It's funny how the simplest questions can be hard to answer.
"Where do you live?" Right now we are staying with my parents, but is that where we live? It is, but it's temporary, and it's broken up by trips all over. Because of our frequent travel, Charlie has sometimes used our license plate number as the answer for that. While we don't actually live in our car, wherever you find our car, that's where we're staying.
"Where are you from?" Here in Georgia, we know they are not asking where we live because they can tell by our accents that we are not from around here. So the easy answer is, "We used to live in Maine." But in Maine, you're not from Maine unless you've lived there all your life, so we can't claim to be from Maine. So Charlie sometimes answers Connecticut and then they want to know about me. As a missionary kid, I don't claim a place to be from, so that's complicated too.
"Where do you usually attend church?" Often this question is asked when someone observes that we're visitors but they don't know yet that we're missionaries. In order to answer that question, we find we need to explain the work of deputation so they don't assume we're unwilling to settle into a church.
"What is your home church?" Now that's an easy answer for us, but it is not always understood. If they haven't asked us a question yet that tells them we lived in Maine last, they expect us to name a church in the immediate vicinity. When we say, "West Hampden Baptist Church in Hampden, Maine," they often go on to ask, "Yes, but where do you normally attend church here?" Then we have to explain that our job right now is to visit as many churches as we can, so we don't claim a single church in the area.
"How many children do you have?" I'm grateful that I didn't have to answer this question every week when the tears of barrenness were close to the surface. In this age of birth control, it's not enough to say, "We don't have any," but I usually feel a little more explanation is necessary so that it's understood that our lack of children was not our preference but God's design for us. We love children even though we don't have any of our own.
"Where are you going to be missionaries?" This is, perhaps, the most difficult question for us. Most missionaries are identified by which country they serve. In our case, we will be going to multiple places for short periods of time. It's not an easy concept to get across.
"What mission are you with?" Finally, an easy question with an easy answer, but because most people have not heard of our small mission agency, it's not that simple. As soon as we mention IPM, we've hit a wall because they've never heard of us before.
"How long do you think it will be before you get to go to the field?" This question usually comes toward the end. We've already tried to explain our different methodology, so we generally assume that the question they are asking is "When will you finish deputation?" It's hard to answer that question, especially since our support level is so low right now and part of our job description amounts to perpetual deputation.
There is one question we were recently asked that does have a simple answer. "Why are you doing this?" Because we believe with all our hearts God called us and will provide for us in this ministry.
Do you have a question for us? Post it here and we'll answer it.
"Where do you live?" Right now we are staying with my parents, but is that where we live? It is, but it's temporary, and it's broken up by trips all over. Because of our frequent travel, Charlie has sometimes used our license plate number as the answer for that. While we don't actually live in our car, wherever you find our car, that's where we're staying.
 |
| The church we attended Sunday night. |
"Where are you from?" Here in Georgia, we know they are not asking where we live because they can tell by our accents that we are not from around here. So the easy answer is, "We used to live in Maine." But in Maine, you're not from Maine unless you've lived there all your life, so we can't claim to be from Maine. So Charlie sometimes answers Connecticut and then they want to know about me. As a missionary kid, I don't claim a place to be from, so that's complicated too.
"Where do you usually attend church?" Often this question is asked when someone observes that we're visitors but they don't know yet that we're missionaries. In order to answer that question, we find we need to explain the work of deputation so they don't assume we're unwilling to settle into a church.
"What is your home church?" Now that's an easy answer for us, but it is not always understood. If they haven't asked us a question yet that tells them we lived in Maine last, they expect us to name a church in the immediate vicinity. When we say, "West Hampden Baptist Church in Hampden, Maine," they often go on to ask, "Yes, but where do you normally attend church here?" Then we have to explain that our job right now is to visit as many churches as we can, so we don't claim a single church in the area.
"How many children do you have?" I'm grateful that I didn't have to answer this question every week when the tears of barrenness were close to the surface. In this age of birth control, it's not enough to say, "We don't have any," but I usually feel a little more explanation is necessary so that it's understood that our lack of children was not our preference but God's design for us. We love children even though we don't have any of our own.
"Where are you going to be missionaries?" This is, perhaps, the most difficult question for us. Most missionaries are identified by which country they serve. In our case, we will be going to multiple places for short periods of time. It's not an easy concept to get across.
"What mission are you with?" Finally, an easy question with an easy answer, but because most people have not heard of our small mission agency, it's not that simple. As soon as we mention IPM, we've hit a wall because they've never heard of us before.
"How long do you think it will be before you get to go to the field?" This question usually comes toward the end. We've already tried to explain our different methodology, so we generally assume that the question they are asking is "When will you finish deputation?" It's hard to answer that question, especially since our support level is so low right now and part of our job description amounts to perpetual deputation.
There is one question we were recently asked that does have a simple answer. "Why are you doing this?" Because we believe with all our hearts God called us and will provide for us in this ministry.
Do you have a question for us? Post it here and we'll answer it.
No comments:
Post a Comment