Why furlough?

(Freundesbrief No. 14, April 2004)

Why furlough? Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe/SIL, once said: "The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It never needs a furlough, and is never considered a foreigner."

Missionaries on the other hand need a furlough from time to time. Why?

• Work in world missions is team work. Most team members – namely supporters, partners, families and churches of the missionary – (mostly) live in the home country of the missionary. It is difficult to keep relationships alive from the distance. Prayer letters and articles in church bulletins are only a weak replacement for personal interaction with people. Deepened relationships and newfound supporters enable the missionary to return to the field.

• It is an old custom that missionaries return to their sending church and report and share about their work. Paul and Barnabas were sent out from the church in Antioch ( Acts 13:1ff). After their first missionary journey they returned to Antioch and reported what God had done through them and "they stayed there a long time with the disciples." ( Acts 14:26-28)

• Speaking engagements during furlough help churches and groups to re-focus on world missions and are an important part of the furlough. Recently somebody mentioned: "You are not only missionaries sent from your churches to the Bibleless people groups. You are missionaries from these groups to your churches to let them know about their need for Bible translation. Who else could do it?"

• Living in a foreign culture is more demanding then living in the home culture. Over time it leads to alienation from the home culture and mother tongue. This is true especially for the children. Re-entry to the culture of their parents after being overseas is easier if they have had several opportunities to live in the home country of their parents for an extended time. One missionary mother wrote: "The shorter the intervals the better, especially for the language."

• For many missionaries furlough also means to work on the home base of their missions agency, to continue missions-related studies or to get further training. Participating in worship services and other church events in the own mother tongue helps them to grow in their faith. Some missionaries have to get medical treatments.

• The time of the furlough usually is a very busy time, visible not only by the scheduled appointments, but also by the countless encounters with mission-minded Christians in the home country and with Christians who got more sensitive for world-missions through the service of the missionary.