What is "Home Assignment"?

After about 2 years and 3 months in Namibia, next month I'll be returning for my first Home Assignment (HA). Historically, mission organizations used the word "furlough," but such terminology often caused confusion that this is just a long vacation, so now they use the term "home assignment" because it better communicates the purpose and goals of our time in our home country. So to help clarify what this is all about I thought I'd write a post addressing some frequently asked questions concerning Home Assignment.

What is Home Assignment?
This is missions lingo for when missionaries periodically come back to spend time in their home country. Missionaries will typically spend anywhere from 2-4 years on the field in their host country, then spend anywhere from a few months up to a full year on HA. My projected plan is to have a rotation of 2.5 years in Namibia and then a 6-month HA back in the States.

Why do missionaries take a Home Assignment?
There are many reasons why missionaries periodically return to their home countries. Sometimes, beyond initial culture shock, missionaries experience ongoing culture stress from living in a foreign culture with a foreign language, foreign worldview, different foods and cultural expectations. So on HA they can experience much needed emotional rest and recovery from such anxiety. Other purposes for HA can include recruiting new workers for the field, or new ministry partners for their support team, or even continuing education opportunities to be better equipped for their ministry.

But one of the primary purposes is reconnecting with their ministry partners and sending church. Writing blogposts and monthly newsletters only go so far in helping you stay connected with the ministry in Namibia. Plus, those can only communicate so much. Spending face-to-face time with people can help clarify questions, quell rumors, build mutual trust, renew interest, and it's just a whole lot more personal! But beyond that, there's nothing like the mutual encouragement of hearing what God's been doing in your lives! Paul told the Romans that one reason he wanted to visit was "that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith" (Rom. 1:12).

Aren't you just giving ministry reports?
Financially supporting a missionary is not simply a business transaction. It's not like you're investing in a business venture and now I'm reporting on the results of that investment. Ministry partnership is relational. So Home Assignment is about investing in relationships. It's about helping you stay personally connected with what God's doing in Namibia, answering your questions, and reinvigorating your passion for the vision of ministry here.

Why six months?
Last year I came home for 3 weeks, primarily for a special family occasion, but secondarily to reconnect with my ministry partners. I did that mostly through large group events where I would share about my ministry and then only get to talk to individual people for 5 minutes or so. But in such a short amount of time it was impossible for me to individually connect with my over 60 ministry partners who are spread throughout the country. So a solid 6 months will give me opportunity to spend quality time with people and to deeply reinvest in my sending church. After all, when Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch after their first missionary journey, "they stayed there a long time with the disciples" (Acts 14:28)!

Is this just a long vacation?
Absolutely not! SIM gives me a set number of vacation days each year, just like any of you might get from your employer. I will use some of those days while I'm back in the States to get some R&R, but primarily HA is an extension of my work in Namibia. That's why it's called "Home Assignment," because it's still a ministry assignment, just in my home country rather than my host country. So, as one author says, "returning from the field means a change of venue, not a vacation" (Hawley, Furlough or Home Assignment?).

Is this just a code name for a fund-raising trip?
Sometimes missionaries need to return home because their support levels have dropped below what's needed to fund the ministry, or their support needs have gone up over time, and therefore they do need additional support before returning to the field. But that is not always the case. Home Assignment can be just as much about maintaining existing relationships as well as building new ones.

Do you still need support while on Home Assignment?
Yes, because this is an extension of my work in Namibia, I will still be living on support while on Home Assignment. In other words, this is still part of my job as a missionary, so I will still be receiving my income as a missionary.

Who will teach your courses at NETS while you're gone?
NETS assigns courses to lecturers at the beginning of each semester. So knowing that I would be away, they haven't assigned me any courses for this semester. The course I specialize in, "Ministry to Children & Youth," is only scheduled to be taught again next year.

If you have any other questions, then feel free to drop me an email or leave them in the comments. And hopefully, I'll get to see many of you while I'm back!

Zeal for Spiritual Fidelity

Throughout the OT, the nation of Israel was challenged to stay faithful to the one true God while living amidst cultures that worshipped many false gods. Similarly, our culture today entices us toward spiritual adultery. In the face of these cultural influences, do you passionately pursue spiritual fidelity? This was the topic of my message from Joshua 22 at church today. You can download it here or listen below if you'd like (sorry for the slight audio issues).

Swimming Upstream

From whom are you learning how to live? From God and His Word or from culture? Culture inevitably influences us. And if we're not intentional about swimming against the cultural currents where culture goes against God, then we will just be swept away downstream becoming just like the sinful culture around us. This was the topic of my message on Judges 19 at church today. You can download it here or listen below if you'd like.

Mission Trips Trailer

Each year we divide up our student body into mission teams and send them out to different places in Namibia to share God's love and the truth of the gospel. At our last Devotions for the first semester we gave them a little sneak peak of what's to come . . .

Last Day of School

Today marks the last day of our first semester at NETS. Everyone takes the last of their final exams in the morning, then we all share a lunch together as a NETS community. In the afternoon we had our final Community Devotions for the semester. We've been preaching through the book of Joshua this semester, so the director of our distance program preached from Joshua 24 to close off the series.

In the middle of Devotions we had a crazy storm pass through bringing thunder, lightning, lots of rain and even some hail! This is typically the dry season and the country is going through the worst drought in years. They say the city of Windhoek will be out of water by October! But today it rained pretty steadily throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Nothing can stop God from doing as He pleases, not even dry season. :)

After Devotions everyone said their goodbyes and we will all head our separate ways for the month long winter break. Some students will do week-long practical ministries at various churches. Others will return home to farms and villages where they will have opportunities to share Christ with their family members. But hopefully they will all get some good rest and relaxation to come back refreshed for the second semester!

Singing during Community Devotions

A few NETS students saying their goodbyes 

Driving home in the crazy out-of-season thunder storm

Photo of the Day

God put all His creativity on display when making Africa.

These are two grey hornbills who visited our garden this afternoon.

Spiritual Formation

Drawing a picture of what
spiritual maturity looks like

Christianity in Namibia has often been called "a mile wide and an inch deep." That's why, when asked to facilitate the Campus Crusade for Christ staff retreat, I chose the topic of developing the inner spiritual life. They sounded about as excited to hear about the topic as I was to share it! Not only that, but they always say the teacher learns more than the student. I must say I have greatly benefited from my reading and study in preparation for facilitating this topic.

In our first session together we looked at our goal for spirituality. What does spiritual maturity look like? We often get the idea that it's external things, like how well we dress for church or how much money we give. But spiritual maturity cannot be defined by external criteria. So we looked at inner spiritual maturity through three different lenses:
1) Spiritual maturity is becoming the kind of person who lives out a spiritual life.
2) Spiritual maturity is learning to want what God wants.
3) Spiritual maturity is thinking God's thoughts after Him.

We spent our second session diagnosing our spiritual lives with questions that reached to our inner lives and not just the surface stuff. So we didn't ask things like, "Do you read the Bible?" But rather we asked, "Do you love the Bible and allow it to have authority over your life?" These kinds of questions reach to our inner spiritual lives.

Then we looked at some hindrances to spiritual formation, or ways that we sabotage our own spiritual development. We discussed how things like Christian education, spiritual busyness, unconfessed sin, and self-deception can all hinder us from growing toward spiritual maturity.

Communion service at sunset on the dunes

Then lastly we looked at how developing the inner spiritual life takes self-discipline. We have to become masters of our sinful flesh instead of allowing it to master us. Throughout the history of the Church people have used practices called spiritual disciplines to help develop their inner spiritual lives. The disciplines aren't anything magic in themselves, but they help put us in a position to receive God's transforming grace. God is the one who does the work, but it takes discipline to allow Him the time and space to shape our inner lives.

This is easily one of my favorite topics to talk about, especially here where religion largely stops at the external. I think this is an aspect of discipleship that has generally been left in the Middle Ages. We mostly focus on the external, not the internal. But when we recognize that our external lives are simply an overflow of our inner lives, it places a greater value on developing the inner spiritual life. As we shape our inner spiritual lives by pressing deeply into the depths of God, only then can we live out of those depths in our external lives.

Learning football on the beach

But besides our main sessions, we also had a lot of fun! On the first night I taught them a new card game, Up and Down the River, and they were so hooked that we played it every night! Also, using a mini-rugby ball, I taught them American football on the beach. It took a few times of explaining the rules, but they picked it up pretty quickly. Overall it was a really nice time and great getting to know the team that ministers to our nation's university students.

They must've seen "the huddle" in a football movie somewhere.

Sunset from the dunes

Guys pic!

CCC Namibia staff (minus 2)