Bursting that Sneaky Old Missionary Bubble (and Other Ways to Thrive)
It is easy to get busy with life. Where do you buy cooking gas? In some countries, it can be quite a process. First, you need a special government-issued card, which you wait in line for hours to get. Then you have to find the particular shop where they sell it. That shop may be out of gas this week and send you to a different one in yet another unknown location. Google maps has no idea how to get there, nor do you! Your day is filled just meeting the basic needs of your family.
Sound familiar?
Avoiding Mission Drift
Staying focused on your mission can be challenging. Our families have needs that must be met. Children want friends, and so do we. Language learning slows us down from feeling we have much capacity for ministry.
This is hard but is not the greatest threat to fulfilling your God-given calling. What is? Let’s call it the missionary bubble. We need to recognize the bubble and break out of it.
What is the Missionary Bubble?
Missiologist Donald McGavran wrote years back about the homogeneous unit principle. It’s somewhat controversial in church growth circles today for a few obvious reasons. It can seem a bit discriminatory at first glance. The principle contains some truth, however.
We humans like to be with others who are the same as us. We identify with those who share our culture and worldview. It is easier to be with these people and is more relaxed and comfortable than when interacting cross-culturally.
Because of this, missionaries tend to create “missionary bubbles.” Westerners create playgroups for their kids to get together and have fun. Koreans meet up with other Koreans to pray, share meals, and speak their own language. These are not wrong things to do. They can even be good for our emotional health and sustainability.
It becomes a danger, though, when we bond more closely with other foreigners in the country than we do with local people we want to reach. Or, when we spend the majority of our time with other missionaries rather than investing in relationships with nationals.
A Tale of Two Cities (or Missionary Bubbles)
When we moved to India from Nepal, our children needed friends. The girls spoke decent basic Nepali already, but our son was only three. The city we moved to was multi-lingual. Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, English, and other languages were spoken. We decided to home-school our kids there.
Meeting the few other foreigners in our location, our kids were thrilled to have a chance to play with them. They didn’t have to worry about their toys being broken or stolen with these children. The language wasn’t an issue for them or me. It was fun to get together.
Looking for a church, we were a bit confused about what to do. Our kids didn’t speak Bangla or Hindi and we were still learning. Eventually, we found a church that had an English service where a handful of foreigners met. The missionary bubble at that time was small in our city, and fairly easy to avoid. There simply weren’t that many cross-cultural missionaries there. In many ways, it forced us to press into local relationships more.
Chaing Mai, where we now live, is different. There are thousands of foreigners living here! Our city has three or four English churches complete with a children’s program and youth group. This location has many international schools as well – filled with missionary kids. It is very easy to be absorbed into the missionary bubble here!
There are Bible studies to go to, kid’s events, tutorial groups, prayer meetings, playgroups…you name it. On top of that, most people also have their own mission meetings to attend. Without realizing it, our lives can grow full of events where we spend most of our time with other Christian foreigners.
We study the Thai language, and may chat with our neighbor or the taxi driver, but have few Thai relationships of depth and substance.
This is quite common here. No blame or condemnation intended. It’s the natural flow of things. Without resistance to this trend, it is just what happens. The missionary bubble is very good at sucking us in.
Your situation may be more like mine was in India, or more like mine now. Regardless, be aware of the natural tendency to drift into the missionary bubble (however small or big) and take steps to prevent its pull.
How Do You Break Out of the Missionary Bubble?
1. Keep working hard to gain fluency in the local language.
Language learning is an almost never-ending process. Like me, you may have starts and stops. Keep pressing forward. Step, by steady step. Eventually, if you don’t give up, you will learn to speak and understand. The main thing is to be consistent and keep moving forward.
Use what you do know whenever you can. Learn power phrases so you can ask questions like “How do I say _____________?”
2. Take time to assess the amount of time you invest locally vs. with other foreigners.
Pause your busy life and do an assessment log for a few days. How many hours are you giving to doing what you came to do in missions? Where could you squeeze in more time for local relationships and language practice in the community?
Think synergy. Is there an event I currently do with other foreigners that I could do with local people? Could you give up a mission prayer meeting to attend one at a local church? Any other changes you’d like to try?
3. Pray for local relationships and invest in developing them.
In my missionary life, I’ve seen that friendships are a blessed gift from God, whether foreign or national. Make them a matter of prayer. Ask God to bring people into your life through divine appointments. Be on the lookout for those people He is releasing, even those not yet believers.
Give time to local relationships. These are the people who will not move away when their term is over. They will guide you and help you adapt and navigate things in your host country.
May I give a small challenge here?
4. Be willing to be uncomfortable and to have your kids be uncomfortable.
This is a hard one. As a mom and grandma, I get it. We want our kids to be happy. When they are uncomfortable, we are uncomfortable…even pained. Being uncomfortable never killed anyone. In fact, it can grow character in our lives.
In the long run, if you are planning to make missions a career in the nation you are in, your kids will do better if they push through. If they learn to adopt your host nation as their own, they will settle well. As they become comfortable in the language and cultural environment, they will thrive. If they do not, this will always be an issue for you. It could perhaps even cause you to return home prematurely.
Kids are super resilient. They can learn the language fast. Much faster than we do. Encourage them to have local friendships, help make that happen for them. Set up playdates not only with foreigners but with nationals. Go to the park and play football with the local kids and men in the evenings.
It may be uncomfortable at first, but the benefits are huge!
What will you do this next few weeks to break out of your missionary bubble?
Let me know in the comments below or drop a comment about it on the Missionary Life Facebook group.