Two weeks ago, I went hiking with a friend from the theater and one of his friends, a girl from Massachusetts. Throughout the six-hour trek, the girl and I got to know each other, sharing our backgrounds and anecdotes of our time in Argentina. A lot of my stories centered around things I've done with English Talk, and so I always started with, "I was with a friend--she's a missionary--and we went to the feria" or "My two friends and I--they're missionaries -were getting coffee" . As I kept talking about my semester, I reached a conclusion that I'd never noticed before: A lot of my friends here are Christian missionaries.
The girl I was hiking with was surprised when I said this out loud, reflecting both on the fact and on how I'd never really noticed before. She asked me what they did, and I described their jobs, and then said, "They're normal people, you know. They don't wear long robes and crosses and stuff." ...And the girl said, "Oh, really? They don't?" And she was sincere.
I don't write this to embarrass or criticize her; her reaction made me realize that A) Being a missionary is perhaps not one of the most common jobs and B) A lot of people don't know what exactly missionaries do, so C) Many people wind up with the unfortunate stereotype that missionaries live in mud huts and eat bugs.
I'm sure some do, but my missionary friends don't. I had a lunch interview with them (we ate tacos and cake) to get the dirt on what it's like to be a missionary in 2013. It turns out that missionaries still have to do chores and check their e-mails like the rest of us.
The girl I was hiking with was surprised when I said this out loud, reflecting both on the fact and on how I'd never really noticed before. She asked me what they did, and I described their jobs, and then said, "They're normal people, you know. They don't wear long robes and crosses and stuff." ...And the girl said, "Oh, really? They don't?" And she was sincere.
I don't write this to embarrass or criticize her; her reaction made me realize that A) Being a missionary is perhaps not one of the most common jobs and B) A lot of people don't know what exactly missionaries do, so C) Many people wind up with the unfortunate stereotype that missionaries live in mud huts and eat bugs.
I'm sure some do, but my missionary friends don't. I had a lunch interview with them (we ate tacos and cake) to get the dirt on what it's like to be a missionary in 2013. It turns out that missionaries still have to do chores and check their e-mails like the rest of us.
My Friends Are Missionaries And They Look
Suspiciously Normal..
Who:Mike & Andrea Who: Diane Who: Rachel What: Superhero buff, artist What: Mom What: Teacher, traveler
What: Superhero buff, artist Where: Michigan & New York Where: New Zealand Where: Indiana
When: Until 2015 When: Until November When: Until August
"What are you good at? "You don't just need "There are a lot of
Go do it for the Gospel, money, you need needs that we're
go do it for the Kingdom." emotional support. You unaware of, and we
need people caring about can use our gifts
what you're doing." to serve."
Floating library? No big deal. What: Superhero buff, artist Where: Michigan & New York Where: New Zealand Where: Indiana
When: Until 2015 When: Until November When: Until August
"What are you good at? "You don't just need "There are a lot of
Go do it for the Gospel, money, you need needs that we're
go do it for the Kingdom." emotional support. You unaware of, and we
need people caring about can use our gifts
what you're doing." to serve."
Ally: Tell me about OM.
Mike: OM is a global missions organization.
Andrea: It’s a non-denominational organization, so it’s not associated with any church.
Mike: They’re in almost 120 countries, and there’s almost 7000 missionaries in OM...One of their big focuses is literature distribution and books. We have a ship that goes around the world and goes from port to port and gives out Christian literature and books and it’s basically the world’s largest floating evangelistic library.
Turns out they're allowed to have fun. Mike: OM is a global missions organization.
Andrea: It’s a non-denominational organization, so it’s not associated with any church.
Mike: They’re in almost 120 countries, and there’s almost 7000 missionaries in OM...One of their big focuses is literature distribution and books. We have a ship that goes around the world and goes from port to port and gives out Christian literature and books and it’s basically the world’s largest floating evangelistic library.
Ally: Are there any special rules or stuff you have to observe while you’re here in Argentina because you’re here as missionaries?
Andrea: OM, because it’s not a denominational organization, their thing is just to go with the culture. For example, with drinking, drink in moderation--don't make it a big part of your life. But if a family’s going to have wine and it’d be culturally inappropriate to not drink with them, it’d be better to have a glass of wine.
Mike: We really don’t have a bunch of big lists about ‘you shouldn’t do this,’ ‘you can’t do this’--
Andrea: The Bible, maybe?
Mike: It’s really just a matter of going with the flow of the culture, but at the same time, by being Christians, being countercultural; if something’s against the culture of the Bible, standing up for it.
Andrea: Love people, love Jesus.
Ally: What do you think are some of the stereotypes that people have about missionaries?
Diane: That we use secondhand teabags.
Mike: One of the interesting things too is that we tend to glamorize missions and think it’s “Oh you’re doing all this stuff and giving Bibles to everyone you meet.” In reality we’re living life in a different culture. In reality we’re trying to be God’s hands and feet and love people where we’re at. There’s times missionary work is not glamorous, there’s times you have to get your hands dirty, there’s times you might have to do things you might not want to do, and in the US people only see the good pictures--they only see you handing out soccer balls to kids.
Andrea: We still have to do our laundry. We still have to make our food.
Mike: There’s administration things we have to do. We live on a tight budget.
Rachel: My friends work with the upper class there because they’re very unreached, so they’re working with really rich people that take six vacations a year. They’ve had people say to them when they’re in the States, “Hey we’re gonna come down and paint houses, or just—that’s missions.” They didn’t realize that’s not always necessary—they don’t see it [mission work] as valid if you’re not working with the poor or doing manual labor. I think a lot of people think you have to teach Sunday school or be a pastor…but you can be an accountant or use any of your gifts to serve. There are so many needs besides working in a church and…I’ll go back to raise funds in order to work with university students, and I don’t know if that [goal] will raise funds as quickly as it would to do a “typical” mission.
Ally: Would you say that’s it’s a 24/7 job, where you always “on call?”
Andrea: It feels like it should be.
Rachel: You feel guilty when you’re not.
Andrea: Yeah, I’m trying to learn to be...normal. It’s not really easy. I wrote a blog about not feeling guilty that it’s not always a 24/7 job. I think about how people back home have a 40-hour job, but they also have personal time where they can hang out with people, they can work out, they can do other things.
Mike: There are times when you need to sacrifice what you want to do for other people. You need to have willingness to be available when people need you.
Rachel: It’s made me more intentional in my relationships. At home, I had a very demanding full time teaching job with 600 students every 9 weeks, and my life at night was grading papers and I’d have a few events during the week. I didn't intentionally meet with people one-on-one, not discipleship or anything. Here, because you want your life to have extra focus, I think you are more intentional with your time and with your resources and with your attitude.
Sports ministry in Las Violetas Andrea: It feels like it should be.
Rachel: You feel guilty when you’re not.
Andrea: Yeah, I’m trying to learn to be...normal. It’s not really easy. I wrote a blog about not feeling guilty that it’s not always a 24/7 job. I think about how people back home have a 40-hour job, but they also have personal time where they can hang out with people, they can work out, they can do other things.
Mike: There are times when you need to sacrifice what you want to do for other people. You need to have willingness to be available when people need you.
Rachel: It’s made me more intentional in my relationships. At home, I had a very demanding full time teaching job with 600 students every 9 weeks, and my life at night was grading papers and I’d have a few events during the week. I didn't intentionally meet with people one-on-one, not discipleship or anything. Here, because you want your life to have extra focus, I think you are more intentional with your time and with your resources and with your attitude.
Ally: I think the thing that surprised me the most when I met Adam or the hockey girls was that sports ministry is a thing. I never would have thought of that. (Adam, another OM missionary, played soccer with kids in a poorer barrio every day).
Andrea: Sports gives a family atmosphere. Especially for some of the kids in Las Violetas, it’s so necessary. They just…their homes are filled with people, but so empty of love and so empty of intimacy or affirmation. To be able to have a place where they have coaches that’re encouraging them and sharing with them the actual love of God—living it with them, that’s important.
Mike: One of the cool things about OM is that their heart is for “unconventional ministry.” In reality, God has given us each gifts, talents that we can use. And whatever you’re good at, that’s in reality bringing glory to God by using that gift to make Him known. OM is focused on that—what are you good at? Go do it for the Gospel, go do it for the Kingdom.
Rachel: My team leader’s moving to Córdoba, and he’s a real visionary. He wants to meet with people around town to find where the needs are and where university students would be likely to join in and see it as a valid cause. For example, AIDS awareness is a huge issue in Córdoba. Also, I work with ABUA, the Asociación Biblica Universitaria Argentina, and they do direct Bible studies in groups in different facultades, and that is really threatening to someone who’s never even opened a Bible, and this would be a different step to have them get involved. There are a lot of needs that we’re even unaware of that we can use our gifts to serve in a way that will create more relationships.
Andrea: Sports gives a family atmosphere. Especially for some of the kids in Las Violetas, it’s so necessary. They just…their homes are filled with people, but so empty of love and so empty of intimacy or affirmation. To be able to have a place where they have coaches that’re encouraging them and sharing with them the actual love of God—living it with them, that’s important.
Mike: One of the cool things about OM is that their heart is for “unconventional ministry.” In reality, God has given us each gifts, talents that we can use. And whatever you’re good at, that’s in reality bringing glory to God by using that gift to make Him known. OM is focused on that—what are you good at? Go do it for the Gospel, go do it for the Kingdom.
Rachel: My team leader’s moving to Córdoba, and he’s a real visionary. He wants to meet with people around town to find where the needs are and where university students would be likely to join in and see it as a valid cause. For example, AIDS awareness is a huge issue in Córdoba. Also, I work with ABUA, the Asociación Biblica Universitaria Argentina, and they do direct Bible studies in groups in different facultades, and that is really threatening to someone who’s never even opened a Bible, and this would be a different step to have them get involved. There are a lot of needs that we’re even unaware of that we can use our gifts to serve in a way that will create more relationships.
Ally: And things that you want people to know about your life in Córdoba or about being a missionary?
Rachel: I lived in Bolivia for a while with the same organization and it was so cheap to live there, but here it’s very expensive and it requires a lot more work with fundraising to be able to live here.
Andrea: The thing is is that a lot of your funding often goes to things that don’t look so glamorous, like keeping the lights on in our building that we own en Las Violetas, we have to do ministry, but we also need to be able to turn on the lights and use the gas and do all that stuff that’s not as glamorous to fund as, like, feeding babies.
Mike: Some of the funds that we raise are for government things, government taxes and stipulations and visas and here the government is very strict on nonprofits. Part of our support is understanding that the government is kind of silly on some things…we wish every dollar could go to the ministry, but if we want to be in good standing here, we need to do these things. Christ said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s,” and part of our funding goes to giving to Caesar.
Rachel: Living here as a missionary…it takes a lot longer to live here than it does in the States. Most cooking is done from scratch and there’s no dishwashers, no clothes dryers. It doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up. You spend many hours in the kitchen, many hours doing labor.
Rachel: I lived in Bolivia for a while with the same organization and it was so cheap to live there, but here it’s very expensive and it requires a lot more work with fundraising to be able to live here.
Andrea: The thing is is that a lot of your funding often goes to things that don’t look so glamorous, like keeping the lights on in our building that we own en Las Violetas, we have to do ministry, but we also need to be able to turn on the lights and use the gas and do all that stuff that’s not as glamorous to fund as, like, feeding babies.
Mike: Some of the funds that we raise are for government things, government taxes and stipulations and visas and here the government is very strict on nonprofits. Part of our support is understanding that the government is kind of silly on some things…we wish every dollar could go to the ministry, but if we want to be in good standing here, we need to do these things. Christ said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s,” and part of our funding goes to giving to Caesar.
Rachel: Living here as a missionary…it takes a lot longer to live here than it does in the States. Most cooking is done from scratch and there’s no dishwashers, no clothes dryers. It doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up. You spend many hours in the kitchen, many hours doing labor.
In Other Words..
Andrea, Mike, Rachel, and Diane are Christian missionaries in Córdoba, Argentina, a city of about 1.3 million people. They've made time commitments to their respective organizations, and while they're in Argentina they're obligated to work. The three OMers (Mike, Andrea, and Diane) live together in the OM house.
However, they have free time to pursue their own interests. They get to pick what they cook and what they wear and what time they go to bed. They had to raise the money to come to Argentina, and their budget for food, transportation, and other household costs is fairly tight.
They are extremely holy, extremely dedicated people who left their lives in the US and New Zeland to bring the Word to people in Argentina. I admire their patience and capacity to love. I met them all through English Talk, and I know that my semester would've been extremely different without their friendship and guidance.
However, they have free time to pursue their own interests. They get to pick what they cook and what they wear and what time they go to bed. They had to raise the money to come to Argentina, and their budget for food, transportation, and other household costs is fairly tight.
They are extremely holy, extremely dedicated people who left their lives in the US and New Zeland to bring the Word to people in Argentina. I admire their patience and capacity to love. I met them all through English Talk, and I know that my semester would've been extremely different without their friendship and guidance.