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Furlough, or Home Assignment, is a tragically overlooked and undervalued part of the cross-cultural worker's long-term thriving. So often, we give in to the urgency of the moment and grind as though the next year is all that matters. One of the best pieces of advice we could offer any international worker is to think with ten years in mind, asking, "what do I need to do now so that I can thrive ten years from now?" Nothing embodies this ethos better than planning well, setting healthy expectations, and embracing your furlough.
Why Furlough Matters
At the end of Acts 14, after Paul and Barnabas had completed their first missionary journey, they returned to the church in Antioch that had sent them out. Verse 27 says, “And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.” This was essentially the first home assignment: a time when Paul and Barnabas returned home from their work to report on what God had done amongst the gentiles, were encouraged and refreshed by the community of faith, and intentionally built up and strengthened the local church.
Your home assignment, or furlough, when properly understood and planned for, can breathe new life, courage, and conviction into your soul, enabling years of fruitful work. On the flip side, many Goers - out of poor expectations (by either dreading it or imagining America will be some new creation utopia) - are disappointed, frustrated, and often worn out by several months away from home, living like nomads, and disoriented by how their friends and churches have changed. We desire you to begin fashioning realistic, biblical expectations for how you will steward your time in the States.
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The local church needs to hear what God is doing in other places and amongst other peoples, not only to be encouraged but to be challenged and refined as they consider how God’s global movement impacts their local work. It’s easy to think the West is the locus of God’s work, and you have the privilege of broadening your church’s perspective to see the multi-faceted and surprising ways Christ is receiving the worship of all he’s redeemed. On top of that, your gifting and role as a Goer can be instrumental in the work of renewal God wants to do! In Ephesians 4, Paul addresses this reality, saying that God gave variously gifted leaders to the church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” He goes on to say, “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Every part, from the local pastor to the cross-cultural worker, has a role to play in building one another up into the fullness of Christ. Just as your church pours into, equips, and makes your ministry healthier, you get to pour into, equip, and build into your church's health and missional zeal. |
Practical Questions to Ask
Now let's get practical. Whether preparing for your first furlough or having been on the field for many years, it is wise to start thinking through your goals and expectations for furlough in advance. Use these questions to think through what you hope to accomplish or gain from your furlough time, and begin making plans accordingly.
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