To My EMC Family: Thank You and a Few Suggestions

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To My EMC Family: Thank You and a Few Suggestions

By a Missionary

Dear EMC family, given their unhurried time to listen to us. We are

These unusual times, combined grateful for this hospitable listening. Christian with an online course on missionary psychiatrist Dr. Curtis Thompson writes in his care I’ve been taking during lockdown in Eastern book The Soul of Shame, “Good listeners energize Europe, have meant a lot of introspection. This the storyteller, and so encourage the story to be introspection has included thinking about what told more faithfully.” We want to be able to tell our EMC has done well in the course of our 20-plus story faithfully, and those of you who have listened years as overseas workers. Thus, this letter: I attentively have helped us do that. wanted to take a moment to thank you for these things, with a few other suggestions sprinkled in. Committed to Us Which brings me to another point of thanks: Welcomed Us EMC has also been committed to us through As someone who has “married into” to the tough times. Just over nine years ago I suffered EMC (I met my husband while working in overseas But it’s not just a an accident while on the field, and we received encouraging missions), from the beginning I was welcomed, and welcome because we are emails from many in the EMC family, reassuring us of their this has continued throughout the years. EMC churches, missionaries; it’s a welcome prayers. When we were finally able to visit some of those who small groups and families have readily given us space to because we are people. had prayed, I remember one of our supporters saying, “We’re so share our experiences and to glad you’re okay.” Then, with a let us communicate how we’ve seen God work catch in her voice, “That was a scary time.” Even through our common mission. with all the miles separating us, they entered

But it’s not just a welcome because we are misinto our harrowing experience and kept us sionaries; it’s a welcome because we are people. buoyed through their prayers. When we’ve met with EMC leadership, they have More recently, my husband appreciated a wanted to know how we are really doing and have call from EMC staff to find out how we were

coping with lockdown. These thoughtful gesof viewing and doing life are the mainstays of our tures show care and have kept us connected to overseas service, and we often look for people in you. This is in addition to regular emails, where the host culture who can help us navigate the new your prayers and the sharing of your news help waters. But when re-entering Canadian culture, keep the link strong. we have to go through this process again. A Gathering of ‘Misfits’ we may be grieving the loss of stability, or may Another event I appreciated was a gathering of be facing changes in ministry focus. We may do missionaries during missions week at our home strange things, like pine after bread baked in a fellowship in Manitoba. The facilitators were clay oven, or have trouble thinking of the English themselves missionaries, and through the fun games and One other thing we’ve word for an everyday object. We may even have troubling thoughtful sharing time, we realized we were with others appreciated about our home questions about God and His ways of working. Here is who get our strange life. In a way, missionaries are forfellowship is their willingness where having safe people to be with, who will put up with ever ruined for normal living. This has its pluses, like being to try new ways of connecting. our unusual ways and let us process through the changes able to critically evaluate our we’re going through, can be a relationship to worldly possessions. But it also lifeline. The church family receiving us can ask if means that we are often misfits in our “home” we do have those close relationships and encourculture. (Just ask a missionary kid, “Where’s age us in that direction if we do not. home?” and see how long it takes her to answer.) We are usually missing friends and home, So, gathering with other misfits within the EMC New Ways of Connecting family has reassured us that we’re not the only One other thing we’ve appreciated about our weird ones out there. home fellowship is their willingness to try new ways of connecting. After we moved to a new Cultural Guides field two years ago, they organized a Skype call Related to this, we might have benefitted durwith us within the Sunday morning service. Yes, it ing longer furlough times from having cultural was perhaps a bit chaotic, and maybe the screen guides to help in our re-acculturation. Working froze more than once, but we appreciate their in a different culture, adjusting to different ways willingness to touch base and allow the whole congregation to ‘see’ us.

UNSPLASH

Stress I’ve already mentioned a couple of suggestions for strengthening the missionary-church relationship, but I’ll add two more here. Through my missionarycare course, I have been impressed by the reality of living an embodied faith— our bodies influence our souls and vice-versa. This means that how our bodies are doing can give us a clue as to how our souls are doing.

In The Hidden Link Between Adrenaline and Stress, Christian psychologist Dr. Archibald Hart shares his own experience: “Since realizing that my body is intelligently designed, I have changed my attitude to pain and try to listen to the discomfort my body creates when I am under too much stress…I attend to the pressures in my life. I force myself to slow down, change priorities, and relinquish responsibilities that are not mine alone.”

While it is my job to monitor my own health, supporting fellowships can ask us about this area as well. The temptation is to just pray for health issues to go away (which is also important!), but in some cases they may point to inner issues which need to be talked about: anxiety, fear, trauma, relational conflict within the missions team, disappointment, among other things.

Sabbaths Which brings me to my last thought: keep us accountable for our Sabbaths. This is embedded in a wider concern for our spiritual health, but I mention Sabbath rest specifically because we can be busy with ministry and lose the priority of quiet, unhurried time with Jesus. Furloughs theoretically provide a chance to reassess the shape of our daily lives, but often such times can be no better, with full travel schedules packed with speaking engagements.

Ask us about our vacations. Ask us about our spiritual retreats. Ask us about what we need to do to sit at Jesus’ feet to listen well. Just the questions might be enough to make sure we include these vital elements our lives both overseas and on home soil.

Thanks for Listening Thanks again for listening. The prayerful, thoughtful support of our EMC family has been a key part of us being able to stay on the field. I hope my letter has encouraged you in that; it has certainly helped me put to pen some thoughts percolating in my head and heart for the past few months.

As my prof said in her last lecture of the course, “Speak the truth.” We missionaries may sometimes be afraid to do so because we don’t want to disappoint those who have sent us or jeopardize our support, but effective, Christ-rooted ministry depends on open communication with you. Something for us to keep growing in, don’t you think?

Many thanks and blessings.

The author is a missionary with Wycliffe Canada serving with her family in Europe. She and her husband are training a new generation of missionaries to go to the least reached.

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