It was 10:30 at night, and Dr. Darrell Whiteman (our resident missiologist) and I were sitting in the airport in Accra, Ghana, waiting to board our plane for an eight-hour flight to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam we would have a five-hour layover and then catch a nine-hour flight to Atlanta. We had just finished leading a five-day retreat and an in-service training for our Africa-based missionaries. It had been a very busy but highly productive time. We were tired and not looking forward to the next 22 hours of travel at all. I don't care what anybody says, this kind of travel does not get easier with experience (or age).
I wonder: Does this scene resemble what most people imagine the life of missions home-office staff is all about? Frankly, I doubt it. I also have a hunch that most people’s perception of the life of a missionary on the field is far different than reality also. Missionary life is just not as glamorous as one might think.
Monotony and Joy
A pilot friend of mine once told me that flying a plane is hours of boredom broken up by minutes of sheer panic. Most missionaries probably feel an affinity with this statement. Mission work is not boring, but it does have a lot of routine tasks related to it. And the routine tasks of being good parents and seeing to the daily activities of family life are even harder on the mission field than here in the States. In addition, there is the time spent in building relationships by which the Gospel can be shared. Jesus spent three years pouring His life into 12 individuals, so they might be His representatives in this world. In the process He faced disappointment (like Jesus’ disappointment over the disciples’ arguing between themselves about who was the most important, and His sadness over the loss of Judas). Should we expect anything different? But this routine work is broken up by the joy of seeing someone come to Christ and watching him or her mature in their faith.
Monotony and Sorrow
Sometimes the routine is broken by sorrow or even fear. In this issue of Unfinished you will read about missionaries doing such a good job that they were asked to leave the country in which they had ministered for years and to never return. You will read about mission work among Muslims where one misstep might cost new believers their lives (page 16).
You will read about people just like you and me who have answered the call of Christ to share the Gospel, not because it is glamorous, but because they know it is God’s desire for their lives. After you read about these real people, why not look at the list of needs The Mission Society has for additional missionaries (page 24), then pray and seek God’s guidance. Who knows? You might hear that small still voice asking, “Who will go for me?” And like Isaiah you might find yourself answering, “Here I am. Send me.”
On a night more than 2000 years ago, Jesus entered this world in a very unglamorous way, so that all might come to know of God’s love. As we approach the anniversary of His birth, why not give to Christ and His mission the greatest gift you can give – yourself? Merry Christmas!
The Rev. Dr. Philip R. Granger, The Mission Society president and CEO, is an elder in the North Indiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.
