My time in the States over the summer was truly a blessing. Spending time with friends, mentors, and family was nourishing to my soul. Several people went out of their way to care for me. They fed me meals or coffee, offered their time, shelter, clothing, money, and warm hugs. Most were friends or people I already knew. But the downside of newsletters and blogs is that, for the most part, they are one-sided. People really know me and what I’m doing, but they haven’t all kept me in the loop about their lives, so this summer was a time of catching up with people and finding out what they had been doing.
All that attention was weird. I’m not used to having people lavish affection, attention, and care on me. Sure, my mom cared for me immensely, but complete strangers? No way! I could easily point this to Christ and His example of loving the church completely though we are unworthy, but I want to take it in a different direction.
People have been caring for me in part because I’m a missionary. Missionaries sometimes have celebrity status in church, but we just see ourselves as normal people doing what God called us to do, just as others in church working in different vocations are also doing what God called them to do. Do missionaries get too much attention? Maybe, but we also need a certain amount of visibility in the church for support raising.
What worries me is that some “normal” people in “normal” jobs aren’t getting the care they need. As I look at transitioning back to the US next year, will anyone care what I’m doing in a public school or in teaching private lessons? I think I have enough good friends and mentors to say yes, people will care for me. But what about others in the church? What about the ones that nobody knows because they never stood up on the church platform to tell about their ministry teaching kids in the inner city, or in day care, or in an elementary music class?
When I get back, I hope that I can be that support for others. In the meantime, can you?
