Car engines require regular maintenance. Ignore the oil indicator light at your own peril. The more miles you put on the car, the more frequently you need to care for your vehicle. Missionaries are not automobiles but they require regular care just as surely as your car does. Moving to another language and culture creates wear and tear and stress and strain to a greater degree than staying home. We want you to succeed.
Fortunately, we have options for people when they need an oil change. Friendship is the oil that helps keep things running smoothly. Don’t wait until you need an engine overhaul. Find a friend who will listen. Find someone who cares about your daily life, not just the big crises or the big wins. The primary role of “member care” is to be that friend.
You may feel too busy, and already committed to too many relationships. Perhaps you think you can handle things quite nicely on your own, thank you. What if others found out that you don’t have it all together? Or maybe worst of all, what if you risk opening yourself to someone only to find that person to be untrustworthy or dangerous? Yet taking that careful risk might be the beginning of one of the best things that ever happened to you.
We see throughout the Bible that God uses people to speak to his people. Yet too often we want to do things on our own, to go it alone. If Jesus is our example, and he should be, he gathered a whole dozen best buds to do life with. We also need friends. We need people who know us and love us anyway. We need them to lift us up when we are down and hold us accountable when we have made a promise.
The other reason you need member care is that most friends from your home church and your hometown do not understand what it is like to live cross-culturally. Your member care friend does.
So get an oil change. Take a chance on a member care friend. You’ll be glad you did.
Ken Holderman