“Don’t Knock It Till You Try It!”

I decided to become a nurse because I enjoyed reading stories and seeing pictures from a friend of mine who was running a clinic in Senegal. I went on my first mission trip the summer before I graduated college. It was a 10-day trip to Zambia during which we went door-to-door giving Bible studies and inviting the community to our evening program. I also helped check blood pressure and assist in cataract surgeries for the health outreach, as well as run a children’s program. I was hooked. After receiving my nursing license, I participated in other weeklong mission trips to such places as Kenya and the Dominican Republic. Then five years after I started working I decided to step away from bedside nursing and take the plunge into long-term missions. Well, technically, 10 months is still considered short-term missionary service, but it was a long time for me.

To ease my family’s fears, I decided not to apply for a health-care position in the far-out villages of the Philippines, but instead elected to go to Ireland. I was set to go to Ireland with three other interns, my “missionary family.” We were tasked with teaching health, cooking, and exercise classes, as well as other topics that were needed in the community. But our trip did not start well.

Off to Ireland

When we first arrived in Ireland, we were all threatened with deportation. Our passports were confiscated, and we were given one week’s probation to convince the authorities to let us stay. We hired a lawyer, and after multiple trips to Dublin we were finally granted our visas. The second week was not much easier, as the career missionaries we were there to support informed us of their intent to return home. They would leave halfway through our first term, and they asked us to stay through a second 10-month term on our own to continue the project until new career missionaries could come. We were given three months to decide, and I took all three months. In those three months we met members of the local community through our events and daily life. Everyone was very welcoming. We had great turnouts for our cooking classes and seminars, and we held Bible studies at our house every Friday evening. At the end of the three months I and two other interns decided to stay for the second term. 

For all intents and purposes, Ireland is an easy place to live. All the basic amenities are provided, and cooking classes weren’t that hard to run. Yet adjusting was still a struggle. In fact, it was Ireland’s similarity to my homeland America that was the source of the struggle. As a missionary in Zambia, I could distinguish the food, clothes, language, and other lifestyle elements from my native country’s. But in Ireland the way they ate, dressed, and spoke was so similar to America’s that it was hard for me to navigate the differences. Often I wondered if they were looking down on my American ways.

Further, during my first month there I started reacting to something. Process of elimination yielded no answers, and my bloodwork came back normal. It turned out I was allergic to the cold. Well, sort of. It’s called chilblains. I would get red, itchy, swollen spots on my fingers because of the damp cold and would need steroid cream to keep the condition under control so the blisters wouldn’t open and get infected. Since their house was warmer than the intern house, the career missionary family moved out of their house sooner than expected, which allowed the interns to move into a warmer space.

Another thing I had to get used to was driving a car with a manual transmission, and driving on the left side of the road—neither of which I had done before. Ireland has narrow winding roads and lots of hills, and every rental car drove a little differently. Thankfully, I didn’t get into any accidents, and now I know how to navigate a roundabout with stoplights. 

Even in the midst of internal struggles I experienced blessings, the greatest of which was seeing people come to understand the Bible.

The Blessings

It seemed as though life was constantly changing, and our Irish friends were a great support through it all. While we were told to take care of the project when the career missionaries left, we found that our Irish friends took care of us. So by the time the next set of missionaries came, we had strong connections in the community to introduce them to.

Even in the midst of internal struggles I experienced blessings, the greatest of which was seeing people come to understand the Bible. Many people I studied with had grown up hearing the Bible read to them at church, but they didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. Stories I learned in cradle roll and kindergarten were sometimes unknown to them. We used felts and tea boxes, whatever we had on hand, to explain what we were reading.

At one of our weekly Bible studies we read 1 Corinthians 3:11: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” We discussed the importance of having a foundation in the Lord so that when trials come our way, even if our structure falls our foundation is still securely built in Him. Jena[*] had been experiencing many family struggles and had missed quite a few of our Bible studies. She had just started attending again, and this was the topic we were discussing. Using tea boxes as bricks, she said, “I build up this wall of faith, but then trials come and knock it down.” At first we thought she felt destroyed, but then she continued to say, “These are experiences that I need to learn to use to help me build my wall of faith more sturdily. When I survive these trials, my faith will grow stronger, and when that trial comes again, I will have two levels secure, not just one.” Jena often shared how she was thankful that she had people to study the Bible with her. That week’s study brought tears to her eyes as the passage became real to her.

Another good friend, Sabrina, blessed us through fellowship. After the career missionary family left, our house felt lonely on Friday evenings, as we were used to having company for dinner, so we decided to invite Sabrina. We enjoyed our time, so we decided to get together again the next Friday. Every Friday for the next seven months Sabrina joined us for dinner prior to Bible study. When we first arrived in Ireland, her attendance at Bible study was sporadic, and she would feel uncomfortable if she was the only local there. But then she started bringing garlic bread or dessert to dinner and would make herself at home in the kitchen. And she would stay after Bible study and talk until we realized how late it was.

One Friday Sabrina didn’t make it to dinner. She was away recording with her choir for the weekend, a trip she looked forward to every year. Upon her return she told us of a conversation she’d had with the choir. That Friday she had said to the other choir members, “I’m sorry, guys. I love you and everything, but this just doesn’t feel right. It’s Friday evening, and I’m supposed to be at Bible study.” She explained to them who attended our study and what we did. They started questioning her: “So you just sit around and read the Bible?” Sabrina said she responded, “Don’t knock it till you try it!” She was no longer too shy to participate in the Bible study, and enjoyed it so much that she was not afraid to tell others about it.

An Appeal

Sometimes the struggles of mission work can cloud our minds and hinder us from seeing the blessings, especially when the struggles are unexpected. For instance, I did not expect that language would be a struggle in Ireland. But God sent people to encourage me along the way. A friend would call and ask how I was doing. She wouldn’t accept “fine” as an answer. She actually wanted to know what I was struggling with so she could help me through it. She prayed with me and for me and would check in to see if anything had changed.

If you know a missionary, think of this article as a reminder to reach out to them. Take care of your missionaries. Don’t assume everything is great because you don’t hear about the trials. Remember, sometimes the trials have nothing to do with the people we are called to minister to (my chilblains, for example) or the logistics of running a project without leaders. Consider visiting your friend in the mission field, if possible. Witness the life that they are living. Be it in Ireland with its modern amenities or the far-out villages of the Philippines with no electricity, mission work has its struggles. Taking take of your missionaries is an important part of their missionary work.

[*] Names have been changed for privacy.