That last week that missionaries are on home assignment is one of the most difficult weeks of the year. They make those final purchases and fill suitcases praying that nothing is taken in the many airport stops along the way. There is usually one last Walmart run in order to grab some of those last minute items that can’t be found in the host country.

Packing is usually the easy part. The hard part is saying all of the he good byes. These only get harder year after year. This time is extremely difficult on parents and grandparents. Kids are resilient and quickly recover... Most of the time. For the past few months my little kids have made new friends at school and church. We took a risk on this home assignment and found a house close to family. The gamble really paid off, except I didn’t expect saying goodbye to my parents to be this difficult. This is not our first time mind you. We have done this several times over the past eight years of living overseas. When I was in seminary we had a guest missionary come in a teach a class for us while she was on home assignment. She told us that it never gets easier. Each time it only gets harder to say goodbye at the airport.

This last week also causes missionaries to get into a new mode of thinking. For those living in hostile environments for mission personnel, they start turning on switches preparing for re-entry. For me I have started preparing to spiritually pour into myself. Gosh Ty, thats a little selfish don’t you think. Not really, let me explain. Where we serve, we do not attend a local church. We have house church. We do not hear sermons or anything like that. We do walk through scripture together as a group and usually one or two people study the text more than others as they are gifted to do so. For me I study and prepare to invest in my team and the people I lead. So as I prepare to hit the ground running I have started my normal routine of studying and pouring into myself because if missionaries don’t do that on the field they will eventual burn out. And here is a little secret for any missionaries that might be reading this… A lot of missionaries do burn out. So if you are feeling like you are getting close to burnout do two things. First, understand that what you are going through is normal and Second, please tell someone. I would not be on the field today if I would not have made that phone call to a friend.

So to my fellow missionaries preparing to head back to the field, do so with your heads high. Know that people are praying for you. They are praying for your specific people groups by name. They are praying for you to walk in continual obedience. And know that I am praying that for you too.

Tags: Home Assignment, Missionary, Family