Many reminisce during building's first annual Mission Week
Missionaries pray for wisdom, good instincts and trust in God while in the field, but more than a few stationed far from home have also wished for "luxuries" such as cake mixes and air conditioning.
Employees at Seventh-day Adventist Church headquarters for the building's first annual Mission Week reminisced last week about their stints as missionaries. The emphasis week was a chance for employees -- many of whom now spend their days at desks far from the traditional mission field -- to reflect on the global scope of the church's mission work.
"The emphasis on mission is at the core of what the Seventh-day Adventist Church stands for," said world church President Ted N. C. Wilson, who welcomed employees to Mission Week on September 19.
Throughout the week, employees enjoyed special worship presentations from Adventist Mission, Hope Channel, Adventist World Radio and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. They used the video chat service Skype to speak with student missionaries serving worldwide and raised money for missions with a silent auction and offerings.
Employees also left anecdotes, advice and life lessons on a memory wall in the building atrium.
The importance of adapting to a local culture while serving as a missionary was a common theme. Several employees said they learned not to equate "different" with "wrong" while serving as missionaries.
"Listen a lot to the local people around you and don't be too quick to jump in with 'how things should be done,'" one employee wrote.
"Expect things to be different," another offered.
Loneliness also seemed to influence many of the memories shared. Employees wrote about missing calls from home and time with family, especially during major holidays.
For some of the employees who shared memories, their time as missionaries was instrumental in shaping key life choices. For one, learning to communicate despite a language barrier led to a career in communication.
Examples of cultural misunderstandings topped the list of "most embarrassing moments" on the memory wall.
One employee, who served in Yap as a high school teacher, said he had to learn that a simple eyebrow raise meant Yes. "I asked one student three times if he owned a guitar. He 'answered' Yes three times," he wrote. Later, when he returned to the United States, the employee said he would confuse Americans by raising is own eyebrows rather than answering Yes.
Another employee, while serving in New Zealand, was flummoxed when a local woman asked if she would "nurse" her baby. "Finally, I realized she was asking me to look after her. That was easy," the employee wrote.
A list of most missed items on the wall included air conditioning, Western-style bathrooms, books and cake mixes for birthday celebrations. But employees also wrote that missing a few everyday comforts meant they learned to depend on God. One wrote that she sensed God telling her exactly what to say while teaching Bible classes.
"Actually, I found out one doesn't need all that much [to serve as a missionary]. Your education, experience and relationships make you who you are," another employee wrote.