19 Now That I’m Home. . .

19

Now That I’m Home. . .

Practical considerations for mission workers on furlough, as well as those returning permanently to their homes after short or long-term service.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the precious and powerful name of Christ.

When individuals or families are able to take a break from work, it may be for a few months or even a year; this provides a beneficial period of change and rest, as well as an opportunity for ministry to believers at home.

What I want to most strongly emphasize is that when you return home, Satan will not give up his vicious attempts to destroy you and your ministry. In no way can you expect your time at home to be easier than your time out on the field or at the summer campaign. It is here, I think, that many people have made their most fatal mistake. It is one thing to take a break; it is quite another to allow the shield of faith to drop to the ground and thereby to open the way for a fiery dart from Satan.

What are some of the dangers that you will face at home?

1. Immorality

In a new environment—especially if your home country is part of a promiscuous society (and which society is not?)—you may suddenly find more intensive temptation in this area. Usually at home you will not be submitting to leadership in the way that you did in the mission field and this could also lead to greater temptation. Satan may try to cause you to think you can do something back home that no one would ever find out about. Although this may be true to some extent, our burden is to live for Christ and not for men (Col. 3:23). I don’t believe there is any period in our lives in which we may slack off in the kind of discipline we need in order to stand against this kind of fiery dart.

2. Special Treatment

In some nations, returning missionaries are treated almost like war heroes and this can be very dangerous. People constantly giving us gifts create a feeling that we have suffered so much. They want to make up for what we have supposedly sacrificed in the “regions beyond.” The returning missionary suddenly finds himself gaining weight and this can be detrimental to health in the long run. (This also does not help his testimony when he returns to the field, especially when it is a Two-Thirds World country.)

In other situations, the opposite can happen and no one seems to be interested in the missionary or his work at all. Self-pity and hurt can set in if he is not careful.

Far more serious than this, however, is the subtle tendency to compromise one’s convictions in various ways in order to “get along better” with the believers back home. This is an area where we need to find spiritual balance. We do need to know how to receive things from people and be gracious. Although I do not have an easy answer,

I believe great discernment is necessary in each and every situation and we should at least be aware of the possible dangers involved.

In some cases, people have found it very difficult to return, especially to a hot Two-Thirds World country. Some actually live from one furlough to the next, always looking forward to those wonderful days back home, where they can take advantage of all the special treatment from God’s people.

3. Generalization

When we visit our homeland for a short period of time, we may come away with an incomplete picture of life. People often help us, and because we receive our financial support from others or from our church, we are often able to share in the blessings of life at home. However, we rarely share the problems of daily life faced by those who live in that country year in and year out. (The picture would be rather different if you went home and took up a difficult job and made your own living for a year. This would also be very different from a so-called “year off” traveling around, taking a few meetings, living with other people and having basic needs supplied.) It is important when in your own country not to make generalizations about what life is like there.

4. Effect upon the Children

Endless discussion could take place about the effect upon children on returning to the home country, as a family. In some cases, the furlough inspires the children with such a love for their home country, that they are never able to settle back into the country in which their parents are working. Sometimes it seems necessary that children have one particular country with which to identify. In our own case, at least two of our children identify far more with the field in which we are working, Great Britain, than they do with the USA. Our situation, of course, is quite different from those people who are unable to stay in a particular country more than just a few years.

Sometimes, changing from one culture to another can perplex a child, especially when he is put into a school for just one year. (I’m not totally convinced that it is valuable to take children out of school in a particular country in which the parents are working, and then enroll them in a school in the home country for that time. I am not strongly against this, as I know that sometimes it is simply impossible to do anything else, especially when someone is convinced that he must have a year-long furlough.)

Ultimately, we are cast upon the Lord and must believe him for the impossible in our lives and the lives of our children. We should at least count the cost of both the advantages and disadvantages of such a practice. We sometimes criticize the schools in the country in which we are working. In fact, the educational system in any country has many subtleties and pitfalls which the devil is constantly using.

5. Bitterness

When we return to an affluent country and see the way people are living, it is easy, almost without knowing it, to become bitter or resentful. We seem to forget that all Christians must learn how to live out their faith in the particular culture in which they find themselves. It is God’s will, I am sure, that people throw off certain aspects of their culture and become more Christlike, but this takes time. Our greatest need, when we meet Christians in the midst of their culture, is to be patient and to set an example with our own living.

God leads different people in different ways. We must never forget this when we return to our own countries. When we see the state of some churches and the enormous waste of finance in the home country, it is all too easy to be negative. It is important to try to think positively and to see what the Lord is doing despite some of the problems and difficulties. Our challenging message to God’s people should be launched from a positive foundation rather than from a negative or wrong attitude.

6. “The Son of Man Did not Come to Be Served, But. . .”

We make a great mistake when we go home expecting everyone to serve us or treat us as special people. Wherever we are as believers, our burden is not to be served by others, but to serve them. We will be ministered to, but we must get our priorities straight and set proper goals. There are people at home who have suffered more for Jesus Christ and in the work of God than we have out in the field.

We must have real spiritual sensitivity in every situation, realizing that we are in a spiritual warfare, whether at home or overseas. Satan will be constantly attacking. That is why even a so-called vacation or holiday can never be a substitute for true spirituality and the day-by-day walk with Jesus—denying self, taking up the cross and following him. If we are not careful, we find ourselves in a worse condition at the end of our time at home than when we actually arrived. We need to think about serving others; not to constantly expect and desire others to serve us!

7. Feeling Guilty

How easy is it to feel guilty when we enjoy something and when we find life a lot easier than it was in our previous situation. This is an ascetic tendency which can be very dangerous. We need to learn thoroughly how to handle enjoyment and ease; to prayerfully lay it before the Lord. We actually need to learn how to enjoy the good things which the Lord gives. It is a mistake to think that all prosperity is from the devil, because the Lord clearly prospers some people. Imagine what can take place in terms of the work of the kingdom as the Lord takes over the life of a prosperous person.

There is no easy answer to this problem of luxury and ease, and it will be a battle right down to considering what to spend and when to spend it. Once we try to dictate some legalistic rules about this, we are moving into an even greater danger. Part of the challenge of life is to be able to discern, as individuals and as a fellowship, what we should do and how we should react in each situation the Lord positions us. Certainly, without the fruit of the Holy Spirit, whatever we do will have little eternal value.

8. Spending–Spree Materialism

Back home, we can often buy things that are unobtainable or cheaper than they are on the field. People also give us things.

Very soon we find that we are returning with a lot of acquisitions which we don’t need, and which can be a stumbling block to those around us. We may expect each of our possessions to be desired by those we are working with and discipling. Once again, it is extremely difficult to find the balance. We need to learn how to resist the urge to buy, while praying about each item with which we return to the

field. Here our Christian faith has to become practical. The message that we believe and preach has to be worked into the daily fiber of practical living.

9. Neglecting Prayer and Study

Does a holiday or vacation mean that we neglect prayer and the Word of God? I am amazed that so often when people are on furlough, they do very little to seek out a place where they can attend a prayer meeting with God’s people. Although they claim to miss such times of fellowship, they take little initiative to ensure themselves of this privilege.

Our Christian life is truly put to the test when we are more or less on our own, and can, to some degree, do as we please. Of course, it is highly valuable to be totally free for a certain period of time from the field schedule. This does not mean, however, free from the great responsibility to walk faithfully with God. To me, that walk means involvement with God’s people in prayer, as well as serious daily worship and study of the Word.

Going Home More Permanently

A friend of mine, who used to be with OM and is now in secular work recently reminded me that most of these principles apply to the person, who returns home for any length of time. It is quite true that after an extensive period in a mission field, or a similar involvement, the readjustment into secular employment and the basic routines of life at home is considerable. It can be even greater than the initial adjustment to field in the first place, since people are more flexible and less set in their ways.

In closing, I am deeply aware that this memo is incomplete. But it is a start. I write as a learner myself, and I'm very much aware of my own needs and failures in many of these areas.