Missions Moments

I hope that either before or after you read this post you will scroll down to read my "Pre-field Ponderings" post. I want to record various aspects of this "support-raising" phase so we can look back on it in the years to come.

At one of our meetings this month a lady told me about some friends who had made the decision to give up their jobs and move to China to minister there. She said that as a friend she looked at them in amazement because she could not imagine doing the same thing with her children because she woud feel so anxious. She then made the comment that if God wants someone to serve Him, they probably wouldn't feel anxious about it.

I nodded my head, not quite sure what to say. I did't want to contradict her, partially because maybe her friends aren't anxious about their new ministry and location. Now that I've had some time to think about that conversation, I now know how I will respond next time.

Sometimes I am anxious. Just because we know we are doing what the Lord wants us to do does not mean that we are never nervous, concerned, worried, etc. It doesn't mean we love all the things we have to do in connection with going to the mission field. Believe me, there are many times I wish I had on a pair of sparkly red shoes that I could tap together three times and say, "There is no place like Slovakia." Sometimes getting there is half the challenge. (Just ask my husband who made 31 phone calls to pastors yesterday.) We have to give those emotions over to the Lord (or at least we should!) just as every Christian does about the various things he/she faces in life.

The idea that a missionary is not at times anxious or nervous about God's call puts us on a pedestal. A very dangerous one from which we can easily fall. We are human, just like anyone else. I hope that no one looks at me as above them, better than them, or as somehow just a little superhuman. We are just like every other Christian who is serving the Lord, only our location is different. And yes, there are extra challenges in crossing the cultural line that those in the States will never experience, but that doesn't mean we are superior or especially talented.

One of my particular concerns is about our children. How will they adjust to a new country/language/culture? Will they fit in when they are back in the States for college? Will they learn the language quickly? Will they have friends or get the opportunity to participate in sports? Will they ever get to have a pet? How will we save money for college? Will they feel overwhelmed in the Slovak school? How will we balance ministry and family time? Will they be close with their extended family? Will they feel left out of both cultures?

Our children will be "3rd culture kids". They are Americans by birth, but will grow up in the Slovak culture. This is best illustrated by a craft Gavin's class made at ABWE this past summer. They took yellow and blue play dough and formed it into little balls. They started with one color - as Americans by birth. Then they rolled in some of the other color (say blue into yellow) more and more into each original ball and it began to blend. This represented the new culture. If you blend these together enough you get a very mottled ball. You can no longer separate the two colors from each other because they are worked into each other too much. They are no longer fully American (by birth, but not nature) and yet they are never fully Mexican, Slovak, Chinese, etc. (partially by nature, but never by birth). They are now a 3rd culture - a blend of two. For more on this you can read, Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds by David C. Pollock.

I fear there may be those who think they can never enter any full-time ministry because of their anxiety or nervousness about what it might hold. Those feelings are real and may never completely disappear (we are fallen creatures, after all!), but the Lord can help each one deal with these issues. He never asks us to bear more than we can or to do more than He gives us the strength to handle.