Wearing two hats
What could be more exciting than enabling missionaries to be part of God’s plan to reach Japanese people with the good news of Christ?
I regularly switch between two hats every day.
Hat #1 – Candidate Coordinator (Getting ’em here)
Hat #1 concerns people who want to come as missionaries for one year or more. It involves liaising with applicants, sending countries, and OMF Japan. On any given day, I can be found making decisions on applicants’ suitability, managing logistics for field-side visits or arrivals, or dealing with issues such as visas, health needs, and language and culture training. I also work on candidate policies and guidelines. The phrase “keeping balls in the air” is an apt metaphor!
“Getting ’em here” requires significant administrative work, field experience, spiritual discernment, and a good dose of common sense.
Wearing Hat #1 is simultaneously exciting, exhausting, and vital.
After all, what could be more exciting than enabling missionaries to be part of God’s plan to reach Japanese people with the good news of Christ?
On the other hand, it can be quite bewildering and exhausting. At the time of writing, 32 (yes, thirty-two) accepted candidates hope to come to Japan with OMF in the next two years, while a further 13 individuals are working through the application process—completing forms, physical and psychological screening, and interviews. Phew!
Finally, this hat comes with substantial obligations. One pastor and former missionary says, “Better screening, training, and shepherding during . . . selection and preparation . . . may have helped to prevent . . . [missionaries] leaving (e.g. problems with children, conflict . . . , personal concerns, or poor cultural adaptations).” 1Furthermore, my master’s degree survey of previous missionaries to Japan indicated that for respondents who served in Japan for between 0–10 years, “ministry mismatch” ranked first among ministry-related reasons for leaving Japan.2 This indicates a fundamental need for honesty in missionary recruitment and for missionary candidates to apply careful thought to selection of agencies; otherwise, expectations go unfulfilled, disillusionment often arises, and departure may follow.
Hat #2 – Pastoral & Spiritual Care Coordinator (Keeping ’em here)
Hat #2 is even more diverse than Hat #1. I coordinate both proactive and reactive care across Japan for OMF missionaries. Practically, I do things like collate prayer information, help missionaries pack or unpack, and look for accommodation for missionaries. I write guidelines and policies on subjects like home assignment, retirement etc. and lead spiritual retreats. I conduct individual care conversations, provide spiritual input, and even conduct marriage preparation classes. I could continue, but you get the picture!
“Keeping ‘em here” requires knowledge of what’s needed and what’s available, flexibility, life and field experience, and spiritual discernment.
Wearing Hat #2 is also simultaneously exciting, exhausting, and vital.
After all, what could be more exciting than enabling missionaries to be part of God’s plan to reach Japanese people with the good news of Christ?
On the other hand, it takes intentionality and grace to keep abreast of missionary needs and available resources, and deal with the ongoing sadness and difficulties we face. Being flexible enough to care practically, spiritually, and administratively for missionaries while also caring for myself physically and spiritually is challenging, and I don’t always achieve it.
Finally, caring for missionaries in Japan is vital and described by a missions researcher as “a Kingdom Stewardship Issue.”3 After all, what good is it to “get ’em here” if we can’t “keep ’em here”?
“All missionaries to Japan and the agencies with whom they work need to be intentional about building retention-boosting practices into their lives, ministries, and organisations.”4 Although many of these practices are not difficult to address, “each requires intentionality and the will to place the important ahead of the urgent.”5
Both Hat #1 and Hat #2 are about enabling missionaries to be part of God’s plan to reach Japanese people with the good news of Christ. I close with two practical applications. Firstly, if you find yourself—or have chosen to be—in a role like one of these, know the truth that you are a vital part of God’s plan to reach Japanese people with the good news of Jesus. Secondly, if you aren’t in such a role, I urge you to encourage and pray for those whose exciting, exhausting, and vital calling it is to “get ‘em here” and to “keep ‘em here.”
1. David Selvey, “The Truth of Missionary Attrition,” Faith Ministries, https://blogs.faithlafayette.org/2015/10/24/the-cost-of-missionary-attrition/, (Oct 24, 2015).
2. Janet Dallman, “Factors affecting missionary attrition and retention in Japan” (Master’s Member Care, Redcliffe College, 2019). (Available from the author on request)
3. James Nelson, “Four Ways to Improve Field Staff Retention,” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 51, no. 4: 440-445, https://missionexus.org/four-ways-to-improve-field-staff-retention/ (Oct. 1, 2015).
4. Dallman.
5. Nelson.