Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
“Tradition! Tradition!” sang Tevye, in the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof. It’s one of my favorite old movies. The other day I found myself singing “Transition! Transition!” Can you hear the line from the movie’s theme song? It seems to be my missionary life …
Every time I meet him, I am encouraged and strengthened. He has the gift of affirmation and is specific in his praise. When I am with this leader, I feel believed in. I know he is for me, cheering for me as I pursue my …
“Go away for a retreat? I couldn’t. There was so much to do. We were growing fast. Many new believers called every day. I was rapidly training leaders and yet never finished my work before falling into bed at night exhausted.” Busy leaders often fail to recognize their critical need to stop, pull away, and take a retreat.
The busier you are and the more your ministry grows, the more important it is to regularly withdraw to reconnect with both God and yourself. Times of withdrawal vary. From pauses in your day to taking a few days off for a spiritual retreat, to a full sabbatical. Each has value. These kinds of retreat rhythms are vital for healthy leadership, especially in seasons of intense growth.
Almost every week, I listen to a podcast called Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership with Ruth Haley Barton. The host, Steve Weans once said, “Creating space to hear from God is the most important thing you can do for the health of your life and ministry.” Do you agree? Really? The most important thing?
The weight of ministry is heavy on Kingdom leaders. As Carey Nieuwhof writes, “You feel it because you are the leader, and you’re likely the leader because you’re the kind of person who feels it.”
This is certainly true in my life. I can feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of the spiritual leadership I carry. When I feel that way, it’s a red flag waving in the air. It’s saying, “Anderson, you need to withdraw into Jesus for a bit!” If I listen to that signal, not only am I better off, but so are the many I have the privilege of leading.
We withdraw not because we have time for a break. Taking time off isn’t laziness, it is wisdom. That doesn’t make it easy to practice. I’ve had many internal arguments with myself about this. “Take a break. Set aside some time for retreat,” my wise inner voice will tell me.
“I can’t do that now. If I take time off, this and that will not be done and things will fall apart. People are counting on me!” says my other inner voice – shall we call her my Martha voice perhaps?
Most of the time, wisdom wins the argument. Not always!
Do those different inner voices argue within your head? When you consider taking time away to rest and listen to God?
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16 NIV.
It is very helpful to take mini-retreats throughout your work or ministry day. In some circles, they call this the practice of silence or abandonment. We pause and still our soul before the Lord. We withdraw for a few moments, (even 2 to 10 minutes can make a very big difference) of stillness. Quieting our hearts, and slowing our breathing, we rest our souls. We retreat into God. Meditation on His goodness and personal love for us refreshes.
I’ve been blessed by doing this a few times each day in busy seasons. I stop and simply breathe in and out a few times, repeating the phrase “I am loved. God is with me.” My soul finds rest in Him.
It has been my regular practice to pull away every quarter for at least one night and two days to simply stop working and listen to His voice.
This may not seem practical. Maybe you don’t have the money for this. Ask God to show you how to do it. Jesus went out into the wilderness to be away with His Father. He didn’t spend any money to do that.
Is there a camping area? Or a park of some sort, where you could spend a few days resting in Him?
I’ve also been blessed to make use of the many Catholic retreat centers around the world. They are usually quite inexpensive and simple, but good places to go away for prayer and rest.
If you carry significant spiritual leadership, I recommend at least two retreats a year. You will not only avoid burnout, but you will also be able to lead with a greater anointing and clearer direction from God.
As you do this, remember, the purpose of a retreat is not to constantly pray and petition God. Many times on a retreat, the first thing I do is sleep a few hours. We rest and withdraw. It can take a full day for me to disconnect and stop thinking about all I have to do. Be sure on these retreats to take time to be quiet. Listen to the Father’s still small voice. He will wait to speak, until we are silent before Him.
In my thirty years of missionary life, I’ve taken several longer sabbatical breaks. They’ve been so valuable! A longer time of disconnecting from the weight and pressure of ministry can be extremely helpful. It is a worthy investment of time that pays off in your ministry in the years that follow.
When was the last time you took a break to withdraw so you could advance?
If your answer is never, make a plan today. It may be for only a mini-retreat, but start today to take time to pull back so you can go forward. This weekend I am heading out for a time of rest. I’m excited to meet with God and be refreshed in my soul and spirit. I sincerely hope you can get some time away soon too.
Let me know in the comments below what your plans are! Or post them on the Missionary Life Facebook group and we can compare notes.
Significance. It’s a human need. Sometimes even greater than food and shelter, our souls long for significance. We want our lives to make a difference…to count for something. People search for meaning in all kinds of unhealthy places. Fame, money, power, status…all promise to fill …
The desires and needs of husbands and wives are often quite different. Learning to value one another’s marriage desires is necessary for maintaining a healthy marriage. Doing a marriage desires exercise can help.
Packing once again. Yet another move… another change. Just when my life was beginning to have a bit of a routine. Sigh. It’s been said that the only constant in the life of a missionary is constant change. Transition. Probably true for most people, not only missionaries though we do have a higher degree of change to deal with. It begs the question – how do we approach our continual transitions with grace? We need to look for the hidden treasures of our transition seasons.
It helps to remember that God purposefully created life to include transition. He designed the world with seasons and cycles. Change is part of His wonderful plan. Summer transitions to Autumn, Autumn to Winter, Winter to Spring, and so on. Since transitions are His plan, we can embrace them as positive in our lives. Instead of wishing the transition period would end, look for the good. Notice and embrace it.
A few years ago, we celebrated Easter with a group of neighborhood kids. Adorable children gathered at our house on Easter morning. They were excited to have a traditional Easter egg hunt. We counted the eggs and the dads (my husband playing grandpa) went outside to hide these “treasures.” Kids of all ages, from about three to thirteen, searched for the eggs. The dads made some easy to find, and others harder.
The little kids went first. Once they found an egg or two, the older kids were released to search. Exclamations of joy soon came as little ones ran up to us, eyes aglow, smiles on their faces “Look! I found the special egg with the flower on it!” We also got sad looks and expressions, “I can’t find any! Can you help me?”
Soon, it seemed all the eggs were found. We brought the kids together and counted them. Hmmm. We hid 32 eggs but they’d only found 30. Now the adults joined the search. It wasn’t easy. Where in the world were those eggs? Even the dads couldn’t remember where they’d hidden them.
In much the same way, as we go through a transition, some blessings are easy to see. We find them quickly. Others take deeper searching and longer to find.
I will give you hidden treasures,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
Isaiah 45:3 NIV.
My parents were missionaries in Africa. My husband and I have served in missions our entire adult lives. I have experienced so many transitions I am not sure I could begin to count them. As much as I hate the hard work and instability of moving, it does help me clean out my closets! We get rid of things we don’t need or haven’t used for a long time.
Getting rid of unnecessary accumulated stuff is good for us! When everything you own now fits into a few suitcases, life feels lighter and more manageable. Take time to notice that blessing and make the most of the decluttering process.
It isn’t easy to leave behind friends and what feels familiar. If your roots have gone deep and you feel sad about what you are leaving behind (or have left) that is a good sign. It means you are a healthy person who established a positive community where you were.
Adjusting to a new location, culture and the new people there takes time. Give yourself space and grace for the season of learning there.
With re-entry transitions, it’s amazing how awkward and uncomfortable we can now feel in that place that used to be so natural for us to “live” in. Instead of thriving, we feel like we are wilting. We struggle to fit into that place once again.
In these wilderness places, the transition brings, let your soul reach out to the one who has stayed the same. God is the one constant in your life. His love for you and your relationship with Him hasn’t changed. He is still there for you. Lean hard on Him and let Him pour water on your dry places. When you don’t have any friends to call in your new place, let loneliness become a place of solitude where you meet with the lover of your soul.
I have to say that though I know it is good for me, I don’t particularly like to be “pruned” by God! New life and new ideas are a delight, however. In his classic book Necessary Endings, Henry Cloud writes about the importance of the endings in our lives. See my review of this book here.
Without endings, new things don’t grow. And we want that right?
We need the new wine and new wineskins the Lord desires to bless us with. We must be willing to let go of the old to embrace the fresh life He wants to give. That doesn’t mean we don’t grieve the loss of what was. Make space for sorrow. Cry your tears and be real about what you are going to miss. But then breathe a prayer of faith that says, “Lord, thank you for the pruning. I want your new life to come.”
Are the treasures of this transition starting to show up like eggs in your Easter basket? Or are you still searching? Don’t be discouraged or despair. They are there. You will find them as you actively look for them. Ask God to help you open your eyes to see what He has hidden for you in this particular transition.
I’d love to hear about your hidden transition treasures! Share in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook group.
When we have been disappointed, it is not easy to let ourselves risk again. So often, our past experiences dictate our willingness to hope for something different in the New Year. Being “realistic” leaves God out of the picture. It puts the God of the impossible on the shelf, the God who loves you and is able to do what you can not do. Take a risk and hope again.
“What are you waiting for?” The phrase conjures up negative thoughts. In my mind’s eye, I see angry, hurried people, pushing, and prodding. Hurry up! Get a move on! Delays can be miserable. Waiting isn’t all bad though. There is both joy and pain in …
Imagine with me. Party invitations were handed out in the room. You waited breathless and anticipating. Your card must be at the bottom of the pile they clasped in capable hands. Until the final card was distributed, there was still a glimmer of hope. Would you be invited to the special meal? Would you receive a Christmas invitation?
Seeing all the cards were gone, disappointment shot through your heart, like a thermometer’s mercury rising rapidly. I guess I wasn’t on the list, you thought, feeling sad at heart.
You may wonder where you’ll spend the holiday. At home alone? With friends? Invitations represent acceptance, love, and are an expression of friendship. They’re a symbol of inclusion in a special circle of people and can mean a lot. Christmas is a season of many joyous invitations.
Perhaps you miss celebrating with family and friends back home. Or maybe someone you loved passed away this year and it will be your first holiday without them there. Christmas can carry a multitude of bittersweet emotions.
Christmas also offers us some wonderful invitations from Father God. Will we stretch out our hand (and heart) to receive what He offers us?
One of our happiest Christmases on the mission field was in India. We’d been pioneering a small, but growing, ministry in the slums. Through a series of miracles, a group of believers had formed and been meeting regularly to learn from God’s Word.
Christmas is not a culturally Indian holiday. Our city had only a few signs of Christmas cheer during the weeks leading up to December 25th. No Christmas music in the stores, nor decorations and lights in the streets. What brought great joy, though, was sharing the stories of Christmas in that small fellowship as we sat on mud floors covered with simple mats.
We told of how the shepherds saw the angels appear, then went to find the babe in a manger. Watching the eyes of those we shared these stories with for the first time…it was as beautiful as any sparkling tree’s lights!
The miracle of Christ’s virgin birth somehow seemed amazingly clear.
This Christmas, ask God to renew your sense of child-like wonder. As adults, we can grow dull to the joys of the holiday. Even the mystery of Christ’s supernatural virgin birth can lose its miraculous glow. We’ve heard the story so often, preached it, read it. Ask God to renew your sense of awe at the reality of the stories surrounding His incredible birth.
One of the things that help me maintain a sense of awe is sharing this story with those who’ve never heard it before. Is there someone in your area? Perhaps an immigrant family, or someone from another religious background, that you could make a special effort to share it with this year?
Don’t rush through the rituals and ceremonies of Christmas. Let your mind slow down and your soul take in the joy of the season. Christmas is a time when even in the little things, you can find a rich balm for your soul.
It’s been a hard couple of years. What is one thing you could do that would bring with it a sense of joy and symbolize for you the peace God brought to this earth when He arrived?
Missionary life can be stressful, especially when it comes to finances. There have been times when the financial demands of the Christmas season made me wish the holiday would hurry up and be over. How will I buy new clothes for my kids this year? Gifts for our staff?
Avoid the pressure of materialism. Determine to be a giver during this season. What could you make to share with someone in need? A meal? Or could you can serve them in some way, clean up their garden or help them with other chores?
It’s amazing when we put together the little we have, how God multiplies it. Train new believers and those in the churches you’ve started to give what they have. Don’t raise outside money to feed them a feast. Instead, invite them to bring what they can. Sharing with others is part of God’s invitation to us at Christmas time.
“At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’”
Luke 14:17
As mentioned in the scripture above, Jesus often told parables about feasts. The Kingdom of God was likened to a feast the Father was hosting. When the well-to-do and religious didn’t show interest in His feast, He told His servants to go and bring in the lame, blind, and those without a “right” to be there.
He is still calling us, His servants, to go out and bring them in. The poor, the broken, those with little hope. Don’t wait for your invitation to a party this Christmas. You’ve already been invited to serve at it! Go bring others in! The Master waits to welcome them through you.
What will you do to accept our Lord’s invitations this year?
Let me know on the Missionary Life Facebook group or in the comments below.
“Suck it up!” My basketball coach used to tell me that when I was acting tired during our practice drills. “No pain, no gain!” In many ways, we are taught to ignore pain and push through it. I’m not saying there isn’t a place for …