“How are you doing with your transition to America?”

This is a question we have been asked more than once since permanently arriving back in our home country last September. We appreciate the concern. After hearing stories from other missionaries of the challenges they have experienced settling back in after serving in the mission field, we were bracing ourselves for the worst. The truth is, we don’t think that the reality has sunk in yet. So to adjust, we are working on establishing a routine.

A few days after landing in the U.S., while fighting jetlag, we joined the other AFM field directors in their biannual meetings for about one and a half weeks. During that time, and for a few weeks after, we were busy buying things to furnish the little apartment we are renting. Then, during the third week of October, we left on a four-week field director visit to the Brahmi and Himadri projects to check on our workers there. Our stay in the U.S. kind of felt like a typical short trip back for field director meetings and then back to our project. We had to keep telling ourselves that we were not going back to our former project. Now that was a strange thought!
In our new role as full-time field directors, we are supervising six missionary units (missionary lingo for families or individuals working in the field) in Asia and Central Africa. Our years of experience in the field will be beneficial to our workers. At the same time, there are challenges to help them that are totally new to us. 

One thing that we have become acutely aware of in our transition to overseeing missions in countries hostile to Christianity is the astounding abundance of people in our world who know nothing about Jesus. How are they going to know the Way, the Truth and the Life unless someone introduces them to the Savior? The governments of these countries are so protective of their dominant religions that many of them have outlawed any proselytizing by other religions, including Christianity.

It is a difficult adjustment for us to be in such countries, not being able to speak openly of our Lord and Savior without being immediately deported or thrown into jail. Therefore, our missionaries need to have a second reason for living in their field of service, one that allows them to be there legally.

Please pray for us! God has called us to this work. He has been working on our hearts about it for nearly 10 years! Please also consider joining our support team with regular monthly donations. We need more people to join so that we can do this new work of supporting and coaching those on the front lines. Thank you to those of you who are already part of our team and have been for so long.

Thinking about the challenges of transitioning, Jesus comes to mind. He made the biggest transition for us! He left His beautiful heavenly home to come to this sinful world to teach us about salvation. Then He left His new earthly family to go back to His heavenly Father to prepare a place for us. It’s a comfort to know that whatever we experience in this transition phase of our lives, Jesus has already gone through it and understands.

• Twitter