When we were first introduced to WorldVenture as a mission agency in 2008, it was through some of their missionaries, the Campbell family serving in Senegal. They seemed to love WorldVenture telling us how well the organization cared for it’s missionaries.
What does it mean to take care of missionaries? What is it they even need?
Unfortunately, but so thankfully these last two months, we’ve been able to find out just how wonderful an organization WorldVenture is when it comes to caring for their staff.
Cross-cultural living and ministry can be tough…that is an understatement. It IS tough!
There are unique 
challenges and stresses that are hard to even describe. There are interpersonal relationships that are further complicated by cultural barriers, language barriers, and often even value systems that are polar opposite to each other. There can be logistical nightmares with banking, taxes, immigration and health care. There are sometimes disasters, political emergencies and the need for quick interventions in time of emergency. There is culture shock, reverse culture shock and all the unique needs of kids growing up in so many different places they try to identify as “home”. There is loneliness, illness, exhaustion and discouragement. There can be marital and family problems…
Caring for and encouraging over 500 missionaries is a big job, and WorldVenture does it well!
There are folks on staff who work with missionary kids (Sheryl visited a couple of times with the boys our first week back as they tried to figure out finding yet a new ‘home’). There are staff working in a department called the Paraclete Centre and who were willing to sit with us just to help us process the changes and look to things to come. There are folks at WorldVenture who will help us keep connected with our supporting churches while we are here. There is our immediate supervisor who travelled from Brazil to Guatemala to support us and facilitate some meetings for us (and his wife who loves on us from afar!). There are regional admin folks who keep track of our latest addresses, whereabouts and logistical stuff when we seem to move every other day. And, there is a “Super Cheryl”, who keeps all the meetings organized, offers up encouragement, and acts as an amazing cheerleader through everything! She always makes sure there is a fun note on the door to the room we are staying or the kids are the recipients of a certificate congratulating them for some new feat!! (Not to mention there are a ton of folks who work to keep everyone’s finances in order, collect and send mail, and just plain keep WorldVenture running!!!)
The staff has stood behind us, encouraged us, prayed for us, loved on us and given us plenty of hugs since we’ve gotten back to head office!
We’ve been asked several times if we will find another organization to work with when we return to the field. Our answer has been a resounding NO WAY! We are so thankful for WorldVenture and it’s commitment to supporting, encouraging and preparing their overseas workers to serve effectively!
We look forward to working with WorldVenture these next months as we begin to look at serving in a longer term capacity and to figure out where God has us next!
Have you felt God’s call to overseas ministry on your life? Take a peek at WorldVenture.com (There’s a shameless plug, but if The Campbell Family hadn’t been bragging about their organzation to us, we never would have found out about them either!)
Where is the “like ” button?
So glad we were able to have a part in encouraging you along the way in missions and in joining Worldventure. Praying for you as you seek Him for the next step.