Mission Trip Checkup: Returning Homeਨਮੂਨਾ

Numbing Agents

(This is the third and final plan in the “Mission Trip Checkup” series. If your mission trip is upcoming or if you’re currently on mission, please consider reading plans one and two first.)

Your mission is now in the books. How are you feeling? Maybe you’re already home or maybe you’re on the plane, understandably ready for sleep and a few ibuprofen.

Pain relievers like ibuprofen are a blessing to recent generations. And yet, as wonderful as it is to temporarily soothe pain with a couple pills, doctors caution patients about the danger of even over-the-counter painkillers, as misuse can cause severe side effects.

Even after a particularly good—or particularly difficult—mission trip, the most painful part can be coming home. Long-term and short-term missionaries typically experience uncomfortable symptoms upon returning to their native culture. These symptoms can look like reverse culture shock, aversion toward one’s environment/lifestyle/culture, intense gratitude or guilt or sorrow, and even a complicated mixture of all of the above. Every person’s reaction and every trip is different.

Although the intensity of these thoughts and emotions can hurt, numbing the pain is never advised. The season after every mission trip is a time of growing pains. Sometimes it feels like trying to fit back into an old mold after you’ve been stretched to new proportions. As much as you may want to go back to the old normal—or as much as you may never want to go back to it—your time of service will have changed you and you’re not going to be what you were. You’re meant to keep growing, not to deaden the growing pains.

When you return home, be on the lookout for the quick fixes you reach for which may be pain relievers in disguise. Let the discomfort, the out-of-place feeling, the complex emotions, lead you to ask God, “What do I do with what I experienced? What would you have me do from here?”

Don’t move on too quickly! The agitation of your spirit can be used for good, and if you don’t numb it, it can lead to growth, not only for you but also for countless others.

Practical considerations:

• Have a trusted friend—whether a team member or someone who’s done similar work before—debrief with you, not only right after your trip but at several intervals afterwards.
• Consider a fast from a select thing (for example, food, social media, movies, non-essential shopping, eating out, etc.) to help you focus on the lesson God is still teaching you about your mission trip.
• Journal as much as possible. Write down your prayers. Note the passages that God has been showing you. In a couple years, you’ll be glad you recorded all you did.