This quote came from a thought-provoking, humorous discussion I was in recently with other BMWs (Baptist Missionary Women) when a lady shared the criticisms her family received over spending "missions money" unwisely to get away for a day. The irony is that the missionaries were given the day away for free! Many other women shared how they had lost support or been threatened with dropped support because of sharing pictures of a vacation they took while on the field. Honestly, I've not experienced criticisms of misused funds for our personal use before, and I feel sorry for missionaries who have supporters like that. Who needs enemies when you have "friends" like that, right?Ladies, we don't live in a goldfish bowl...I'm afraid it's more like under the microscope.
It got me to thinking about how I have often struggled with, and never fully adjusted to, the lack of privacy here on the field. But I didn't take into account that we can also be closely watched from American supporters (at times--we would actually like more input and friendship from our supporters--an uplifting kind of friendship!)
How ironic that a lack of privacy would be a culprit on both ends of the matter: It can make you feel like you're dying to get away from the village for a break, but then deliver criticism from across the ocean if you do. (Again, thankfully, I've not experienced this!)
So in the spirit of solidarity with missionary women who have experienced this, I am posting pictures of an amazing vacation we just took to Durban (a coastal city thirteen hours south of us)!
1 comment:
Great post and so true! We have had only a small amount of criticism from Stateside when hubby took me on a trip for our 23rd anniversary and surprisingly it was from friends that are pretty close to us. It hurt but not knowing their motives it was hard to be angry with them. Anyhow, missionary life is amazing!
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