3 Things Not To Do After Returning From The Mission Field

Trying to go back to life as normal after returning from the mission field is not easy.   You will experience culture shock.  You need time.  You need family.  You need friends.  But too much can be overwhelming.  There are some things you should avoid to help you re-integrate back into your home.

1.  Don’t expect people to understand you.  People will more than likely not understand your experience overseas.  Unless they’ve been on a missions trip themselves, they have no grid to fully understand what it is like to live as a missionary – to experience God in that way.  Most people won’t understand difficult transportation, language barriers, bartering, truly desperate people, and life among the poor.  All they know and understand is their experiences.  So when you share stories, people won’t react how you would expect.  It’s because they don’t understand.

2. Avoid shopping malls.  Coming from a poor nation where children are so content with a wooden stick and a shoe string to a shopping mall where children are throwing tantrums over a plastic toy can be overwhelming.  Trust me, I’ve been there.  After returning from a third world nation once, I found myself in a mall.  There was a girl in the check out line crying and fighting her Mom because she couldn’t get the right colored toy she wanted.  It’s nothing a third world nations couldn’t cure.  It’s good to ease yourself back into a material world but it’s as important not to judge people.  By avoiding shopping malls, you’ll be less tempted to judge people and you won’t get upset.

3.  Try not to be too social.  You just got back.  You need time to readjust.  You need to slowly, day by day, take time to find yourself in this new environment again.  Rushing to meet your old friends, trying to get involved with the church right away, and pretending like you never left can amplify culture shock.  Start slowly.  Try meeting a friend every other day.  Go to church one week and take a break the next.  If you can, don’t start work right away.  Make sure you are mentally back from your trip as well as physically.  After several of my returns, in some cases it took me close to 6 months.  I’d often find my mind wandering to conversations, interactions, and events that happened while I was overseas, reassessing them in my mind.  Make sure you are fully back from your trip before you fully get back to your life.

Returning from the mission field is something you can prepare for ahead of time.  Calling people to let them know you’ll be back, communicating that you’ll need some time before you get together, and making sure you go to a place you can get rest is key.  Those things will pave a smooth road to a good re-entry.

Original post http://missionsmanual.com/2012/07/3-things-not-to-do-after-returning-from-the-mission-field/