Cockroaches, slugs, and other bugs - A Missionary Life

"Don't eat the cockroach!" That is not a normal "mom phrase". I think that is one of those phrases that a missionary mom says once or maybe twice. Miss K was not quite two years old. She is was in the kitchen in our flat in Asia. I had my hands in a bowl mixing something for dinner. I look down and she is playing with a cockroach and so I say, "don't eat the cockroach." That was all I could do until I washed my hands and moved her and got rid of the cockroach.

I have decided that somewhere there is a list of things that missionaries have to experience. It not normally given as part of the orientation to the organisation or the orientation to the field but it is there. You begin to do things or experience things and other missionaries nod, they know what you are talking about. It is a bit like the bucket list for missionaries. Things like how many bugs in your house or not understanding the person in the market and ending up with 10 pounds of bananas. When you experience those things you know it is just one of the things you experience.

On the top of the list is dealing with bugs. Asia has cockroaches, termites, and mosquitos. Africa has mosquitos and other bugs. I don't know about South America. I am sure they have bugs as well. Somehow I thought moving to England I would be able to skip the bug experience. What bugs do they have in England? And then I moved here. I learned what they have in England.

They have slugs. Miss K one day asked me how many slugs are in England. I think my answer might have been, "too many."

It would be fine if the slugs just stayed in the garden. Wait a second, no even there they cause problems eating various plants. I think they are responsible for the death of my marigolds. I planted nice marigolds with leaves and flowers and within a few weeks nothing was left.

The slugs do not stay in the garden. They wander into the kitchen. They are smart in the sense that they come in after 10:30 at night and leave before I get up in the morning. So if it weren't for the slime trail that they would leave on the kitchen floor or the times that someone goes into the kitchen at night during slug visiting hours, we might not know they came in. There was one that did not leave before daylight but that might have been that he crawled up the tile wall.

I have tried salt. I have tried slug pellets. I tried cedar wood essential oil in the water when I wash the floor. I told Miss K that I put cedar wood oil in the water because I had heard that slugs didn't like that. She told me, "slugs can't talk." And if they could talk, we would have a long discussion about where they are allowed. Now I am just trying to coexist. If they are out of the kitchen before down in the morning, I will pretend that I don't have slugs in the kitchen.

I can tick the bugs off my list of experiences. Just another thing that you face living and working overseas, bugs you didn't have at home. (I guess we had slugs when I lived in Seattle.)

Beth,
who loves living life where God has called her and her family and but has not learned to share the kitchen. This was written to be a fun light bit about living and working overseas.

PS - I think all these photos were taken one morning as Miss K and I delivered newspapers. Yes, that is how many slugs we see on a rainy morning.

Crossing Paths

Today was a beautiful day with the sun shining and a blue sky. It was a perfect day for a walk. This weekend is the last big training walk before the big walk. Walking 12 miles does give some time for talking but also time for enjoying the beauty and thinking.

I was walking and looked up at the sky and saw the trails from two planes. I thought about how as missionaries our lives and paths cross with others. Some of those are the people that we meet overseas and some are the people that we meet that are friends of friends. I think this is one of the blessings of living overseas.

I have a good friend that was introduced to me from another friend because my friend was moving to Hong Kong.

We had a coworker in Taiwan that we have kept in touch with and now she is in Europe so we have gotten together at various times.

The wife of a mentor of my husband's was living in Hong Kong when we were there and she became a good friend. The fun part was we connected with her when we were in Taiwan. She had come to town for some meetings and visited the church we were attending. Of course my husband knew who she was and we chatted.

About 13 years ago there were some returning students from England that we met. They began to come to a Bible study in our home. Now 13 years later we are in that city in England and we have met the people that had a Bible study with that group of students.

I remember a friend connected me with a friend of hers when we were in Ukraine and that friend connected us with a lady in her church who was kind and spent a few days with us touring Kiev.

One of the blessings of living overseas is the people you meet both the people in the host country and the other people that are living there. My life has been deepened because of these relationships. My life has broadened because of these relationships.

Embrace and enjoy the relationships you develop overseas.

Beth

The A-Z Praying for Missionaries - Part 3

This is Part 3 of A-Z Praying for Missionaries. Here is Part 1 and here is Part 2.

We are working through the alphabet with things to different things to pray about for missionaries. We are now at the end of the alphabet and that does require a bit of creativity.

P is for protection - Driving in some countries is not as safe as at home. Driving laws are not enforced or don't exist so it can be taking your safety in your own hands. Depending on where the missionary is living there can be other safety things that are not the same standards that they are used to at home.

Q is for quiet time - Pray that the quiet time will be a time of refreshing and renewing them.

R is for rest. It is easy to be busy and hard to rest. Pray that there will be times of rest so that they can be refreshed for service.

S is for strength - Pray that the missionary will have renewed strength. (Isaiah 40:31) You can easily get weary with day in and day out things. God promises to give strength so pray for strength.

T is for temptations - Pray against temptations. Pray that the missionary will not give in to temptations.

U is for unity - Pray for unity within the team they are working with. Pray for unity with the local churches. The enemy wants to pull teams and individuals to disunity. Pray that they will have love and unity.

V is for Visa - Visas can be difficult depending on the country. Pray for provision of a visa. Pray for funds for a visa. The cost of paperwork or traveling to get a visa and add up.

W is for Warfare - Spiritual warfare. We have an enemy and he will try to stop or discourage the spread of the gospel.

X is for excellence - it is easy to just do what needs to be done but we need to work with excellence as a goal.

Y is for yielding to the Lord - sometimes missionaries are in places that they know it is where God wants them but it might not be where they want to be. Pray that they will yield to the Lord trusting that the place he has them is the best place for them.

Z is for zeal - personal zeal for God and zeal for the calling. It can be tiring and difficult but the God and what he has called us to do can keep us motivated.

Partner in the work by praying.

When you pray for a missionary, drop a note/email/text/message however yo communicate with them. Let them know. It will encourage them.

Beth

The A to Z of Praying for Missionaries - Part 2

I shared about praying for missionaries starting at the beginning of the alphabet and going through giving some specific things for each letter. Part 1 can be found here.

H is for health - Pray for the health of the missionaries. Depending where they are living and serving there are so many different challenges to their health, malaria, food poisoning, air quality, and other things that are not the same as at home.

I is for intercultural living - So many of the teams include people from various countries not just your home country and host country. Pray that missionaries will understand the cultures but have a Biblical culture.

J is for joy - Joy in serving the Lord. It is easy to lose joy in what you are doing. The days get long, the burdens are heavy and joy slips away. Pray that each day will be filled with joy.

K is for knowledge - Knowledge comes from fearing the Lord (Proverbs 1:7) Pray that the missionary will have the knowledge from the Lord to share the Gospel is a relevant manner.

L is for Language - learning the language and culture is a long process which takes years, pray that the missionary will continue learning and be able to understand and speak in the heart language.

M is for mercy - God's mercy never comes to an end; it is new every morning. Pray that each day the missionary will know God's mercy in their own life. From God's mercy we are reminded of his faithfulness. Pray that they will be reminded of God's faithfulness.

N is for neighbours - Sometimes the greatest struggle can be those that are living so close. The ones with the dogs that bark all the time or leave their rubbish at your door. Pray that the missionary will have a relationship that shows Jesus.

O is for openness and opportunities - Pray that the people they meet with will be open to the gospel. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel.

Praying for missionaries is partnering with them in the work that God has called us to do. Your prayers are an essential part of the work.

Pray with focus. Pray beginning with A and work your way through the alphabet.


Beth

The A to Z of Praying for Missionaries - Part 1

Sometimes when I can't sleep I will pray through the alphabet. I will begin with A and see how far I set before I fall asleep. I have various themes that I follow. I thought I should share with you the theme of praying for missionaries. This is part one.

One of my favourite quotes about missions and prayer is from James Fraser, a missionary to the Lisu people of southwest China.

"I will not labor the point. You will see from what I am saying that I am not asking you just to give 'help' in prayer as a sort of sideline, but I am trying to roll the main responsibility of this prayer warfare on you. I want you to take the burden of these people upon your shoulders. I want you to wrestle with God for them."

Do we have that kind of thoughts when we are praying for missions?

The A to Z praying for missionaries will help you to focus your prayers.

A is for attitudes - Attitudes impact so much of life. It impacts how we look at things, how we respond. Pray that attitudes will be Christ-like.

B is for balance - Pray that each one will live with balance in their lives. The ministry can be unending, there is always one more person you could meet with or another Bible study to write but  yet we need to have balance.

C is for children - It can be children living with them or children away from home. Pray for the children that they will love and serve God. Pray that they will feel called by God to be part of the ministry.

D is for discernment - So many decisions need to be made and discernment is required. Listening to God's voice and knowing what he wants us to do each day.

E is for encouragement - Pray that the missionaries will be encouraged. If it is times of not much fruit, it can be discouraging. The missionary might even wonder if it is worth being there. Pray that they will be encouraged to continue on in the work that God has called them to do.

F is for faith for finances - (I know that is a double letter.) Many missionaries are faith based meaning that they rely on giving from churches and individuals. Pray that they will have faith to trust God for finances.

G is for grace - Missionaries need grace. We need to understand anew the grace that God gives us. We need to know the depth of grace that God gives us. We need to be able to give grace to those around us.

My desire is that this will help you to focus your prayers.

Part 2 is here.
Part 3 is here.

Beth