I wondered, “Did God call you to the field to set others free in Christ while you stay trapped in an unintended form of ministry bondage?” What if collectively we moved our metrics down a peg and allowed walking with the Spirit to be the true measure of fruitfulness?
It is our prayer that the articles in this issue will raise the profile of this vital service to God’s servants, prompting deeper discussion and sparking new practical efforts to prepare and to come alongside those being sent.
Chinese missionaries need to be prepared for the challenges and stressors of the mission field. A family counselor who is involved in member care has six recommendations for how to prepare beforehand and how to meet challenges once in the field.
For missions to be successful, cross-cultural workers need to be equipped to understand the new culture. Churches need training on how best to support their workers. FieldPartner is creating online content in English and Chinese to support both workers and sending churches.
Having been back in Australia for a few months now, we have well and truly entered the stage of transition that follows the initial happy honeymoon phase—and have plunged down on the reverse culture shock curve.
Lament is bringing our loss, our complaints to God, and as a result experiencing sweet communion with him in the midst of pain.
[W]e give ourselves (and others) many gifts when we intentionally attend to our inner processes and emotions in the presence of the Lord.
Serving China’s missionary church will require seeing “success” through a new lens, defined not by big-budget projects and exotic stories, but by the faithfulness of those who are willing to labor in obscurity on the margins, often unannounced and unnoticed, with perhaps few visible results.
What is the most important thing I would want someone going to China to know?
Ever wonder how cross-cultural workers from China evaluate themselves or their fellow workers? Would the issues be the same as workers from other locations?
Because that’s how grief works. It is not just a once in a lifetime thing, it comes back at unexpected moments.
There is a Chinese saying 《十年树木，百年树人》 which means, “It takes ten years to grow a tree but a hundred to cultivate a person.”