Missionary Leisure

by Paul Brawn

One of the old pioneer missionaries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, a venerable saint of unusual dedication and spiritual fervor, was sometimes heard to exclaim, “God didn’t call me to Africa to hunt and fish! I was called to be a fisher of men!”

One of the old pioneer missionaries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, a venerable saint of unusual dedication and spiritual fervor, was sometimes heard to exclaim, "God didn’t call me to Africa to hunt and fish! I was called to be a fisher of men!" Now this same missionary has been acknowledged as an expert on current affairs, both world-wide and local, and is known to spend hours of his leisure time devouring news journals and magazines.

Every missionary has his own particular interests and hobbies, the tendency being to be somewhat unsympathetic with the next person’s. One missionary who has no time for "Time" will spend his time working on his car, whereas his co-laborer "doesn’t have the time to waste" on anything mechanical. Nevertheless, he will spend hours in front of the video. Now, the next one may be somewhat critical of video, but will play tennis regularly twice a week. Another missionary, living next to a tennis court for several months, only rarely "found time" to take advantage of it, but would spend hours shopping and looking for the best prices. Another would not waste two minutes downtown or in the market, but might spend a whole day being a fisher of fish.

Missionary leisure. We all do it. We all need it. I just hope others enjoy theirs as much as I do mine.

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