Part Three

 

While One Is There

 

 

 

 

 

            The Gospels tell us that when here on earth as a human being, Jesus did many of the things that missionaries do today. 

·         He preached to the crowds.

·         He taught people in large and small groups.

·         He healed the sick.

·         He confronted the indigenous religion.

·         He discipled the twelve.

·         He fed the hungry.

When he sent out the twelve disciples to their own people, he told them to do some of these things (Matthew 10). Then he sent the eleven disciples to all nations.  He told them to do other things (Matthew 28).  They were to follow up on what he did by doing more, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey his commands.

Part One presented three transitions that took place before the missionaries actually went to another culture to begin missionary service.  They made the decision to go; then they actually transitioned to the agency; then they transitioned to raising funds.

            Part Two presented three parts of the very large transition from their passport countries to their host countries.  They went through their endings (leaving), were in transit, and then went through their beginnings (entering). 

In addition to the very large transition from a missionary’s passport culture to his or her host culture, missionaries usually make other transitions while they are serving there on the field.  Some of these transitions are large, such as getting married, and some are smaller, such as moving to a different field of service in the same agency.

            Part Three considers three categories of transitions that are commonly faced by missionaries: Family transitions, ministry transitions, and transitions to a different field in the same agency or to another agency. The family transitions are the same ones made by people remaining in their passport country.  Although these “same” transitions sound like the ones the people back home make making these transitions in another culture often raises different issues.

This is not an exhaustive list of all the transitions that missionaries make, but it includes many of the most common ones.