Does Missions Separate Families?
Recently, I stumbled upon a blog post that was dedicated to wrestling with the realities that missions has on families. While I’m not usually in the habit of reposting blogs in their entirety, I was struck by its simplicity and valuable reminder. And so, after hearing similar positive feedback from some of our RMD IWs, I decided to do just that. As we press into 2025, let’s begin with a reminder that the things God has called us to have implications… of both kinds.
Does Missions Separate Families?
by Rebekah Fox
Tomorrow, my brother-in-law and his family will get on a plane, and fly to Africa. I won’t see them again for three years, except by some emailed photos, or maybe a choppy Skype connection.
I joke that I am going to sabotage their trip to the airport. And part of me really wants to. Because deep down, I really don’t want them to go. I have enjoyed having them and their three sweet girls around the last six months. They were the first to teach her how to have a proper tea party, and make elephant noises, and sing “Let it Go” at the top of their lungs. As they ran barefoot through the grass in the summer, she chased them. As they danced wildly in the living room in the winter, she imitated them. She adores them, as if they were her own big sisters. They take her by the hand, they whisper in her ears, they burst into laughter at her expressions, and pull her in for a second hug. And now, they are going away.
Does missions separate families?
I think the impulse answer is: yes.
They left for Africa three and a half years ago. And in that time, they missed births of new nieces and a nephew. The death of a grandparent. They missed all the Thanksgivings and Christmases and game nights. They missed heartaches and victories. They missed life here, for three years.
And not for an easy life. But for oven-like heat, and dirt, and difficulty. And constant sweating. And risk. Risks of violence and persecution. Risks of disease, and illness. Risks of terrorist groups, and wild animals. Risks of kidnappers, and poor health care when it really matters.
I see these three fearless little girls, whose mom is pregnant with their first little brother, and tremble that he will be born there.
The question inevitably crops up: Why are they doing this?
One night after dinner at our house, as we pulled apart the last remains of the garlic bread, I asked my brother-in-law, “So, how did you…get over all of the fear?” I think he made a few cracks about my fear of Ebola. And then he just looked at me, and said with such simplicity, “I am afraid of some of those of things. I’m actually really afraid of flying. But I’m more afraid of not obeying God.”
But I’m more afraid of not obeying God.
And that’s the difference. I see the risk, the danger, the loss. He sees the reward. The gain. The joy.
He and his wife see hell as a reality. And love as a command. And the gospel as real. And they are doing it. They are living it. They really love Jesus. They really believe He’s coming back. And they really love bringing others into His family.
While we feel like we are losing a brother and a sister, they are actually rescuing lost brothers and sisters and bringing them into the Kingdom of God.
While we will miss their daughters and son, they will be rescuing daughters and sons and bringing them into the family of God.
They leave us in order to rescue others, to bring more into the family, the family of God. The family that will live on forever. And the gates of hell will not prevail against this mission. Because it’s the one Jesus called us to.
Does missions separate families?
Yes. For a time.
But it also expands them. By inviting the lost into a family. Those who had no family, no hope, who were on the outside and separated from God. (See Ephesians 2.)
There may be a few empty seats at our next Thanksgiving dinner. But by those seats being empty, it will mean that other place settings are being made ready for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Because lost brothers and sisters who live across the ocean, whose skin is darker than ours, whose language is different than ours, will be invited into God’s family, and will be called for the first time sons and daughters, and will be given a place at His table forever.
One day, we will come together, all of us, those who were far off, and those who were brought near, as one family, with exploding joy. And there in the presence of Christ, we will see that missions never separated our family at all.
It only ever made it grow.
May 2025 be a year in which we, while fully acknowledging the difficult realities and costs, nonetheless pursue Christ, His mission, and the rewards and joys to come in the next age. Many have said it before, but it bears repeating: only a few hundred years into the new heavens and earth and all that we sacrificed to follow Jesus will seem as mere dust on the scale.
Together, for the joy set before us,
Chris
ctweedy@rmdcma.com or (406) 647-2764