Departing: Leaving a Long-Term Host Country (2 of 3)

Thriving in Cross-Cultural Ministry Installment 21: Departing (2 of 3)

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

 – Ecclesiastes 3:1

Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.

– C.T. Studd

Please help me select a title for the book these articles will become: forms.gle/hiqWxPkcW5bh4e8e6

Reminder: Your fellowship, sending organization, or team may not align with my advice. Trust your leaders as you respectfully share what you learn.

If you would like to see more in this series, visit bit.ly/4aXWTjQ.

COMMUNICATION

• Avoid surprises!
  • Include your supporters to join you in prayer for direction even as you discern next steps
    • Some may drop support, but most will stay with you and appreciate your honesty.
  • Once you decide, notify your supporters as soon as possible, including how you arrived at your decision
    • If leaving dysfunctional leadership, share what you can without slander, and work with sending fellowship or organization about the failure to avoid the problem for others, or reveal mistakes you made.
    • Read Bully Pulpit for more thoughts on the topic of toxic leadership, including what is toxic vs. what you just do not like
  • Ask for help returning.
    • Most consider it an honor to help you as part of their contribution to the kingdom.
    • Ask well in advance, from a home to stay in while you settle in to borrowing a car

• When you arrive, have an answer for those who ask questions that range from ignorant to offensive
  • Recognize that most people honestly cannot imagine your life.
    • Take Jesus’s approach when he said, “. . . forgive them, for they know not what they do . . .” (Luke 23:34)
    • Give God the glory by sharing how he sanctified and used you
    • Answer offensive questions with God-honoring answers. Some you might hear include:
      • “How was your trip?” though you have been gone years.
      • “Are you happy to be home?” when you may not consider that place home anymore, or it may be new
      • “Aren’t you happy to be here where it is safe?” thought you may have been safer where you were
      • “What is it like to be a failed missionary?” – this one requires the grace of the Heavenly Father to answer
        • If you did fail:
          • Were you the problem on the team?
          • Were you were hasty and left before you should have?
          • Be honest with yourself, admit your mistakes, and glorify God by confessing this, share what you have learned, and what you are doing to change.

PREPARE PROFESSIONALLY

• Start looking for your next job six months or longer before you leave this one, is possible.
  • Some leave unexpectedly and this is not possible.
  • Start the process, providing time to reconnect and settle before jumping in
  • Be honest with your capacity and time line.

• Transfer workload
  • Work with your team and team leader to determine who will pick up your work
  • Look for a local partner who can replace you, if possible
  • Prepare yourself for some of your work not continuing.
  • A healthy team should not simply increase the workload of others because a member leaves.
  • This does not mean the work you had been doing was without value, but that others either do not have the skills or other work is higher priority.

• If you are retiring, meet with your retirement financial planner at least six months before departure

• Retiring? No one retires from God’s service. Your mission field is changing.
  • Invest in others serving cross-culturally, or on that path.
  • Consider writing a book about your experience, even if just for friends and family to read.
  • Consider a photo album for your experience.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Reliant or any other entity with which he is affiliated.

Please share your thoughts on this topic in the full document: bit.ly/4doFRgZ .

This article is part of a series. For prior articles, resources, and the author’s biography, visit bit.ly/4aXWTjQ

Books by this author: www.dharakalauthor.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Eenigenburg, Sue and Eva Burkholder, Grit to Stay Grace to Go
• Young, Amy, Looming Transitions: Starting and Finishing Well in Cross-Cultural Service

This article is submitted by Reliant. Reliant is a Missio Nexus member.  Member organizations can provide content to the Missio Nexus website. See how by clicking here.