The Cost of Being a Missionary
I was waiting in line at the airport ticket counter next to a cart overflowing with 50-pound duffle bags. So many thoughts were racing through my mind. Would the bags arrive at our destination? Did I forget anything? Was I ready for what was next?
My husband and I were moving to Eastern Europe as missionaries. I was terrified but anxious to finally get going! We had already hosted a farewell party in a snowstorm for our family and friends, but now I’d come to the hardest moment of all—saying goodbye to my parents.
We hugged and cried at security, and I tried to maintain my composure through the line. When we got to the other side and reassembled our belongings, I turned to wave again. My mom was standing tall on a bench, waving over the crowd. My dad was a bit choked up. That was when I truly started to count the cost of being a missionary.
Up until this point, the cost had been mostly monetary. We spent more than a year raising funds and building a prayer team before moving overseas. The goal was to fund our ministry budget, and God provided in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
Once we were fully funded, the cost shifted from financial to everything else. I sold my car, donated bags and boxes of my belongings and said goodbye to loved ones. I was getting ready to start my life over completely—new language, new culture, new food, new friends, new colleagues.
After serving nearly nine years on the mission field, here’s what I know: missionaries can’t do it all on their own. They rely on their ministry partners to help carry them through seasons of celebration and challenge. The prayers, encouragement and generosity of others sustain them—wherever they are in the world.
Team Amplify is all about partnering with missionaries so more people can hear the Good News of Jesus. That’s why I want to share this guide with you: 6 Ways You Can Partner with Missionaries (and it’s not all about money!). My hope is that these ideas will inspire us to encourage each other and rally around our missionaries!
Download a free copy of 6 Ways You Can Partner With Missionaries.
