Of the many words of wisdom my father instilled in me in my youth, one of the phrases that has stuck with me is: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Our field director, Chris White, visited our project recently. We currently live in an area with limited convenient public transport, so I helped him get to and from his lodging each night in our project car. After his first night’s stay, he was carrying his belongings with him out of the hotel to use during the day.

Before he departed with me, the front desk worker asked in Japanese, “Are you sure you do not want to store your nimotsu (luggage) here today?”

Without thinking too much, I quickly replied for Chris, “Yes, he wants to keep his omutsu with him.”

The front desk worker hesitated and started reaching for the phone to translate for us when I realized my fumble between two somewhat similar-sounding words. Not only had I used the wrong word for “luggage,” but I had also told the desk worker that Chris wanted to keep his baby diapers with him!

Clearly, I have been spending a lot of time around our newborn son recently.

As missionaries, we are bound to make mistakes. As outsiders, we do not just use the wrong words; we sometimes ask the wrong questions, do not understand the rules of our country, and make cultural foibles that can take significant effort to fix. But, as missionaries, we also want to achieve the all-important goal of sharing the love of Jesus with those around us, despite our mistakes. So when we make a mistake, beyond fixing the immediate problem, we must keep on pressing forward and, of course, try, try again.

If you are considering service overseas as a student, short-term or career missionary, and you are feeling anxious about making mistakes, I can only promise you one thing: you will make them! It is simply part of living in another culture. What makes the difference in outcome, however, is what you do about those mistakes. If something goes wrong, do your best to apologize as needed, learn what you can about the local culture and language, and, whenever possible, laugh at your own goofs. Then, try again! As you do so, your fellow missionaries are here to support you, flaws and all, to help you do your best to share your love for Jesus with those around you.

Please join us in prayer that God will use every missionary for His glory and to reach the unreached with the love of Jesus, despite—and perhaps because of—our mistakes.

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