We
haven’t been serving as missionaries very long. We’re rookies. We still
mess up verb conjugation, get lost in traffic, and find ourselves
scrambling in the maze that is “missional living,” trying to “do no
harm,” and yet loving as much as we can along the way. That being said,
we often have couples and individuals that come to serve here in
Nicaragua short term or simply interested people from back in the US or
Canada that tell us they think God is calling them to be a missionary
and ask for our input.
We
are sure that missionaries both here in Nicaragua and throughout the
world say the same things. We can also say most lovingly that you will
face hard times, many of them
and in various forms. God calls but He doesn’t always make it easy. He
doesn’t promise that you’ll be funded quickly or that your house will
sell for a good price. He doesn’t promise that your friends and family
will support you or that you won’t get homesick. He doesn’t promise that
you will love the food or magically learn a new language in two months
with little effort. He doesn’t promise that you won’t get sick, in a car
accident, or have your house broken into. He doesn’t promise that
you’ll have great success or that you’ll be kindred spirits with your
co-laborers. He doesn’t promise that your new home won’t be invaded by
mosquitos or have months of drought and be continually covered in dust.
He doesn’t promise that your children won’t struggle to “fit in.” He
doesn’t promise that it won’t be very difficult and complicated. God
will carry you through all these hard times (and more!). He is a
faithful God but your commitment has to be greater than all of these
difficulties because you and your family will.face.them.
It
doesn’t hurt to go explore. Go check out a different culture. Read.
Learn. Shadow a missionary for a week, two weeks, a month. Ask a HEAP of
questions. But realize that visiting a country for a short time or with
a large group and serving long term with little help or camaraderie and
a lot of responsibility are two totally different worlds. Let your
heart be spurred on by your short term experiences, but understand that
living and working fulltime in another country is a different beast
entirely!
We recommend three very practical things:
1)
DO NOT GO INTO DEBT. Student loan debt, credit card debt, any kind of
debt. Keep it as low as possible. Debt will keep you off the field,
delay your departure to the field, or make it more difficult to stay on
the field. If you must take out student loans, live very simply and pay
them off as fast as possible. Living frugally will be great preparation
for life overseas where you must live contentedly on a missionary
salary.
2)
GET LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE. You will be in a leadership position
overseas. You will teach, you will mentor, you will surely be looked at.
Get used to taking initiative, making do with with the opportunities
and resources you have, and love on the incredibly imperfect people
around you. Be the AWANA teacher for the rowdy age group no one wants to
volunteer for. Serve at the soup kitchen: do the dishes and learn the
names and stories of those who come to eat. Go pray with your brothers
and sisters in Christ in the nursing home. Lead a small group for
international students. If teaching a Sunday school class is hard for
you in English, just think of the challenge it will prove in another
culture and language! Get as much practice in before hand so you will be
usable on the the field!
3) Read THIS. 10 Reasons not to become a missionary.
Most of what we do here is not glamorous. Most days are not what are
shown on the slide presentation. For as many times as we reunite
sponsors with their sponsorship child, host a missions team, see a life
changed in a profound way, there are twice as many times where we are
still waiting for God to work. There are hours of receipting and
answering emails. Waiting in long lines at the bank or at customs.
Memorizing irregular verbs. Packing school lunches and getting the
garbage bags out soon enough for the garbage truck but not too early
since there are roaming dogs waiting to tear them open. There is nothing
romantic about poverty or working among the poor. It is challenging. It
means making mistakes. It means admitting that we often don’t have the
resources or the answers. We must go in with eyes wide open.
At
the end of the day, pray your heart out, listen and listen some more,
and then go...make that call to a missions organization. Fill out that
first form. Be obedient one step, one day at a time. It’s worth it. We
wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t. Our God is on mission and it’s a blessing
to serve with Him!