If there is something that this first half of 2020 taught us here in the field, it is that we should never take anything for granted. I miss seeing people, walking in the street without the fear that someone will sneeze, hugging friends and shaking hands. I miss taking my kids shopping and then putting my groceries in the fridge without compulsively disinfecting everything. I miss going to a restaurant or taking a train ride. But most of the things I miss are not pandemic-related.

Moving to a new country also helped us understand how spiritually spoiled we were in the U.S. Besides seeing a new church almost every week and having a local choice of no fewer than eight (!) churches, besides having exciting Sabbath School lessons every week for our son, besides listening to wonderful worship music and having a lot of fellowship with our brothers and sisters, we discovered that America was much more than that to us. It was being able to tell your hairdresser that you are a missionary and hear her exclaim, “Wow, that’s great!” It was random people at the post office wanting to say a blessing for your baby. It was reading “In God we trust” on something as ordinary as the money in your hand. It was your surgeon taking your hand and praying with you before taking you to the OR. It was attending baptisms at Lake Michigan and having worship on the beach. Our time in the U.S., for the most part, helped us feel like having God in your life was something natural and admirable.

But imagine our feelings when we switched worlds. Like the moment when, in the middle of a doctor consultation, our son started singing at the top of his lungs, “Yes, Jesus yoooves me, yes, Jesus yoooves me, the Bibaw teys me sooo!” And instead of a nice warm reaction, all he got was an embarrassed smile from the doctor and a look that said, “Oh, that’s who you are.”

Or the time when we started praying over lunch on our balcony and discovered that our neighbor was staring at us quizzically. Not to mention the confused looks on people’s faces when we tell them we don’t drink.

Here in the field, taking God with you in your daily life is a continuous choice, one that doesn’t seem as natural and comfortable as before. It does make us long for the things we took for granted, but also it makes us wish for that day when the next person our son delights with “Jesus Loves Me” will just come closer and whisper, “Tell me more!” Would you pray for that day to come soon?

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