“Looking back, what is one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were starting off as a new missionary again?”
We asked SEND missionaries to reflect on the lessons they've learned over the course of their service. Specifically: "Looking back, what is one piece of advice you'd give yourself if you were starting off as a new missionary again?" Their responses provide insightful perspectives for those embarking on missionary work.
I think there are a lot of things that are really important that were shared with me, and very helpful, about focusing on the long-term with patience and not giving up on the vision God has given.
But the piece of advice I really would give to my younger self is to focus more strongly on prayer. Prayer in my personal life (an area I always feel like I need to grow) and prayer in the team and church, and evenn more to focus on calling my supporters and supporting churches to pray for the people I am working among. I would suggest giving very regular small updates and/or prayer reminders (weekly is my goal) to hundreds of people.
I am convinced more than I ever was before, that the prayers of many are answered by God and that He is glorified in this!
New I would tell myself to prepare for a worldwide pandemic to start within two weeks of your starting your first term – haha. 😅
I would also tell myself to let go of expectations of what something "should" be like. Whether that be my attitude, ministry, marriage, language learning, relationships with others or God, etc. It’s important to simply authentically process things as they are, rather than feeling pressured or bothered by how they "should be."
To really learn to depend on God. I was very fortunate to come to Spain already knowing the language, but then COVID hit, and even with language, I had no in-person community. It was a difficult time for me, but I really had to learn what it meant to depend fully on God, trust in His timing and always prioritize my relationship with Him. It is something that they talk about in training and we all know as Christians, but it is another thing to really live it out in the day to day.
Take the time to do the hard heart work before getting to the field. I heard that the pressure of cross-cultural ministry will widen any cracks that exist, and this is true. So work hard to deal with those cracks before you leave.
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