimate the importance of contemporary missionary care. Its emergence is so recent that one could imagine (wrongly) that missionaries have managed quite well without it for centuries. Not so long ago, however, William Carey’s life reiterated the Isaianic Who will go?—another enquiry1 the church had considered unnecessary. Just so, only a matter of decades ago, the avant garde of missionary care began posing questions that would move the church beyond caring about missions to caring about missionaries, from whether to send to how. Such faithful questions are a significant part of what Clyde Austin leaves us.

Yet, I call Austin’s legacy spiritual because it does more than merely pose important questions; it beckons the church to become the kind of caregivers who discover new questions and seek new answers. Here we have a vision of careful missions—not cautious but truly full of care. The ethics of sending, the virtue embodied in prudent practices of caregiving, the solicitude of sincere partnership: these give substance to the claim that missions is not simply the sacrifice of the sent but also the spiritual service of the sender. Who cares? The spiritual formation of the church in mission is at stake in the answer. Accordingly, I commend the present contributions to the reader and proceed to ponder some questions yet unasked.

Questions Unasked

What more might we say theologically about member care—or better, what care practices might grow out of a farther-reaching theology of mission? Conversely, what theology has, in fact, nourished current practices? If these appear to be a theologian’s rather than a practitioner’s questions, then we come yet again to that false dichotomy the church must steadfastly reject until our saying and doing are finally whole. In service of that resolution, I pose two ecclesiological questions.

Who are the missionaries that need care?

Altogether, this journal issue offers a snapshot of missionary care in Christian Churches/Churches of Christ and Churches of Christ (a cappella). It provides neither a sequence of shots nor a variety of vantage points; it is not even a panoramic picture. But it does give a glimpse of the subject matter from one angle. What we can observe in that single shot is a lacuna: domestic missions. According to C. Philip Slate’s article, working with the Exodus Movement (a US church-planting initiative) was an important part of Clyde Austin’s transition to professional member care. Yet, the possibility that domestic missions might require member care analogous to that of foreign missions lingers unaddressed as, in keeping with Austin’s own shift of focus to intercultural studies and cross-cultural reentry, member care seems to have concentrated almost exclusively on the special needs of foreign missionaries. Or so our snapshot would suggest.

The practical motivation for this focus is easy to understand: the especially challenging dynamics of crossing cultures, living in isolation from support systems, raising third culture kids, and reentering one’s culture of origin merit all the care that the present articles portray. Nonetheless, there may also be theological motivations for member care that challenge us to broaden the scope of the church’s practice. If missionary care is “simply the application of the biblical ‘one-another’ concepts to the context of missionary life,”2 a definition Dottie Schulz affirms in her article, then the theological meaning of missionary should indeed bear heavily upon the application of missionary care. In fact, the notion that missionary care is just an application of biblical one-another concepts so closely connects it with the normal practices of Christian community that it pulls the eye beyond the limits of domestic missions3 toward the ecclesiological claims of the missional church movement. Perhaps the whole church is sent as God’s missionary people and therefore relies upon mutual care. Perhaps so-called missionary care is simply Christian relationship with those disconnected from the community by physical distance—the geographical extension of normal Christian communal behavior, with special applications for special circumstances. And perhaps these ideas reveal that mutual care in the typical local congregation is actually too poor to sustain a missional lifestyle among all its members. It could be that the level (if not the specifics) of missionary care advocated in this journal issue, brought home to once sending and now sent congregations, is a missing piece of the Western church’s missional turn.

Moreover, it may be that missionary care has, of necessity, clarified the muddle that missions language recently became. (On that score, it should not surprise us that a practical discipline has managed what the theoretical discussion could not.) The local church is missional by nature, but it still fails to treat itself as such, which naturally makes the claim dubious. In order to resolve the ambiguity of our terminology, we must look to the concrete practices of sending—what Sonny Guild calls “seamless, comprehensive missionary care.” By equipping, commissioning, and caring for all those we would theologically describe as members of God’s missional people, with the same initiative and excellence we have learned to employ in the care of foreign missionaries, we begin to make sense of our language. Missionary care has much to teach us about what it means to be a missionary by virtue of the way the church practically treats missionaries.

What is the relationship of member care experts to churches?

The present contributions are written by member care professionals. Their expertise is the substance of the excellence we have learned to employ. For all its continuity with the normal practices of Christian community, missionary care at its best involves skills and insight that cannot be found in most local congregations. On one hand, a publication that disseminates knowledge about member care is, in its populist way, addressing that deficit. On the other, the same act of publication highlights the need to share resources strategically. Both of these—populism and strategic cooperation—touch directly upon the shared ecclesiological history of the two Stone-Campbell traditions that the authors represent. More specifically, strategic cooperation in missions was one of the key points of contention between the two.

The expertise of missionary care professionals was not, of course, in view during the late nineteenth century. The special skills involved in cross-cultural training, psychological screening, stress and trauma counseling, and reentry debriefing (to name only a handful of specialized care practices) now cast a different light on the question of organized cooperation. Clearly some mode of “networking resources” is necessary if every congregation is to provide comprehensive care to the missionaries it sends.4 Our missions experiences over the last hundred and fifty years, not least the urgent need for the care practices that have developed, have prompted us to look past old questions and ask new ones.

What, then, is the relationship of member care experts to the local church? This particular question was unimaginable only a short time ago in any tradition. It is admittedly not an unprecedented question, because numerous sorts of expertise have prompted similar reflection. Still, missionary care does create a new context for exploring these concerns. Specialized screening of prospective foreign missionaries, for example, raises questions about determining whom the Spirit would send. Is screening a determinative process by itself, or does it inform a congregational process of spiritual discernment? This is a practical question that deserves a theological answer. Similarly, should pastoral care of missionaries and missionary self-care be rooted in the spiritual practices of a Christian community? Can spiritual care be provided apart from community? And in any case, how do the roles of spiritual directors and shepherds relate to the work of member care specialists?

These questions are just examples. Every church tradition, whether its member care experts work within congregational or parachurch models, is obliged to continue seeking answers to the new questions that our participation in God’s mission generates. My hope is that the articles featured here will not only strengthen our current practices but enliven our imaginations, in order to contemplate what comes next in missionary care. God bless our enquiry. Soli Deo gloria.