– Paul Schlehlein

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Imagine this. Simon hears a Sunday sermon from a missionary who works in northern Africa. The preaching cuts him deeply. His eyes water. He gets to dreaming. He senses God is calling him into missions. He tells his wife. She smiles politely. He goes to seminary. He reads missionary bios. He tacks maps on his bedroom wall. He takes survey trips. He’s all in.

Years later he’s ready to go. As he pulls up the tent spikes at home, he discovers his wife’s roots have only run deeper. She can’t leave her parents. She can’t homeschool in a foreign land. She can’t take the heat. She’s not going. Simon is crushed. What should he do?

This is a difficult matter that is not all that unusual in missions. It’s happened more than one might expect. Here are three words that Simon should embrace.