Life as a Missionary

Some people think that all a missionary does is preach and pray. To be honest there is a lot of praying and sometimes a lot of preaching as well. But a lot of missions is everyday life. We still have to cook our dinner and wash our clothes, we still have to clean the living room, and change the seemingly endless number of dirty diapers. Missions is not always glamorous. We have to do the same things that you have to do. The difference is that we do it in another country, away from our friends and family. Away from things like dryers and washing machines, oh boy do we miss dryers.

Every missionary is different and the culture in which they are living their daily lives varies, sometimes greatly from the culture in which they come from. When you move as a missionary you have to be willing to let go of some of the things that you are accustomed to, it's important no matter where you go that you make sure your attitude isn't saying "Well where I'm from we don't do it like that. We do it better." We learnt very quickly that if you have this attitude you are not going to be very effective.

For us we have found that being a missionary can be very lonely at times. Jenn and I are so thankful to have each other but sometimes you just don't want to be around the same person 24 hours a day. But when we first moved here there were few people our age, so most of the time there was no one to make friends with. We have found it to be such a blessing to receive care packages and letters from family back in the States. Sometimes it can make all the difference in the world to receive an encouraging word from someone you know.

So if you know someone who is a missionary and they are currently on the field please write them a letter, let them know you are thinking about them and praying for them. Who knows you could speak a word of life to someone who is contemplating the possibility of giving up.