Pre Home Assignment Reviews: Evaluating your ministry in light of your call
May 13, 2009
Over the past year our articles in the Japan Harvest have focused on monthly and annual review processes. These reviews, used sequentially and as a package, are like looking at a map, either to assure us that we are going toward our destination, or to warn us that we’ve been traveling in the wrong direction. And sometimes they help us realize we are come to the end of this particular trip.
The final piece in the review “package” is the one that should take place prior to leaving on home assignment. Before we conclude our term, it is good to take time to reflect on the ministry that is drawing to a close. This allows us to reexamine our ministry in light of God’s call for us to be here in the first place.
Many of us can recite the story of how we were first led to Japan—whether it was through a dramatic supernatural call, an availability to serve wherever God led us, or through a growing interest in Japan and increasing awareness of the spiritual needs of the Japanese. While the actual definition of the missionary call is hard to pin down, according to the editors of ReMAPII (Retaining Missionaries: Agency Practices), “What is important for retention is to have spent time (individually and with others) being certain of God’s desire for you to do something and/or go somewhere, to the extent that you can look back to that experience and hold on to it during the hard times.”1 Many missionaries have said, “Without [a call from God] we would have left long ago.”2
Just as our pursuit of God is not a one-step event but a life-long journey, so our call to service is not just that first sense of God’s leading, but a growing conviction through our ongoing relationship with Christ and our increasing experience in our ministry context. “We have yet to meet a long-term missionary who has not felt that call and a personal sense of call was utterly vital to their own missionary journey.” 3
So as we come to the end of a ministry term, we gain insight and guidance as we examine our work in light of the call that we received from God. We ask ourselves questions like—
- “What were the end results I was looking for this term and to what degree have these been achieved?”
- “What activities have I been involved with during this term? To what extent were they satisfying or fulfilling? Were they consistent with my call? Were they consistent with my mission assignment?
- “What did God accomplish through me this term?
- “In what ways did God work in my life personally, professionally and spiritually this term?”
We also have the opportunity to examine areas where we need help in finishing well.
- “Are there unresolved on-field relationships I need to reconcile before leaving?”
- “What were the biggest obstacles I encountered this term?
- “What were some of the most difficult experiences?”
We reflect on areas where we need retooling of ministry skills. We identify where we and our families need help for spiritual, emotional and physical restoration and renewal while on home assignment.
Recently I’ve been reviewing materials from a Pre-Home Assignment Workshop as well as reading several books on Missionary Fundraising. Together they have emphasized the importance of being able to articulate our call to missions, our vision, and the value of our work in light of furthering the Kingdom of God in communication with our supporters. Pre-home assignment reviews provide us with one tool to bring our ministry and call back into focus.
1. Hay, Rob, Worth Keeping: Global Perspectives on Best Practice in Missionary Retention (2007, World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission) 95.
2. Ibid., 94.
3. Ibid., 94.
