a simple guide to missions

7/28/2019 A Simple Guide to Missions

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Text Copyright @ 2013 Samuel John Werner

All Rights Reserved

Cover Photo provided by Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m4dgroup


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Table of ContentsIntroduction................................................................................................................................................4Before You Go............................................................................................................................................5

The Call.................................................................................................................................................5

3 Simple Words Of Advice....................................................................................................................6

Advertising Yourself..............................................................................................................................7While You're There.....................................................................................................................................9

Rest........................................................................................................................................................9Common Mistakes Missionaries Make...............................................................................................10

How To Lose Support..........................................................................................................................11

8 Language Learning Tips By Calvin Hanson...................................................................................11

3 Language Resources.........................................................................................................................128 Tips For Parenting Children In The Mission Field By Chris Lautsbaugh........................................13

When Laughter Finds You...................................................................................................................14

Marriage, The Missionary's Position By Miranda Heathcote ............................................................16Leaving The Mission Field......................................................................................................................19

Communicating Re-Entry To Your Supporters...................................................................................193 Things Not To Do After Returning From The Mission Field ..........................................................19Dealing With Jet Lag...........................................................................................................................20

Dealing With Culture Shock................................................................................................................21

Recommended Reading...........................................................................................................................22

Where There Is No Doctor..................................................................................................................22Ministering Cross Culturally...............................................................................................................22

When Helping Hurts............................................................................................................................23

Finding Your Mission...............................................................................................................................24Contributors.............................................................................................................................................25


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IntroductionMissionaries go through a lot. This simple book aims at helping each stage as it comes. Starting at the

beginning, this book will help you communicate to your supports better, make language learning easier,

and minimize the effects of culture shock. Simple, easy to read, and written by many real missionaries,you'll be sure to remember the advice for years to come.


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Before You GoMissions is different for everyone. It starts with the call.

The Call

You're in a church, conference, or small group meeting. Someone starts talking about missions and

your heart begins to pound. At the end, an invitation is given to those who feel God is calling themoverseas to come forward. Or, you read a book about a missionary or met a missionary. It happens

differently for everyone. For you, this is important. Remember how excited you were the first time you

heard about missions. This is your calling. This is your life.Let no one cause you to doubt this moment. You heard God's heart. Missions is the pinnacle of the

Great Commission. That first moment when missions became a reality is God's way of telling you it's

possible, even for you. No one is outside the realm of being a missionary. This is where it begins: The

Call.

It doesn't even have to be dramatic. When David Wilkerson was a pastor of a small church inPennsylvania, he simply decided to shut his TV off and use that time he'd been watching the tonight

show for prayer. One night while he was praying and God highlighted an article in Time magazineabout a teenager being charged with murder in New York City. Holy Spirit spoke to him and soon after

David was working with drug addicts and gang members in New York City. All it took was a

prompting, a whisper, a simple echo of God's heart. You've heard that whisper. Now what you do withit will make all the difference.

He's called you. He's moving you into a new expression of Christianity for your life. There is so much

ahead to prepare you for the next stage in life. You want to pray over what He's spoken to you. Process

it with God. You heard him speak. Clarify it, and get vision. God wants to reveal so much more.Don't rush. Slowly find His timing. Praying for weeks, months, or even years is necessary. Some

people wait years. No age is too old. Working together with God's timing, knowing when to move, iswhat you'll receive in prayer. Follow the peace you feel. Let peace be your guide. It may not makesense to quit your job, leave your family, and move across the world alone, but when peace is guiding

your steps, you know it's right.

There are several obstacles that can hinder you from entering the mission field. Issues like debt,relationships, or fear can throw you off the tracks. Finding your way through the sticky issues is all part

of being a missionary. God wants to teach you something through the hindrances.

Debt, or money, is often a stumbling block. While it's good to be clear of debt before you start raisingsupport, it's not a requirement. God can wipe out your debt in a matter of seconds. Or, He may want

you to steadily pay it off over time to put you in a season of preparation. God can use hindrances like

debt to steady the heart. The issue is your ability to manage finances. This is your chance to reassess

your money management skills. Maybe God's wanting to teach you a lesson on finances.Relationships are a hard obstacle for missionaries. The first way to handle a relationship that may

cause friction to enter the mission field is to talk about what God's spoken to you with them. If you're to

move forward with the relationship, you both must be on the same page. You both must hear from God.You should never have to drag your significant other into a calling that is not theirs. God will give you

strength to do what is necessary. He will speak to you both.

Fear can be your biggest hurdle. You'll come across it many times. Just remember, fear doesn't controlyou, God's word does. Don't listen to all the worries that people project on you when you tell them your

heart to be a missionary. Questions and 'what ifs' may control their life. Let God direct you, not the


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worries and stress of others.

16.1I know, you're excited. God stirs your heart every time you think of where He is leading you.

While it's good to be excited, don't rush into the mission field. We in the West live in a culture of

wanting and we want everything now. It's good to want, but God uses the process in between wantingand having to teach you. God's culture often involves waiting. While it's OK to start preparations and

pick a date as soon as you can, it's also OK if you think long term. God may be burdening your heart

for another 5 years before thrusting you into your ministry as a missionary. Understand that He has thebest for you, so sometimes waiting is His way of giving you the best. If you feel anxious and fidgety,

get into His presence and let Him speak to get your heart settled. Feel the timing and obey. Meekness is

built through patience.So get ready for a changing experience. Your life will change from this point on. Your experience

overseas will be a topic of discussion for the rest of your life. Take it all in and enjoy it. Before you

leave though I have three words of advice. Follow these three words and most of your experiences canbe solved.

3 Simple Words Of Advice

1. His Word is the FoundationWhat has God spoken to you? This is important. Has he told you to go a certain nation, people group,

or a specific ministry? When times are hard you must remind yourself why.Write down what God has spoken to you. It's your mandate and your assignment. This is from God to

you. Let no one cause you to doubt it.

2. Create CommunityInclude as many people as you can on your journey by collecting people's email addresses. Start a list.

Send out updates to let people in on your life overseas.

Be real with your supporters, they want to pray for you. Send them prayer requests regularly, sharewith them the hard times and the praise reports. People want to be apart of your adventure.

Don't isolate yourself. Invite people into your journey. From your home overseas or your current one,

let people come over. Have dinner with people. Have coffee or tea with them. Get to know the peoplearound you. Doing this will help fight against isolation.3. Steward Money

Managing money is your opportunity to build trust. People will watch what you do with their money.

Make your finances accountable. Create a budget. Send it to them. They will like to see how they'rehelping.

Instead of asking people for money, share with them your vision. Tell them the victories to inspire

them about life. People aren't interested in hearing about how much money you lack. People want togive money to a purposeful, trustful person. Share with them your heart, not your need. Be open with

finances. Accountability is good.

Many of these words can be a source of struggle. Returning to the original words God spoke to you

can help you find your way through difficult times. If you're feeling isolated, find friends. Money isalways a sticky issue. But, as with any vocation, missionary or not, you can squeeze the budget if

needed.

All missionaries was to know what the secret is to raising your own support is. The answer is easy:advertising.

Advertising Yourself

Most missionaries are faced with raising their own support. Raising finances is challenging and


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difficult when first entering the mission field or even 10 years of being a missionary. I remember

when I first chose to raise support. I didnt sleep for weeks. It terrified me to send letters and

communicate to people that I had no money and that I need theirs. It's very humbling. But raising

support isnt about money. Raising support is about sharing what Gods doing in your life and how hesusing you to do amazing things.

Raising funds can be looked at like advertising for a business. Ive often correlated running a ministry

to running a business. Many fundamental elements overlap. Try swapping the word fundraising withadvertising. They are different yet similar in many ways.

Pretend youre running a business. You want to communicate to people a product or service. You send

out brochures, have a website, a blog, and use social media to spread the news. The more people knowabout your product or service, the easier it will be for them to remember when theyre out shopping.

Its just like being a missionary. You want to advertise to people what youre doing so they remember

you. It's as simple as keeping the lines of communication open.Email. These days, most communication can be done on the internet. The best way to roll out your

new advertising campaign is to start building an email database. Start collecting email addresses of

people you know. Start a regimented schedule of keeping these people up to date with your life. Email

them once a fortnight or even once a week. You want to inform them what is happening in your life butnot overwhelm there inbox. You can even divide people up in different groups and start a prayer team

or pastoral care team and update them up on more personal things.

Snail Mail. Not everyone has an email address. For these people, start a snail mail list. Send out anewsletter, but not as often as you would your email list. Costs can be higher but you can put more

words and pictures into a couple sheets of paper or a pamphlet than in an email. I find people are more

willing to read a piece of paper than a large email. Sending this out once a quarter should be finedepending on how much you want to share with people.

Website or Blog. Having a website or blog is great to direct people too that youve just met. You can

update this as often as you want. Just including people in on your journey as a missionary can be very

effective with daily, short updates. People love hearing about what its like living in a different cultureor country. I heard one missionary had a blog and posted one picture every day with a small caption

its very easy and doesnt take much time. Your supporters will love it.

Social Media. Connecting your website or blog to your social media platform (Facebook, orkut,google+, twitter) is great for advertising to all your friends and often, even to your friends friends.

Just be careful. With all the privacy issues on social media you dont know who could end up reading,

especially if youre in closed country to Christianity.Speaking Arrangements. A great way to get staff, prayer support, finances is through speaking

arrangements. Tell people ahead of time when you plan to arrive in your home country or city. Ask

them if they know anyone that would be interested in hearing about your experiences as a missionary.You could speak at home groups, churches, and youth groups. You can even set it up yourself and

arrange a little gathering at a friends or familys home.

Being consistent is the key. These are just someways of communicating to people about your life as a

missionary. If you dont tell people about your life they will forget about you. Its normal. Thats whyyou have to be deliberate in making sure you stay apart of their lives by advertising your life.


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While You're ThereIt's easy to stay busy. There will always be something to do, someone to meet, and a need that

demands your attention. The option to keep working is always staring you in the face, it never blinks.

You can kill yourself with 'busy' and slowly you start to sacrifice the loves in your life: friends, family,and yourself. You don't want this to happen, not in work, ministry, or anything. Rest is your way out.

Rest

No one should feel guilty for resting. Schedule your week and make sure rest finds it's way in there

somehow. Be deliberate. Rest is a command from God. The Sabbath was created for it. God wants us torest. When I feel fatigued, I try to find the area that needs rejuvenating:

1. Body

Physical jobs wear down our bodies. I've worked some labor intensive job in my life. They're not fun.

After 60+ hours of work in a week my body starts to tell me it's time to rest.

2. EmotionsWhen serving overseas, you experience life in raw form. Seeing abject poverty can have a toll on your

emotions. Processing emotions is different for everyone. It's good to find what works best for you.3.Mind

Walking in the streets of an Asian city can be mentally exhausting. Dodging anything from a cow to

any kind of feces is part of the daily journey. You constantly have to be aware. Although you onlytravel to one place in the day, you feel exhausted. This is where you need to direct your mind on

something that turns your brain off.

Without rest, you'll burnout. We're not superhuman. Humans we're made to rest. Everyone rests in

different ways, their way of winding down. Knowing what you need is important. Here's a few ways Ifind rest.

Reading Watching movies

Writing

Sudoku

Walks (in peaceful places)

Exercise

Cooking

Sleep

Playing Chess

There are many benefits to resting like keeping you fresh and alert. When you find yourself doing too

much you'll soon be coming against sickness, anxiety, forgetfulness, and being easily irritated. Givingyourself a break will combat those symptoms. Find the area (body, emotions, mind) that is bringing

you down. Try to recognize what brings you rest and integrate them into your daily routine. Even if you

only get 15 minutes you can find something that can fill your tanks. It can make a huge difference.Rest is something we often associate with weakness. If a sports player rest, he's jeopardizing his team.

If someone calls in sick, they can be labeled unreliable. God forbid a missionary goes on vacation, but

missionaries also need rest. Don't let others tell you what your body needs. If you need to take sometime off, don't feel bad. Your health is important, even your mental health. So rest and be happy. God

won't mind.

If you don't rest you'll be prone to mistakes. Mistakes come in all shapes and size. You will make


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mistakes as a missionary but make sure you learn from them. Learning from your mistakes is a

guarantee against burnout and whatever else that can come with living overseas. So don't feel bad for

the mistakes, just make sur eyou learn from them. Here's some mistakes I've seen many missionaries

make.

Common Mistakes Missionaries Make

Whether it's preparing to go, going, being there, or leaving, there is a lot of room for mistakes. Sadly,

people are less forgiving in the ministry world than they are in the working world. Here's a few tips I

hope will help you.Not communicating to your supporters, friends, and family is a huge mistake. After arriving in the

mission field, you get busy. You get so busy you forget to tell people back home what you're doing. If

you don't tell people about what's going on, they'll forget about you. Communication is important. Notcommunicating can create isolation. It can alienate you from the people back home. You may have a

community in the ministry that supports you but you need people back home supporting you also.

Communication will remind people you're alive, doing what you said you'd be doing, and wanting to

include them in your ministry. Without communication, many missionaries and ministries struggle.

Not keeping a budget will hurt you. Knowing where your money goes each month will give youconfidence. With a budget, you'll know what you have and what you need. Without a budget, things

come up and you throw money at unexpected events press on you. With a budget you know whetheryou can afford it right now or if you need to postpone it. Having a budget also helps you prepare for

the future. It's good to think a few months ahead when it comes to finances. Realistically, it's hard to

keep a budget as a missionary because you don't know how much will be coming in each month. But,regardless of your monthly support, having a budget is still good because you know how much you will

need and how much you need to raise.

Doing too much will burn you out. You can get caught up in how much need there is when you go to apoor nation. There is so much need. It can weigh on you. This is a big cause for people leaving the

ministry. This can cause burn out, health problems, and bitterness. Keeping your relationship with the

people you minister too is as important as giving yourself rest and time to process. Above all of it,making sure your time with God isn't interrupted.There is so much room in the ministry for mistakes. God forgives, but people are less forgiving.

Keeping a humble spirit and recognizing where you may have fallen short is important in ministry.

Doing that will help people be more likely to forgive you. But, learning to forgive people who wrongyou is just as important. Don't worry about the mistakes though, just make sure you learn from them.

Support raising for missions can be tough. You send out more emails, you lose support. You send out

less, you lose support. You give up and out of no where money starts to come in. It may seem randombut support is a craft, and art, something that needs to be carefully managed and organized. There are

ways to increase support and ways to lose support. Here's a few ways you'll guarantee that your bank

account will slowly deplete.

How To Lose Support

Your supporters love to hear from you, unless you're annoying and predictable. There are someguidelines missionaries like to use. There's different techniques as well. I've made mistakes and

learned from them, hopefully. Here's some mistakes I made and some I've seen others make when

trying to raise support.

Always asking for money.

Never thanking anyone.


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Saying your doing something and changing your plan all the time.

Never giving personal updates, being overly vague.

Not visiting your supporters when you return home.

Never sending personal emails to your closest supporters.

Support raising is important, and so are the people you're asking to support you. Make sure you put the

people first, not the money.

Shifting gears, I want to focus on the language aspect of being a missionary. Language learning is ahuge part of living in a foreign nation. It's a main obstacle between you and those you desire to minister

too. Calvin Hanson has some great tips for learning a new language.

8 Language Learning Tips By Calvin Hanson

As my wife and I began the walk toward our long-term call to Spanish speaking countries, we soonrealized this meant we were about to embark on a journey bigger than we know: language learning.

Currently, we are in Guadalajara, Mexico taking an 8 week Spanish school. This topic is fresh in our

minds and hearts, I thought Id share some tips with you. These will apply best to you if you are fullyimmersed (or going to be) into a culture.

1. Slow down and enjoy the journey.Language is big part of life. Think about it in terms of when you were a baby and growing

up. It took years to grasp the language. Unless you really have a gift (which some people do, and Im alittle jealous of), it will take years for it to become somewhat natural.

2. Celebrate the small victories.

If you learned 20 new words in a week, grab yourself a coke! Its 20 words that will help youcommunicate. Every Friday after our weekly exam, Camille and I find some way to treat ourselves

whether its tacos and horchata or a cute ring from the market.

3. Be humble and brave.This is probably my biggest lesson learned. My pride and frustration rises up in class after the 17th

correction of my mispronunciation of alrededor. Learning is a soft word for failing until you succeed.

The temptation after a while of speaking is to stop out of fear of being wrong or saying the wrongthing. Open your mouth and let the beautiful mess come out! As native speakers correct you, take it

humbly and learneven if its 17 times!

4. Make it Fun.

Weve learned that our fuel for language learning comes from hanging out and befriending people.They dont correct you every time that you mispronounce todo (bless our teachers soul). Other fun

things include: Pick up some slang, eat with locals, play a local sport, watch a favorite movie in your

new language with English subtitles or read an article or topic that you are interested in.6. Splurge once a week by speaking English or your native tongue.

Its a gift to communicate in your mother tongue and nothing makes that more clear than not speaking

in it for a while. Skype your family or speak to some others that speak your language and watch as you

are refreshed as you freely express yourself. Camille and I have been in this language school for amonth and its amazing how God teaches us rich spiritual lessons through the process and uses us with

our limited vocabulary to speak truth and hope into peoples lives! It is possible to learn a language and

I encourage you all to join in! Why bother learning another language? Learning another language isntjust an academic exercise. Its actually a key to unlock the heart of the people and culture. In missions,

discipleship can be difficult when we cant speak the heart language of the people. Plus, its really fun to

communicate with another culture in their language!Ive talked to many long-term missionaries and they talk about something being unlocked when

communication is in the mother-tongue. Even the apostle Paul knew at least two languages (Acts


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21:40, Acts 21:37-39) and strove to become like the people to win them to Christ (1 Corinthians

9:20-23).

-By Calvin Hanson

3 Language Resources

There are many ways to learn a new language. University is always an option, But from what I've

heard from others and from my own experience, it isn't always the most effective. Immersion into the

language is the best technique. If move into a country and join a ministry where no one speaks yournative tongue, I bet you'll pick it up pretty fast.

Learning a language is a long process. It's something that usually takes about 12 months to fully pick

up the language. University can studiously pound you with language book but auditory comprehensionand speaking won't be there. You may learn to read, write, and theoretically speak but when you start

to converse with the nationals, you'll see it takes a little more than book smarts. But, that's a general

statement and university may work for some. I've attached some links below from companies that

teach languages using different methods. But overall, the best method is to sit in front of the native

speaker and ask the questions in their tongue and try to understand and speak with them.http://www.rosettastone.com/ Rosetta Stone is a thorough digital teacher on CD and online. They've

been around a while. Their method is to match pictures with words. It's a great focus on vocabbuilding.

http://livemocha.com/ Live Mocha is an online tutor. It has it's own social network. People who

fluently speak the language you are learning are available for questions and suggestions. It's not sovisual and leans more towards a conversational method.

http://www.pimsleur.com/ The pimsleur that I've used in the past is mostly auditory. It's very effective

for people who are auditory learners. It's also conversational. You'll hear a conversation between twopeople and then, slowly, breaking down each syllable, it will describe what each word mean.

Each of these resources are good, but you have to know which is best for you. I'm a visual person.

For me, Rosetta Stone was a great fit.Missionaries have so many added stressors than your normal, everyday 9-5 worker. Parenting is one of

them. It's not the same as parenting a child in the west, and throw in the ministry aspect side of it and

you have your work cut out for you. Chris Lautsbaugh has some survival tips for parents in the mission

field.

8 Tips For Parenting Children In The Mission Field By Chris Lautsbaugh

Parenting is challenging in everyday life. When you add the obstacles of the missions field to an

already difficult endeavor, it can feel like a game of survival.

1. Pursue obedience. The Christian life requires us to count the cost. Ultimately life on the missions

field is the same as any other occupation. We need to be obedient to the Lord.The mission field brings with it certain occupational hazards. Within the first year of arriving in South

Africa, my son was diagnosed with an assortment of random sicknesses such as Roseola, German

Measles, and Hepatitis A. Even diseases he was immunized for in the US, but were not the same strainwhen we arrived in Africa. It brings pain to see your kids suffer for the choices of the parents, but we

need to trust God and be obedient

2. Maintain your priorities. It's easy to say "Family first, ministry second" (of course God is ultimatelyfirst). Walking this out and adjusting to the changing seasons of a family can be imposing.

My sons still struggle at times when I walk out the door for ministry. It is essential in missions to


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create boundaries. These must change in various seasons of life and ministry.

This is an area I personally struggle in since "work" is readily accessible on my laptop any time of the

day. I aim to set firmer boundaries on my work time to support the value I have on family.

3. Maintain your marriage. You must go on date nights and set times to connect with your spouse. Youowe it to your kids to love your spouse and invest in this relationship A poor marital relationship will

spill over into the life of the family. As well, the stresses of ministry cannot be compartmentalized.

They affect your marriage.4. Accept reality. Kids slows down the pace of ministry. Many try to fight this reality only to collapse

in exhaustion. In order to maintain your priorities, you need to say "No" to many opportunities. Late

nights of ministry can no longer occur for both parents.As the children get older, you must factor in time for schooling, whether traditional or home

schooling. No one speaks of this glamorous phase of the missionary family life.

In my opinion, having kids on the field makes juggling ministry harder, naturally creating more spaceand balance in both your personal and family life.

5. Involve your kids. My kids love being involved in the ministry. They enjoy having people over. We

share stories at the dinner table of what is happening in people's lives. We have plans for them to begin

traveling with me on ministry trips.6. Find friends. This is most important for the children, but nearly as key for the parents. Our lives as

a family in missions improved greatly when we found other families with children of a similar age as

our own, and they were not co-workers. This gives us an outlet to relax and the kids time to connectand play.

7. Happy kids create long term workers. Keeping your children happy and connected can actually

lengthen your time on the field. If my kids were struggling, the temptation to return home would begreater. Now, with our kids loving South Africa, the thought of returning home is harder to envision

than remaining and upsetting their lives! Engaging in missions as a family creates stability,

lengthening your stay.

8. Give yourself grace!! The season of parenting coupled with missions is a stretching and difficultone. It seems you engage in many activities, but none of them are done particularly well. Your marriage

is not as close as it once was. Your ministry is curtailed by the new responsibilities parenting brings.

The good news is there is grace. God does not base our acceptance upon ministry numbers or being theperfect spouse or parent. He understands the seasons of life. He created them after all!

By Chris Lautsbaugh

Missions doesn't have to be all serious. Let's laugh a little. The awkward situations we encounter in

other cultures can be life giving. Yes, we do serious things, but we need laughter. Otherwise, we'll alldie over here.

When Laughter Finds You

My wife and I were in Pokhara, Nepal not too long ago. She became ill (God bless Nepali food). After

a few conversations about vomit color, burp smells, and bowel movements with random people we just

met, we figured out what was happening. She needed a certain type of medicine. I walked down thestreet to the first pharmacy I could find. In Nepal, pharmacies are small shops with medicine piled to

the ceiling. I walked up to the shop, looking to the man inside I said the name of the medicine to him.

What? He didn't understand.I repeated the name of the medicine. He continued to stare at me. Do you have that medicine? I

asked.


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He looked confused. I'm wondering if this guy speaks any English.

I said the name of the sickness my wife had. Do you know what that is?

Uh, no. He said. What kind of pharmacist doesn't know that? It's a common sickness. I persisted.

Stomach. I grabbed my stomach and made a sick face, charades are your friend overseas. " Sick." Irepeated.

Huh? Sex? He looked really confused now.

No! I quickly replied. Something clicked inside my head. Do you work here?No, he said. He then walked away and another man came out of nowhere and moved behind the

counter. I asked him for the medicine and he quickly retrieved it.

I had to laugh.While were in Mozambique a while ago, we lived in community; lots of people with lots of

backgrounds. We decided to have a feast one night. We wanted to cook coconut curry. One thing that

challenged us in Mozambique was finding each ingredient. It's pretty remote. We spent a couple ofweeks tracking down all the items. One item that really challenged us was the coconut milk. One day I

decided I'd use my Portuguese to track down this last item. We took a taxi to town, walked down the

road, and started talking with the man at the shop.

Voce tem coco leche? I asked him if he had coconut milk (coco leche) in my best portuguese.One word I didn't learn in Portuguese was poop. Who would need to know that, right? And have you

know it, the word for poop and coconut are very similar: coco. It's all in the intonation.

So there I was, asking the man for poop milk. My arm itched from mosquito bites so I was scratchingit as I asked him. He looked at me, half smiling, and scratching his arm. I could see his brain was hard

at work.

Coco leche? He repeated slowly, rubbing his arm.Yes, for drinking. I said in Portuguese and made the motion of drinking a cup of coconut milk. Now

he looked really confused. He repeated my actions. He had this strange, confused smile on his face, like

he was either about to laugh or run away terrified.

My wife, who speaks perfect Portuguese, was listening and watching all his take place. She quicklyfigured out what was going on. She shot off a string of Portuguese words I didn't understand, they

exchanged laughter, and I felt awkward. She later explained what was going on. We eventually found

what we needed.I love cultures and language. It definitely adds spice to being a missionary. If we don't laugh in the

mission field, we'll become bitter and joyless. The world needs laughter, and so do you. Lighten your

mood, take life less seriously, and let down your guard. I dare you. You'll see there's much laughter andjoy waiting for you on the other side.

Being married overseas has it's benefits. There is a huge difference between being single as a

missionary and being a married missionary. Miranda Heathcote has insight into being a marriedmissionary.

Marriage, The Missionary's Position By Miranda Heathcote

I didn't get much sleep last night. There were four of us sharing a room at the YWAM centre in

Burtigny, Switzerland, and it is HOT. Then it rained, right onto the feet of one of the girls in a top bunk

- which led to some major disturbances as you might imagine. Thing is, we don't do single occupancyrooms in YWAM centres, not unless you're a visiting speaker and really need your rest.

I usually get to avoid the realities of close communion with people other than my husband. We joined

the mission as a married couple, so I've never had to face the prospect of sharing a bedroom withpeople not of my choosing. At least with him I know what drives me nuts at 3 in the morning.

Time Together


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It may or may not be obvious to you, that this is not the only good thing about being married and in

missions. Apart from the sleeping arrangements, I also love the fact that we get to spend lots more time

together than most couples. We have traveled together, led teams together, managed an office together

and attended conferences together. I remember a friend, in an attempt to justify her own emotionalinfidelity, saying I wouldn't understand because I wasn't ever working alongside attractive men without

my husband nearby. Well, opportunities for infidelity exist wherever there are people, but it is true that

Tim and I share a lot of our life experiences in common and that this has built our friendship.Life in a Goldfish Bowl.

Working together isn't always what it's cracked up to be, however. There are times, quite frankly, when

Tim drives me crazy. Managing that tension when your lives are on display as The ResidentMissionaries, isn't always easy. I've learned to be quite frank with our team, coaching them to expect

disagreements - and how to word through them to a place of agreement - as part of any healthy

relationship. I like to think this gives them all permission to not have to be perfect. It takes a while tosee it as a positive thing to work all that out in the company of others.

A True Story.

I guess living your marriage very publicly is one of the main realities for a missionary couple,

especially one that works closely together. I'll never forget the time when we lived in ruralMozambique - in a house we'd built ourselves that had no glass in the windows, only mosquito mesh -

when we were enjoying a cool shower together and the local pastor came by to visit. He called out a

greeting, we shut off the water and stifled our giggles, knowing he'd be sure to hear us. He sat down onthe porch to wait for us, leaving us the choice between pretending we weren't in, or getting dried and

dressed as quietly as possible and then going out to greet him as though nothing were amiss. He left

before we'd got to the dressed part. It was hard to look him in the eye after that.Your challenge, should you choose to accept it. Being married and in missions does lead to some

goldfish bowl moments and this pressure to have the perfect relationship can be dire for some couples.

Let's be honest, missionary marriages encounter all the usual pressures, plus some extra ones that

would make having a perfect relationship an impossible goal, if it weren't already. Really, a missionarymarriage is like any marriage plus language-learning, cultural adjustments, international moves,

financial pressures (fill in the blank) added on top. It's like Survivor marriage, if you will.

Strength for the Journey.My personal experience is that these pressures have shown me the worst and the best of both Tim and

myself, and through our responses to them, we have gotten to know one another incredibly well.

Invariably one of us handles a situation better than the other and can bear a bit more of the load at thatparticular time. I have come to really appreciate the strengths of my husband and as we've come to

know one another's capacities, we know better what to get ourselves into.

Freedom to Partner Effectively.I guess the thing I love the most about being in missions together is the flexibility we have in the way

we live our lives. For a season, Tim might have more ministry commitments so I pick up the slack at

home; then for a season I might need to give more time to ministry, and he can enable me to do that.

The freedom to be constantly adjusting ourselves has made it possible for us to live out our belief inmarriage being a true partnership. I know this is a gift and that few other lifestyles would support that.

Travel buddies.

Oh, and of course we get to enjoy the great beauty and diversity of the world, and there is no doubtthis has enriched our relationship. Doesn't mean there aren't days I wouldn't love to wring his neck, but

still ... he would have lived a beautiful life.

It's not my style to distill life into half a dozen 'How To' points. I mean, I could do that - having datenights, praying together, agreeing on vision and what that looks like in a particular season, getting time

out for some sort of time of marriage enrichment, being clear about when you have your 'wife' hat on

and when you have your 'team-mate' hat on. Sure, all of this is helpful and good.


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Disclaimer.

It's not the destination that matters. For me, life is a journey of constantly growing and learning, of

falling down and getting up again, of renewing commitments and figuring out what those look like

when lived out in the day-to-day. Sometimes the 'How To' works, and sometimes it's simply notenough. At those times, the reality of God meeting me in my own mess, cleaning me up and setting me

straight, is the only thing that makes a difference. And, to be honest, that is the message of any

missionary, right?

By Miranda Heathcote


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Leaving The Mission FieldMissions is a journey. With every journey there must be an end. For many missionaries, there end as a

missionary isn't in this lifetime as they work tirelessly their entire lives overseas. But for many of us,

we transition, relocate, move around the world. One part of any missionaries journey the return home.We call this re-entry. There are many challenges when it comes to re-entry but the best advice I can

give to any missionary is to communicate your return and expectations to your supporters.

Communicating Re-Entry To Your Supporters

Returning home can make you feel like youve been on another planet. The pace never stopped whileyou were away. People are still doing the same routine they did when you left. Dinner is at 5, night

time television, and the never ending inter-dramas of your family and friends are some of the things

that now seem alien to you. Words fail you when you try to contrast with your experience overseas.

Most people wont understand what youve been through. Theyll ask for stories and once you tell

them, theyll respond politely, but now how youre expecting. Youre expecting them to understand. Itsnot that they dont like your stories or that they are upset, most people dont have a grid for all the

intricacies of life overseas like public transport, extreme weather, and governmental unrest. There areways to ease yourself into going home and preparing people for what youve been through. Returning

home is part of the journey. Its part of culture shock. It will get easier.

Be open with people. Tell them youll need time to be home, alone, before you start the run aroundmeeting everyone telling them about your life as a missionary. Just tell them your expectations. Youll

have jet lag, be in culture shock, and want some time with your family. People will understand.

Have a party. You can either choose to go around to many of your friends houses or you can have

them all come to you. The latter is easier. After 2-3 weeks of being home, schedule a party. That wayyou can tell stories, show pictures, and connect with many people all at once instead of trying to work

yourself into everyones schedule. This gives you time to prepare what stories to tell people.Its OK to say no. Theres a lot of interesting people out there. Some are life giving, listening, andunderstanding people. After speaking with them you feel refreshed. And theres some other people.

They talk, and talk, and talk. After speaking with them, you feel drained and youll need a nap. But,

theyll still ask for you time to hear about what youve been through. Its OK to discern what is bestfor you. Its OK to say no. And if you can, start preparing your friends and family for your return a few

months in advance.

You will, no doubt, be in some serious culture shock, especially if you've been gone for a long periodof time. There are some tricks to minimizing that shock, but you will have to deal with the intricacies

of returning to your homeland. Here's a few tricks to helping you delay or lessen the shock of returning

home.

3 Things Not To Do After Returning From The Mission Field

Trying to go back to life as normal after returning from the mission field is not easy. You willexperience culture shock. You need time. You need family. You need friends. But too much can be

overwhelming. There are some things you should avoid to help you re-integrate back into your home.

1. Don't expect people to understand you. Your friends and family will most likely not understandyour experience overseas. Unless they've been on a missions trip themselves, they have no grid to fully

understand what it is like to live as a missionary - to experience God in that way. Most won't


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understand difficult transportation, language barriers, bartering, truly desperate people, and life among

the poor. All they know and understand is their experiences. So when you share stories, people won't

react how you would expect. It's because they don't understand.

2. Avoid shopping malls. Coming from a poor nation where children are so content with a woodenstick and a shoe string to a shopping mall where children are throwing tantrums over a plastic toy can

be overwhelming. Trust me, I've been there. After returning from a third world nation once, I found

myself in a mall. There was a girl in the check out line crying and fighting her Mom because shecouldn't get the right colored toy she wanted. It's nothing a third world nations couldn't cure. It's good

to ease yourself back into a material world but it's as important not to judge people. By avoiding

shopping malls, you'll be less tempted to judge people and you won't get upset.3. Try not to be too social. You just got back. You need time to readjust. You need to slowly, day by

day, take time to find yourself in this new environment again. Rushing to meet your old friends, trying

to get involved with the church right away, and pretending like you never left can amplify cultureshock. Start slowly. Try meeting a friend every other day. Go to church one week and take a break the

next. If you can, don't start work right away. Make sure you are mentally back from your trip as well

as physically. After several of my returns, in some cases it took me close to 6 months. I'd often find

my mind wandering to conversations, interactions, and events that happened while I was overseas,reassessing them in my mind. Make sure you are fully back from your trip before you fully get back to

your life.

Returning from the mission field is something you can prepare for ahead of time. Calling people to letthem know you'll be back, communicating that you'll need some time before you get together, and

making sure you go to a place you can get rest is key. Those things will pave a smooth road to a good

re-entry.One of the difficult things that happen when you go home is dealing with jet lag. It's taken me weeks

sometimes for fully adjust back to the local time zone. But, at other times, it's only taken a few days.

Heres a some well known tricks to dealing with jet lag.

Dealing With Jet Lag

Medicine is your friend. Nyquil, in responsible doses, can give you a little added push to your bodytoward the bed.

Short naps are OK. If you nap for less than 1 hour before 5 p.m., it wont disturb your sleep pattern

too much.Start exercising in the morning when you wake up. By exercising in the morning youre telling your

body its time to wake up.

Lots of caffeine doesnt help. I like coffee, but coffee makes me crash. This is the worst when youretrying to fight jet lag.

Eating right will benefit you. Eating healthy foods, staying away from sugars and snacks, will keep

your body stable.

Making it dark for sleeping and light for day will trick your body. By keeping the lights bright in theevening and early morning when the sun is down will make your body think its not tired. The same

for goes night time: keeping it dark will make you sleeping.

Stay active when you start to feel fatigued. If you feel the drowsiness get up and start doingsomethings. Keep your body awake.

Ive heard many say the amount of time zones youve crossed equals the amount of days it will take to

adjust. I can say that has been true some of the times for me. Sometimes its only taken me a coupledays to get over 12 hour difference and sometimes its taken me almost 2 weeks.

These are just a few tricks Ive done in the past to help me get over 12 time zones. Some seem to


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work better than others.

Culture shock will no doubt be accompanying you on your journey. You never know what will trigger

it. It's an unstoppable force that is part of any missionary's life. Dealing with culture shock is kind of

like taking time to process. Here's how I dealt with culture shock in the past.

Dealing With Culture Shock

What Do You Love? Some people like writing, painting, hiking, music, fishing, and many other

things. Simply take what you find joy in from your home country and brings it to where you are now. I

love traveling and hiking. When I lived in India, every so many months I had to exit the country on avisa run. This gave me great opportunity to escape to the Himalayan mountains for a trek into the

wilderness.

Find friends. Finding friends is a way of turning down that dial of culture shock. People to connectwith will take that loneliness away that often accompanies culture shock. Find local people, nationals,

people that you can connect within the culture. Theyll help you bridge the gap of differences from

your culture to theirs.

Take it slow. Slowing down will help you refocus. Burning out is the last thing you want to happen.

Going to fast, not taking enough time for yourself, and not recognizing when you need time willquicken the loud feelings that rise when times get tough. Doing too much will amplify the culture

shock. It will give you every reason why you shouldnt be doing what youre doing.Ultimately, finding your rest in God will settle your heart. Make sure you spend quality time with Him

everyday and put the noise in your spirit to rest by loving God back and letting Him speak to you.

Resting in God, taking time to love Him, and discovering His Character will help glide back in to life.This is a must for any missionary. Find ways to connect with God and make sure you do it regularly.


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Recommended ReadingI've been in many different missions schools and ministries. What I've learned from all of them is this:

Nothing can prepare you for being a missionary. But, what can help is reading. I love reading and I

scarcely come across a missionary that doesn't like to read. I have a few books that I'd recommend toany missionary to get them better prepared for life overseas.

Where There Is No Doctor

As a missionary, you can run into a lot of sickness. Often, youll find yourself in a place where

medicine is scarce, treatment is almost barbaric, and doctors are non-existent at least the medical kindof doctors anyway. While living in Mozambique, medicine was difficult to get a hold of and we were

told to avoid the doctors. Most of the doctors local people went to were witch doctors. We didnt have

to think too hard about going to a witch doctor.

So what do we do in those situations?

There is a book that covers almost any sickness you could come across while serving in a foreign land.Rightly named, its called Where There Is No Doctor by David Werner, Jane Maxwell, and Carol

Thuman. Originally, the book was written in Spanish over 40 years ago and has been revised severaltimes. The book has sold over 1 million copies and is highly recommended for anyone traveling as a

missionary or just for leisure to tropical or sub-tropical nations. It has practical treatments for common

sicknesses that can arise in countries where hygiene, clean water, and food preparation is belowstandard. The book explains how to prevent, recognize, and treat many common sicknesses. It even

says how to recognize when something is beyond normal remedies and in need of a medical

professional.

This book is very informative. It will cover what the sickness is, typical ways the sickness occurs, andseveral remedies. Ive heard many missionaries mention this book. Its a missionary must.

Ministering Cross Culturally

The book Ministering Cross-Culturally was recommended to me before going to Mozambique. It

actually was part of our required reading to do the Harvest School with Iris Ministries. I loath requiredreading. It turns something I love into a chore, but I was actually surprised by this book. It was one

out of the 600 books on that required readings list that was actually relevant.

There are so many different aspects to a culture. The way they view time, goals, and self worth. Thisbook actually goes through many of the different aspects and compares them.

Throughout the book the author gives us a perspective into what kind of culture Jesus lived in. He

makes references to certain events in the bible to specify that the culture may have leaned in a certain

direction.The book also talks about Jesus, the ultimate missionary, how He not only learned the culture, but how

He use it to speak to the people. It helps us see how we can work with the culture to reach them better.

I still remember things from this book as I travel to other cultures and countries. This book is a greattool for people trying to understand why cultures do things differently. It definitely helped me get

better perspective. I think its a great book to pack with you on your travels, or at least read before you

go.


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When Helping Hurts

When we think of ministering in a foreign nation, we tend to picture, in our minds, the slums and poor

people that need Jesus. Although this is typically the case, our mindset can lean towards material

poverty alleviation - I know mine does. For me, seeing a poor person with nothing makes my Westernmind think they need stuff to be happy. But, being materially poor doesnt translate into needing

Jesus. And, giving money and stuff to poor people doesnt translate into ministry.

When Helping Hurts is a tool for anyone who wants to affectively minister to poor communities andnations. Its premise is that, ..before the fall, God established four foundational relationships for eachperson: a relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation. From this, the

book outlines how you can recognize where the breakdown in the relationship is and, alongside, in a

participatory manner, work with the people reconcile the relationship.The book also focuses on who is poor. The book says, ..until we embrace our mutual brokenness,

our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good. This shifts our minds away

from thinking ourselves as the savior and answer to all the problems. The book goes on to explain thatwe all have broken relationships in one of the four areas. We need to see it from the perspective of we

need a savior as much as the people were ministering too.

When ministering to people, our attitude can tend to be that we know what is best for the people. The

book explains, Development is not done to people or for people but with people. The book says,Researchers and practitioners have found that meaningful inclusion of poor people in the selection,

design, implementation, and evaluation of an [ministry] increases the likelihood of that [ministry's]

success.When Helping Hurts is a must read for missionaries. It will help you identify the difference between

ministering the Gospel of Jesus and being a humanitarian. This book will change your view on

ministry. Its very thorough and well researched.


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Finding Your MissionNo matter where you, what you're doing, or who you are, if you're a Christian you're a missionary.

Stories of glamor and glory from foreign nations shouldn't fool you into believing that only people

overseas need Christ. You have people around you that need only what you can offer. Whether they'repoor or rich, Christian or Muslim, pastor or businessman, we all need to hear the Gospel on a daily

basis. Missions is not something we do in a foreign land, it's who we are and what we are. It's what we

display to the world around us.Find your mission field. It might be your next door neighbor, your best friend, or the person sitting

next to you in the movie theater. So be bold like Smith Wigglesworth. Practice mercy like Heidi Baker.

Evangelize like Hudson Taylor. Be who you are where you are. That is the greatest mission you can

ever have. Love like Christ and be loved by God.


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ContributorsSamuel John W

Sam and his wife, Ana, have served in several missions organizations. YWAM, IHOP, Iris Ministries,

and Bethel Church in Redding, California are some of the places theyve learned about missions andministry. God has used them in childrens ministry, technology, healing prayer, and in everythingpractical that comes along with ministry. Their heart is to serve and see God move in the nations. Sam

shares his experiences on his website: Missions Manual. You can connect with him on Facebook and

Twitter.

Chris Lautsbaugh

Chris Lautsbaugh lives in Muizenberg, South Africa. He serves with Youth With a Mission (YWAM),

teaching and training internationals to be missionaries and church leaders. Together with his wife

Lindsey, they lead and steward training programs and ministries in and around Cape Town, reaching

out to under privileged communities, planting churches, and meeting needs associated with the issuesSouth Africa is facing. They have been in missions for 35 combined years. They serve together with

their two boys, Garett and Thabo. Chris blogs at www.nosuperheroes.com and has published a book on

grace, Death of the Modern Superhero:How Grace Breaks our Rules.

Miranda Heathcote

Miranda and her husband, Tim, have been missionaries with Youth With A Mission for the past 14

years. While for most of that time they have worked in Africa, they are currently based in Harpenden,

UK, where they do have glass in their windows. Miranda and Tim have two young daughters. Mirandablogs about their life in missions at heathcotesafari.blogspot.com.

Calvin Hanson

Calvin and Camille Hanson are missionaries with YWAM inside the AWAKEN ministry. They have a

heart for the Spanish-speaking world. They are passionate about teaching on the creative heart of Godand hearing Gods voice. Calvin is the editor of Awakenmag.com a online community of creators

dedicated to awakening the Body of Christs relationship with God in all areas of life through

testimonies and stories from around the world.


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Thank you and be sure to stay up to date with all the news around the world by visiting

MissionsManual.com. Come to read, contribute, and share everything that God is doing in the world of

missions. Thanks for reading.

a simple guide to missions

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