Who Will Tell?

A friend sent me a copy of a letter from another missionary telling a very sad story.  This missionary family raised their support and arrived on their field to reach a group of people that has waited centuries to hear the story of Christ.  This brother said that he was making good progress learning the language, but his wife was having a real struggle with the language and especially with the culture.  He realized just how serious the problem was and brought his family back to the States.  I have never heard a missionary be so honest about the problem as this brother was.  Usually when a missionary family returns home because of culture shock (and that was root of his wife’s mental and physical problems) he just says, “We came home because of health problems.”  Sometimes that is the whole truth; there are many health risks that missionaries face, and sometimes there is no other sensible alternative but return to the States where medical help is available.  However, in the case of the family mentioned above, the problem was not so much physical but mental, and the cause was failure to adapt to a new culture.

This situation is sad for all involved: the missionary family, the churches that invested in them, but most of all for the people on that field who will probably never hear the Gospel.  It is especially sad because it is repeated over and over by good, well-intentioned missionary families who make the same mistake of going to a foreign field without adequate preparation for learning a new language and culture.  It doesn’t have to be like that!

Our Advanced Missionary Training (AMT) does not eliminate the culture and language shock on the field, but it does equip the missionary to recognize it, deal with it, and adapt to it correctly.  Instead of being a victim of the culture, he learns the culture just as he learns the language.  He learns to appreciate the culture instead of hating it.  Most importantly, he then knows how to present the message of God in the language and culture of that people. He also understands the danger of syncretism and seeks ways to prevent it.  He has a much better chance of staying on the field until the goal is realized.

If you know anyone who is serious about going to the mission field, please urge him to look into what we have to offer.  “Friends don’t let friends go to the mission field unprepared!”

* Please contact us for more information and a free DVD presentation about our specialized training for Baptist missionaries.