Transitions are tough.
Post-transition can be even tougher.
Whether you’re returning home temporarily or permanently, equipping yourself for the process will make a such a difference, and prepare you for whatever is next.
Re-entry
Whether returning home temporarily or permanently, you need to be prepared for a season of transition – and all the challenges that brings!
Debrief
We strongly recommend a debrief, even informally, as a way of processing your time spent in another cultures.
New Season
A Sender’s Role
Any fieldworker needs a great team of friends, family and colleagues supporting them. You have a huge part to play in ensuring their success. Check out what you can do to ensure your fieldworkers thrive!
- Please don’t view the missionary’s return as an event, but rather as a process that may be difficult for them.
- Reverse culture shock (or ‘re-entry stress’) can be as difficult, or even harder, for returnees to navigate than the original culture was! Often that is because it is unexpected.
- Be prepared to love and welcome the returnee home, even if they appear ‘difficult’ as they struggle with this phase.
- An ‘end-of-term’ debrief may have been given by their agency while still on the field, but a ‘returning home debrief’, around 6 weeks after the return may also be a welcome addition.
- This could be an informal, open-ended question, ‘interview’ style to allow the returning field worker to process their thoughts and feelings.
- A debrief can be useful, even for a temporary trip home to address issues that may be under the surface.
- Returning field workers will have experienced and learnt a vast amount, more than can be summarised in a mid-service update interview or a polite question over coffee after a service!
- A perceived lack of interest in this may lead to feelings of disappointment or offence for the returning field worker.
- Consider how you can communicate that their story and experiences matter, and how you can allow them to share them in an unpressured environment. Ensure the worker’s PACTeam is on hand to spend time with and support them.
- This may feel like a repeat of the pre-field sending out, but making the effort to mark the occasion and commission a returning fieldworker will ensure they feel supported.
- Be sure to surround them with prayer and encouragement.
- Commit to keeping engaged with them and track how they are doing over the early weeks especially. Make sure their PACTeam does not disband too soon – not until they are fully settled back and re-integrated in the community.
- A new season of belonging and of continuing service is what we should hope for when a mission partner returns home for good.
- Support them practically as they settle back in.
- Consider how you can involve this returning field worker in the church’s life – they have a wealth of experience and wisdom they can contribute!
Get Equipped
Here are some useful materials for whichever stage you are in
Cross-cultural marriage
Developing Leadership for Cross-Cultural Ministry
Mission thrives on cultivating leaders who embody the life and character of Jesus, the most effective figure in history who…
Caring for Third Culture Kids
Currently in development, this exciting new course is created by our Dean of Studies, Ben Gilbert. British by birth, raised in India, with time living in Sri Lanka and the Middle East – the TCK experience is familiar to Ben, who is excited to share personal experiences, research and helpful insights for both TCKs, and those caring for them to thrive across cultures. Sign up to be notified when the course is released!
Building a Support Ecosystem
In this course, we examine the different dimensions of support that are needed for a successful cross-cultural experience or lifestyle….
The Antioch Factor
The Antioch Factor
Ross Paterson presents a stark choice that no Christian or church can avoid making – whether we become a Jerusalem…
Know Thyself
This course explores the concept of understanding ourselves within the context of our own cultures. Before delving into how we…
Growing in Cultural Intelligence
Joseph #3: Learning in God’s School of Faithfulness
In this third talk on the life of Joseph, Ross looks at Joseph through the lens of three vital principles…
Where Should We Go Next? | Acts 2
Ross shares how the early church responded to the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
The importance of learning the local language – Barry and Rowena McNight
Rowena and Barry McKnight have been missionaries for many years in Thailand. In this insightful interview into their years of…
Five Fundamental Mistakes re: mission
Ross Paterson lists 5 traps we can fall into which make us miss the invitation to reach the rest of…
Tackling Tough Topics with Elizabeth Trotter
Elizabeth and her husband Jonathan were missionaries to Cambodia. They returned to America during Covid lockdown in a sudden and…
Serving in Japan with Christina Winrich
In this interview Christina shares openly about the challenges and joys of serving God in another culture. She shares movingly…
The Privilege of Being a Sending Church
Guest Blog by Michael Prest from UFM. I wonder what springs to mind when we think of sending and supporting mission…
Seven Lessons From Job About Values
Ross shares lessons from the book of Job that help us to walk through the hard and puzzling times in…
Radical Prayer with Katie Chen
Scroll down for podcast options! < After being baptised at only 5 years old, Katie felt a clear calling…
Transforming Slums with Nicola Neal
When Nicola and husband Simon were called out of a comfortable life into the poorest communities, they had no idea…
“I never signed up for this…”
…and how to deal with it. Cross-cultural missionaries have families, who experience difficult emotions as a result of their loved…
Lilias Trotter – A Remarkable Missionary
Until recently, I had never heard of Lilias Trotter. She is a hidden but amazing person, like many missionaries. I…
He Took His Time, But He Made It! – Easter Week Pt 6
This is part of our Easter week series from Ross Paterson’s daily devotional Facebook post. Like our page to keep up with…
10 Cross-Cultural Mission New Year’s Resolutions.
Here is a suggestion. If you make New Year’s resolutions, why not make some that are cross-cultural mission related? Chuck…
Article 7 – Part 2 of the Serampore Agreement
What happens after they believe in Jesus? Here we see the extraordinary level of care that Carey and his colleagues…
J. O. Fraser – ‘Ask In Faith.
Below is the account in J.O. Fraser’s life of a very special experience in prayer that I refer to…
Preparing for Cross Cultural Missions
1. How is your walk with the Lord? how are you doing with the Lord? Often I think of a…
Faith in Captivity
Geoffrey T. Bull (1921-1999) had a very unusual missionary career – he only served as a missionary for a few…
Article 7 – Part 3 of the Serampore Agreement
Carey and the others wrote:As we consider it our duty to honour the civil magistrate, and in every state and…
The Beauty of Collaboration
I recently received an update from a soon-to-be partner and found that they were starting to offer online options for…