Q&A Series: Three Pieces of Advice to Aspiring Missionaries

[Photo Credit: The Library of Congress]

After a brief hiatus, the question and answer series continues! Thanks to those of you who have submitted questions. If you would still like to submit questions (anything you can think of), e-mail me at clairececil11@gmail.com.

Question: What advice would you give to other young people who are considering spending a year of their life doing missions?

Since it would be a bit lazy for me to pull a Nike and tell you on the fence to "just do it," I'll pull a fairy godmother and give you three pieces of advice:

1. Commit to at least a year. I know a year may seem like a really long time when you first start thinking about doing missions but it's not. I've been in Thailand for eight months (with the exception of that trip to Laos) and now that I have about four months left here, I feel like the time has flown by. I am SO glad that I had that conversation with that missionary during the initial vision trip in August 2011 that cemented this amount of time into my brain. In any sort of missions environment in the world, it takes time to build partnerships and opportunities to do things aren't always there ready for you the moment you step off the plane. In fact, you may not even be ready when you first start. For example, Liz and I started tutoring the women at Rahab on a weekly basis in January. I would have felt so overwhelmed by my inability to speak or understand Thai and my lack of experience in teaching English had I started this tutoring commitment in June 2012. God knew I would need quite a bit of time before I was ready. Having more time gives you the freedom to be patient.
2. Be ready for culture shock. Culture shock is a bit like jet lag--you never think it will happen to you until it does. Even then, sometimes it's hard to identify what you're experiencing. Despite the name of this blog ("mai pen rai"), I don't always share that easygoing attitude. There have been times where it feels like I'm the only person who truly cares about the quality or impact of something. This is where my American perspective doesn't mesh well with Thai culture. Other times I feel like I'm going to explode if we take one more group picture. Wherever you are serving in the world, your background and your expectations are at some point going to clash with the culture. What matters is how you handle this clash of cultures. I've learned that the wrong way to handle it is to rail against it and I'm still practicing handling it better. It helps to have someone to go through it with you and keep you in check. Speaking of which...
3. Bring someone with you who can keep you in check. I have absolutely no regrets about coming with my partner in crime, Liz. I've known Liz since the summer before my freshman year at UMW. I got a sweet letter in the mail from my Orientation Leader with a Bible verse on it and I knew I needed to get to know this girl. Little did I know back then that I would be spending a year in Thailand living one floor below her! I consider Liz to be my mentor because I can confide anything to her and she doesn't put up with my crap. Everyone needs a person like that in their lives. Oh yes, if possible, bring this person with you to the mission field. It will be good for both of you!!

I found the picture at the top of this post through the Library of Congress. Though it just shows the backs of two American missionaries in Shanghai, I find it really interesting that they are wearing traditional Chinese costumes of the period. For the record, when Liz and I come back to the US, we won't be wearing any sort of traditional Thai costume.