Travel. Flexibility. Furlough. All words that can describe
one aspect of being a missionary.
In simple terms, one might describe a missionary as someone who left
home to move overseas to start a new life.
We arrived in the Philippines on May 1st, and for
the first two months our home was a two-bedroom condo. But that is no longer
our home because we moved last week. But this is not our home either because it
is the home of one of our team members who is on furlough for about a year. So when they return to the Philippines
next year we will be looking for a new home.
As a mom I was wondered what the constant moving would do to
my children. But my middle child,
who is almost three, warms my heart when he quickly says, “home now!” whenever
we arrive “home”. Even when that
home is the house of a host family while on the road support raising or a hotel
room when taking a vacation. He
has quickly learned that home is where the family is together.
The last two months before we moved from the States, I was
scared (in a sober sense of the word) at what lied ahead. So I tried to ask various missionaries
I knew, to get their perspective on life overseas. One friend, who is no longer on the field, told me she
misses it a lot and wants to go back.
That surprised me because I was thinking, “she is finally home” does she really want to return? Then she said,
“There are so many wonderful things about living oversees as
a missionary. Some of the those things might be just directly related to
not living in America…I kind of think of these things as privileges of living as a missionary.”
And then she quoted me this verse as one that she meditated
on a lot while on the mission field:
And indeed if they had
been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had
opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that
is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God;
for He has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:15-16
When I arrived on Philippines soil on May 1st I
saw for the first time the privilege it is to be a missionary. The privilege it is to leave home and
go to another country. And it is a
privilege that makes you realize that earth really is our temporary home, and I
have a better country, that is a heavenly one!
Before I viewed leaving home to move overseas as a
sacrifice. But now I agree with my
friend, it truly is a privilege!
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