Things That You Won’t Hear From Your Non Denominational Missionary. 

 

Disclaimer number one….I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!    This is pointing out the aspects that you will not hear us normally say.  It does not mean that I am unhappy or unfulfilled, complaining, burnt out, unappreciative, distrought, or have jungle fever.  

 

Disclaimer number two….I am speaking of feelings and perceptions. I know what the Bible says and can give a counterpoint to each of these.   I am sharing my heart &how I feel.  I don’t need anyone to send me a Bible lesson on suffering or dying for Christ.

or on Missions work, im good.   

 

So here is what we wont tell you in a newsletter or at a church visit.  Here is the other side of missions.  

 

1.  We will never be one of them  

 

No matter how incorporated you are into the culture, no matter how good your ministry, no matter how accepted that you are by the people…you are not one of ‘them’and they le you know in the most subtlest of ways.  For me it really hit home in 2004 when the twin towers fell people came up to me with great joy saying look at your great country now. Though I have Peruvian citizenship, I do not share their cultural history, idiosyncrasies or family ties. Though they accept us, embrace us and even love us we are still Gringos.

 

2.  living in a 3rd world  culture is challenging and spirtually hard. 

 

• Principlaities powers spiitualwarfare. Fighting off witchcraft attacks from shamans and other sects

• Shunned by denominational Missionaries becasue you dont share their  differences

• Jaded people takig advantage of you the church and it´s resoures

•  Coruption on a level that you would never believe

•  A sytem of paper work, stamps, and hour long lines daily

• Security: thieves on the street, robbers who break in and steal from us

• Unstability, The electricity could go out several times a day,

• Water could go out for a week.

• The whole family gets excited because you found Jiffy peanut butter in the market.

 

 

3.  People will forget you in a heart beat

 

You won’t hear us posting, crying or complaining about missing friends, but we do among ourselves; Out of 8 origenals I have seen 7 Missioanries leave the field and every one of them discouraged because of the lack of support and most of all being forgotten by friends and family. Unfortuantley and unjustly so, The Missionary who has made the sacrifice and given up everything now has the often one way responsibility to stay in touch by phone, skype or email becasue if we don´t others won´t.  Its a sad thing to see some of my old Missionary friends back in the states unhappy because they knew they were called but were forgetten by the body. I thank God for the few supporters that we have who are a blessing and stay incontact.

 

 

 

4.  Tell but don´t ask.  

 

People want you to tell them all about the great things you are doing for God and that God is doing for you and your Ministry but what they don´t want is for you to ask them to help you with a need, many feel that this is imposing and that God should be meeting those needs and that we should not be asking. In reality thats what the church and the body is for, God uses his people to meet the needs of his people and sometimes this can be an inonvienence unlike the days when the church had all things in common.  We talk highly in the church about the great commission and our responsibility to fullfill it, yet those who are sent bairly have enough to do what they need to do mean while Mormons and the Jehovah Witness the enemies foot soilders take ground because of the unlimited resourses they have. I was not sent here by a denomination or misións group and have always been supported by generouse people some who have come and gone and others who have no idea how much they bless use even with the smallest offering.

 

5.  Support that comes and goes.

 

For the past 14 year we have not been supported monthly by a church which means that we have been truly been living by faith and dependant on individuals hearing from God and sowing into our ministry.  We never know from week to week if  nothing or something will come in. It´s hard to budget that way. Imagine not having any finacies come in for 2 weeks and then $500.00 comes in at the end of the month. This is how we live.  Supporters are very fickle, we have had key supporters withdraw support without saying a word, not even goodbye.  We have had key supporters withdraw support because we did not go along with their form of ministry or doctrine. We have had key supporters withdraw support becasue we asked for financial help in a time of crises. We have had key supporters withdraw support because they got offended for whatever reason. I even had one person drop me as a friend and any future support because I questioned Todd Bentlys behavior at the Lakeland revival, how wacky is that? Being a Missionary is not a easy as people think.

 

6.  We never have enough money but feel guilty asking for it.

 

Missionaries ask for money.  We have to.  We put it in terms like, “opportunity to support’, or ‘be part of the blessing’, or ‘looking for monthly partners’.  

 

What we want to say is, “We are dying over here!  Please help us!  We need money!!”  We can’t do that.  We have to appear above money.  We need to make it seem like money is something that we could probably use, but no big deal.  We are walking by faith and trusting God to provide, that is what we need to display. You see, we don’t want it to seem like all we want from you is your money.  It isn’t, but in all honesty we do need money.  We need it for our family our children and for our ministry.  We just hate asking for it, and you hate hearing it.  So, we keep quiet especiall about our personal needs.  People are not as generouse as one might think towards Missioanries. Its is said that Missioanries get the scraps that fall from the Charasmatic table of bounty, on the other hand Denominaional Ministries are very organized when it comes to their Missionaries and provide for them financially in every way including retirment packages, medical, housing vehicles, and vactions. The Non denomnational church says raise your support and go and if its God he will meet all of your needs. The Denominational Missionary is part of a structured support group unlike the Non denomination Ministry. We have incorperated faith and the supernatural in such a way as to negelect the needs of the Misisoanry. We have needs outside of Ministry such as housing, roofing, medical, dental etc. I live in a 40 year old home made of clay and the cieling is infested with rats and bats and the walls with black mold yet what people want to know is how many souls were addd to the church or what kind of out-reach do we have planned. I was told by a seasoned Pastor that newsletters for personal needs do not go over well.

 

7.  We feel like our children are getting shortchanged.  

 

You will see cool pictures in my newsletters of my children helping do outreach, being in the jungle, helping orphans, or having a monkey on their shoulder.  It all looks so cool.  But what you don´t know is the national schools are inadequate  to prepare them for college so we are forced to put them in, private schools (which are expensive and take to 50% of our income). In 2013 The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Peru´s ranking as last on the rankings of 65 countries around the world.. This measn Peru has one of the worst educational systems in the world .

 

8.  Vacations

 

It´s hard to save up money, we live on the money that comes in that we cant budget because we dont know how much will come in. We spend more than we earn and therefore are constanly in debt. I have had my lights, wáter and phone cut off more times than I care to admit. 8 years ago we took a much needed vacation/fund raising trip and  What do we hear?  “I should be a missionary, then I could take cool vacations,” Shouldnt you have used that money for Misisons or for the all those many many needs you have., shouldnt you have purchased a vehicle?  Most of the vaction time was spent going from church to church trying to raise awarenesss and support for the work of the minstry. Returning to the states is not easy. As of today it´s been 8 years since weve had a vacation/fund-raising trip. The Misisonaries dream is that he will be able to go on vacation and have enough so that he doesnt have to go on the road to raise money.

 

9.  We hate being judged by a standard that our judges do not follow.

 

Another thing that bothers me is when someone NOT doing what I AM DOING judges me because they don’t think that I am doing enough of what they are not doing, also  Missionarie are suposed to be supehuman and super sipirtual and are never supposed to get angry, frustrated or even worse express it openly, because if we do people see this as a lack of faith and not trusting God or not being spirtual. We do not have a special hot-line to God. We sometimes doubt our calling, and wrestle with questions of significance. In terms of basic emotional and spiritual needs, missionaries are like everyone else. Missioanry work is one the most important in fulfilling the great commission yet the least reconized.

 

10.  Going to the States is hard.

 

.  Logistically it is difficult.  Most missionaries don’t have a place to live, a car to drive or a plate to eat off of.  All those things that we need in everyday life, from pillow cases to car seats, we do not have.  We have to find short term solutions and we HATE borrowing stuff.  We also do not want to live in your basement.  We want to be a family with our own privacy and family time.  

 

We also want to visit and spend time with our donors and churches, but making that happen is so hard when we have donors in 8 different states.  It isn’t cost feasible.

 

The second thing that you probably do not know is that it is hard emotionally.  Why?  Because we discover that we have changed and that you have changed and hosting becomes an inconvience in the set lives of those who try to help.  Let me summarize it in a blog I read. A man from the land of Blue became a missionary to the people of Yellow.  He struggled because he was a Blue man among Yellow people.  However, after a while he began to truly understand their culture and become partly assimilated.  One day he looked in the mirror and saw that he was no longer Blue, he was now Green.  It made being in the land of Yellow easier.  Then, after many years, he returns to the land of Blue. To his dismay, no one there in his homeland of Blue wants to be with him because, well because he was a Green person in the land of Blue. The word Missianry is more of a stigmatism than it is calling to be placed on the same level as the 5 fold ministry, yet in relaity theres not much difference. I am a Pastor I travel evagelizing, creating new chuches,it just so happens its in another country. Out of sight out of mind. People don't know how to relate to us because churches do not generally emphasize missions or teach members even the basics of missions or the importance of missions

Unfortuantly After being on the mission field you are a different person.  People perceive you differently.  Even people who were friends are no longer friends.  They have grown without you.  They have had different experiences without you, its hard for them to relate.  They are also worried that you are going to ask them for money

 

11.  We constantly feel like I have to prove ourselves

 

Whether you an individual or a church, give us money, you support our ministry.  Like it or not, I now feel like I have to justify to you that giving us money is good.  I have to prove myself and my ministry over and over again.  My newsletters are not to let you know what we are doing..they are far more than that.  They are items that I am entering into evidence as proof that you are making a good investment.

 

Often we don’t feel like we are on the same team as you.  We feel like you are our boss and it is time for the monthly performance evaluation.  We are tempted to pad our Newsletter and make it look better than it is.  It is tempting to say things that make us sound better, holier, busier than we are but I myself refuse to do that

 

12. In many countries, the cost of living is much higher than in the US. There is not much difference between the cost of living in the city of Peru where I live and the cost of living in the USA. Most people assume that $100.00 is like a $1000.00 in Peru, this is not true.  So there it is Ifeel thatyou will be be able to prayfor us more ffectively outside of recieving the tri monthly newsletter or updates. We also understand that people can only do that which is within their means.  Humphries family Missionaries to Peru