Culture shock, conflict, family struggles, burnout…
The list of challenges goes on.
Maybe you feel underprepared and unsure how to continue? Maybe you’re just worn out and need some fresh encouragement or support, or seeking answers on a specific issue?
You’ve come to the right place.
Orientation
Moving to another culture is a massive change, so the orientation season is all about arranging practicalities, adjusting and settling in.
Adjustment
Culture shock is real – and it’s tricky. Prepare yourself for the messy reality of it.
Settled
Connection
Returning
A Sender’s Role
Any fieldworker needs a great team of friends, family and colleagues supporting them. You have a huge part to play in ensuring their success. Check out what you can do to ensure your fieldworkers thrive!
- What your fieldworker needs from you now is continued encouragement and moral support.
- Often they will experience a honeymoon period of adjustment, which quickly passes as they realise the enormity of the challenge ahead.
- Continue the connection, reminding them how much everybody is celebrating but also missing them. Send encouraging words.
- It would be excellent if key members of the sending church undertook some basic cross-cultural training so that they can understand what the field worker is experiencing.
- They will then be equipped to recognise symptoms of culture shock and be able to encourage your mission partner with the words: ‘this is normal!’
- Ensure they know they have permission to be honest about their struggles.
- What a blessing when you start to see your mission partner finding their place in the new culture and functioning more effectively in the language.
- It has been such a LONG process for them to get to this point, so be sure and celebrate this as a ‘win’.
- Even now the ground may be hard and ‘results’ may take a long while to see. It is the Lord who will produce fruit in His time, so encourage the field worker to remain firm in Him and to persevere.
- Beware of bathtub syndrome – where interest in the missionary from those at home is only high at the beginning or end of their journey.
- Though they may be ‘out of sight’ keep them in mind! Stay in regular contact.
- The church must be proactive in coming alongside their mission partners, even at a distance
- Whenever a mission partner returns home, make plans to give them a resounding welcome! Be eager to hear reports from them.
- Allow them a buffer after the initial welcome to have some decompression time.
- Arrange a good debrief with a trained person, even if they don’t think they need one! This is a key to healthy processing of their experiences on the field.
- See our post-field resources for more details on what is next.
Get Equipped
Developing Leadership for Cross-Cultural Ministry
Mission thrives on cultivating leaders who embody the life and character of Jesus, the most effective figure in history who…
The Antioch Factor
Ross Paterson presents a stark choice that no Christian or church can avoid making – whether we become a Jerusalem…
Caring for Third Culture Kids
Currently in development, this exciting new course is created by our Dean of Studies, Ben Gilbert. British by birth, raised in India, with time living in Sri Lanka and the Middle East – the TCK experience is familiar to Ben, who is excited to share personal experiences, research and helpful insights for both TCKs, and those caring for them to thrive across cultures. Sign up to be notified when the course is released!
Growing in Cultural Intelligence
Know Thyself
This course explores the concept of understanding ourselves within the context of our own cultures. Before delving into how we…
Calling – Who? What? Why?
In the church, there exists a widespread misconception that only “exceptional Christians” receive a “proper” calling from God. The truth,…
Cross-cultural marriage
Building a Support Ecosystem
In this course, we examine the different dimensions of support that are needed for a successful cross-cultural experience or lifestyle….
Zechariah gets a second chance | Luke 1
Ross shares from in Luke 1 about Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and stresses that our God is…
Ignorance is NOT Bliss
We had a fantastic launch event! We are so excited for this next season of FieldPartner, to see more people…
Obedience & Family on the Field with Grant & Jean
Grant and Jean are missionaries from South Africa. In this interview, they share their journey leading to mission work in…
Tackling Tough Topics with Elizabeth Trotter
Elizabeth and her husband Jonathan were missionaries to Cambodia. They returned to America during Covid lockdown in a sudden and…
Interview with Christine Paterson
Christine Paterson Interview Co-founder Christine Paterson tells us about her life on the mission field from her childhood in Africa…
Keys For Today From Exodus 1
Ross shares from Exodus 1, originally in 2010, but relevant to us as we face our todays in faith and…
Podcast: Cross Cultural Mission Experiences That We Can Learn From Abraham
Abraham, the father of our faith and of cross cultural mission! Hi, this is Ross Paterson, I’d like to take…
Unwrapping the TCK Experience
It was fantastic to welcome a good crowd from around the globe to launch our latest course, Caring for TCKs….
Serving China with Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman was born as a ‘Third Culture Kid’ to missionary parents in Pakistan. But little did she know that…
Equipping the Church for Explosive Growth!
We are excited to share that FieldPartner co-founder Ross Paterson was recently interviewed on the hit podcast ‘Inspired… with Simon Guillebaud’. Ross…
J. O. Fraser – The Loneliness Of The Cross-Cultural Missionary
In this article, I want simply to share a short paragraph from J.O. Fraser’s biography, which in a few…
Roland Allen – The Missionary Who Got It Right!
Roland Allen (1868-1947) had a short and not very effective missionary career in China. It was his writings after that…
St Patrick – The Early Missionary
Today, March 17th, is St Patrick’s Day. Patrick was an early missionary with a very unusual life, one that has…
Hannah
Hannah – Part 1 Hi. This is Ross Paterson, one of the leaders of FieldPartner. In this session, I want…
Introducing The Antioch Factor
5 talks of The Antioch Factor In these 5 talks Ross shares his life’s message. He shares concerning what the…
Eric Liddell: A Scotsman Surrendered To God
Eric Henry Liddell (1902-1945) is best known as one of the heroes of the Oscar-winning film “Chariots of Fire”. The…
10 Cross-Cultural Mission New Year’s Resolutions.
Here is a suggestion. If you make New Year’s resolutions, why not make some that are cross-cultural mission related? Chuck…
James Adam – Missionary to China’s Miao People
James Adam was a Scottish missionary who arrived in China in 1887 aged 23 and served there for the next…
Issues to ponder when preparing to send someone out to front-line missions
Imagine… You are a new missionary recruit about to depart for your assignment abroad. You are theologically trained, you have…
David Bogue – A Forgotten Father Of Cross-Cultural Mission.
David Bogue (1750-1825) is “one of the greatest of the forgotten figures of Church History”, especially in the history of…