The following is a typical conversation I have found myself in more times than I can count during my {short} two years on the “mission field.” And, yes, some of it is a tad-exaggerated {emphasis on the words some and tad}.
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When Missionaries Meet
Setting. It’s a sweltering-hot day in the tropics. New Missionary and Better Missionary find each other at the free coffee table during a break at a Christian school or a church meeting or a whathaveyou. New Missionary is missing home, hating learning a new language, dreaming about eating a toasted BLT, and feeling like she’s on a different planet from her husband, whom she just so happened to move around the world with 8 months ago.
Their eyes meet, and the conversation begins . . .
New Missionary: So, how long have ya’ll been living here?
Better Missionary: {Quickly and with a bit of a polite humpf} Oh, we’ve lived here for 27 years {emphasis on 27 and extra-emphasis on years}.
New Missionary: Oh, really? That’s awesome . . .
Better Missionary: Yeah, we were here when there was no phone system in the country and when you had to milk your own cows if you wanted to make yogurt for your kids. You know, we remember when we were the only white people, maybe in the entire country, and we didn’t have things like Skype or the internet. We really missed our families then. And the medical care, oh, don’t get me started! I remember when I had my five babies in a village without any medication or help but the local medicine woman who I had led to Christ earlier that month. Now, that was a miracle! Life was much harder then, but, enough about me, how long have you been on the field?
New Missionary: {A little quieter now} Oh, me? Well, we’ve been here almost one year now.
Better Missionary: And how do you like it? How’s your language coming?
New Missionary: Oh, well, actually, we’ve had a really hard time living here. And my language is still really slow. I’m having a hard time finding the time to study, I guess.
Better Missionary: Well, I always say you make time for what’s most important to you, and if you want to do anything effective here, we always say learn the language first, before anything else. I mean what could be more important than speaking, right? {Laughs, as if she just heard a terribly-hillarious joke.}
New Missionary: {Laughs with Better Missionary but thinks} Um, not killing my kids? Not getting a divorce because of becoming a missionary? Not gaining 50 pounds from depression-induced chocolate consumption?
Better Missionary: So, you said your kids went to school? Do they like it? We are homeschooling, actually. People say it’s so hard, but I can’t really understand that. I mean, take me for example, I have 5 kids and then we adopted 3 more, and I still find the time, while cooking organic, growing a local garden, and mentoring the nationals in our local church. We’re actually working on translating the Bible into a remote language that we learned while we were living in the bush for 17 years in a hut with no electricity and nothing to eat but potatoes! I say, if I can find the time, anyone can!
New Missionary: Wow, sounds like you are pretty busy.
Better Missionary: Well, not really. I find such joy in serving.
New Missionary: Yeah, serving is really great, for sure.
The End.
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And, maybe it’s like soldiers coming home from the warzone and comparing battle scars. Maybe it’s that missionaries feel an extra pressure to prove their worth because they live on the donations of others. Perhaps it’s this thing apparently we all struggle with called pride. Maybe it’s just because I’m the NKOTB {Yes, I just did that}.
But, whatever the reason and very unfortunately, it seems that the me-monster consumes even missionaries, too.
And I’m reminded that no matter how many years I spend on the field, no matter what dramatic “mission” God may call me to do, and regardless of how my missionary-story, heck, my life-story, turns out, the words of James still challenge me to shut-up more when I meet people. {“Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” james 1:19}
And then I think of Jesus himself. And I wonder what millions of unrecorded minutes he logged asking good questions and then not speaking the answers–
Wonder if even he listened more than he talked.
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Related. Rich Guy with the Crappy Car. 8 Reasons You Should Never Become a Missionary. New Girl. Brian Regan’s Me-Monster Routine.
Have you experienced any Me-Monster-ish behavior lately? In your work place, friend-circles, playdates, missionary communities?
LauraParkerBlog.com.
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