Permit me
to try to demystify "home assignments" / "furlough" and have an honest chat with
you about what it means to me, and possibly many other missionaries.
At least
it’s worth a shot right? Because unless
you are a missionary or have been a missionary, you probably don’t really know
what the heck missionaries do on “home assignments” or “furloughs” and why they
do it.
The truth
is, a regular part of missionary life is this “yo-yo” between passport country
and assignment country. Some people call
it furlough, some people call it home assignment and some people also call it a
holiday (and it doesn’t feel like one at all).
Furloughs
are filled with activities:
- visiting supporters to report on mission work,
- fundraising,
- speaking in churches,
- dealing with paper work,
- spending time with family and
friends.
Furloughs
are important. They help missionaries stay
in touch with the people who enable them to do their mission and they provide a
respite from the stresses and strains of everyday ministry in the field. In our case, it has been wonderful not to be
always looking over our shoulders and worrying about crime.
But a furlough
also comes with a lot of stress. It means
living out of a suitcase for a couple of months and staying in the homes of other
people with rules different than your own.
I don’t say this with an ungrateful heart, not at all! I’m more than thankful for the people who
have hosted us and being generous towards us.
But it means feeling like a burden when you want to be a blessing, and
worrying about things you don’t worry about when you are in your own house.
Furlough
also means being on your best behavior as the spotlight shines on you whenever
you arrive at a supporting church. 
Home assignment means trying to split your time among family members and friends who
all want to see you “one more time”. It’s
beautiful, but it is also hard. It's saying "hello" and "goodbye" every time you see someone. It's trying to enjoy time with these people you love and trying not to think about missing them. "Yo-Yo". 
As missionaries,
we try to catch up on the news we missed while in a different country, but
sometimes finding out & hearing all about these life changing moments we
didn’t know about can almost be worse than not knowing. Why?
Because missing out sucks, at least for me it does.
Missing
out on the babies, the weddings, the funerals
and
and
and...
Then “boom”, my heart breaks in a moment of human weakness and I say:
“God, did you really call me to
miss out on all this? It hurts too much
Papa.”
And He reminds me how following Him isn't easy, but how He promised to be with me.
Luke
14:26
“You
cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and
mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come
with me unless you love me more than you love your own life.”
“Oh Jesus, why is following you so hard sometimes yet the best thing ever? Thank you for your promise that is like a balm to my heart."
Matthew
19: 29
"And
everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or
children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will
inherit eternal life.”
Matthew
28:20 (great commission)
“I
am with you always, even to the end of the age”
So friends, strangers, fellow missionaries: Furlough is beautiful, furlough is hard. Going is beautiful, going is hard. I just wanted you to know the truth for me. I needed you to know, so that you could pray with me. I just wanted you to know, because my Lord sustains me. He is my my rock when everything else is moving and changing. I could never do this without Him.
Home Assignment also is listening to my husband giving the same report every Sunday morning and getting all excited about it and wanting to go there. And I get to do just that.
Furlough is learning how large and how big-hearted your spiritual family really is. It is meeting people who say they've been praying for you by name every day. It really isn't all bad, and it certainly isn't all easy. Yo-Yo.
