4 Lessons from My First 5 Years on the Field

Joseph Swanson • Apr 10, 2019

Recently, I celebrated the five-year anniversary of becoming a TEAM missionary in Taiwan. Each year has been quite different, with its own share of surprises, disappointments and small victories. Today, I’m sharing four missionary lessons I’ve learned along the way.

1. Metacultural differences in thinking can go deeper than we expect.

Through years of cross-cultural learning and teamwork in Taiwan, I’ve realized I didn’t simply cross from one culture to another but moved into a whole different neighborhood of national and local cultures. It’s a different metacultural context.

We generally understand cultural differences by taking the way we would think about something and substituting a different cultural priority or core value. But the differences in cultures are not always parallel. You may click with people from greatly different cultures due to similarities in personality, while meeting others whose entire way of thinking seems to be a mystifying black box.

We start understanding basic cultural differences by saying things like: “Given problem X, an American missionary would try to solve it through clear and direct communication, but a Taiwanese pastor would use indirect communication.”

That’s a good start, but it doesn’t go deep enough. You are prioritizing problem-solving, but the pastor may be prioritizing something else entirely. Perhaps he wants to preserve a good relationship with you, and he believes talking about problems will jeopardize it.

Metacultural differences in thinking can go deeper still. For example, the Taiwanese pastor may have a very external locus of control; in his worldview such situations are merely hardships of life to be patiently endured. He may be baffled by your attempts to solve something he considers as unchangeable as the weather, yet he will continue the conversation until you seem satisfied.

So while it is important for missionaries to understand different cultural core values, we must also remember they’re one piece of a complicated puzzle . There will be broader metacultural differences, too, as well as individual personality differences to factor into each situation.

Working cross-culturally means dealing with them all simultaneously — a challenge where cultural insight is necessary, but love and grace even more so.

2. Sometimes what we call culture fatigue is just fatigue.

More or less, all long-term missionaries go through a stage called culture fatigue. This isn’t the culture shock of early arrival, but rather when those aspects of the culture that you find to be especially challenging or tiring wear you down over time.

I’ve noticed, however, that many tiresome parts of life here are not actually due to cultural differences.

An Asian city scene that could easily cause culture fatigue

People are often overwhelmed by the differences in a new culture, which can lead to feelings of exhaustion. We call this culture fatigue. But sometimes culture fatigue is just fatigue.

For example, I sometimes struggle with insomnia. The night of Chinese New Year’s Eve is firecracker Armageddon until the early morning, so that particular night of lost sleep is cultural. But at my previous apartment in this neighborhood, getting to sleep any night could be a challenge, due to particularly bad road noise on my street. That’s not a problem of culture but of location, and local residents complained about it too.

Of course, what drains me will sometimes be different from people who grew up here, but either way we’re all tired together. Taiwan is full of people working long hours for low wages. And crowded city life, capricious weather, and work- and health-related stress are issues everyone faces — not just transplanted residents.

So, when things get busy and exhaustion starts to creep in, I don’t think I need a break from Taiwan. Because while the culture gap can be tiring, that’s not usually the issue. What I really enjoy is a break in Taiwan, doing those things that made me fall in love with this place to begin with.

3. The Church may be part of the problem, but it’s also the point.

The Church in any part of the world is full of struggles and dysfunctions, and Taiwanese churches are no different. Some of their problems are unique problems, but others exist in churches everywhere.

Trying to work for positive change in churches is usually tough and messy. In my time here, I’ve seen cultural insiders with good reputations completely fail at bringing about change because they didn’t understand the culture and leadership attitude of a specific group of churches.

People worshiping in a church plant

Sometimes it seems like it’d be easier to work outside the church than to work with it. But the call to work as part of Christ’s Body is always worth it!

It’s understandable, then, that missionaries sometimes find it easiest to work outside the domain of the local church, doing their own thing and answering to their own leadership. They interact with churches primarily when it’s part of the strategy or when conditions are favorable. Sometimes this happens necessarily with apostolic-type church planting, in new areas where there are few or no churches to cooperate with. Perhaps too frequently, missions is done apostolic-style because of the local churches.

But while it’s true that some churches simply aren’t ready, willing, or able to cooperate effectively, we must never lose sight of the fact that the local church is the Body of Christ, incarnated in a particular area , with particular needs.

When missionaries leave — whether to work in another field, retire, or permanently cast off the perishable—the local church, however it is, remains. One of our top priorities should be figuring out the best way to leave it healthier than we found it , yet not in ways that introduce dependency on outside resources.

4. Church planting is less about the plan and more about the planters.

During these years of ministry in an idol-filled, urban neighborhood, I’ve led activities and Bible studies for everyone from preschoolers to nonagenarians. However, I’ve also found that being a single, male missionary, I’m very limited in what I can do with certain groups — like the moms who show up with their kids for our outreach activities. And unfortunately, we have very few women on our long-term team to build discipleship-focused relationships with them, though we have been blessed by the efforts of women serving short-term.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20. The makeup of our little church planting team doesn’t look like the group I’d now pick to engage the most Gospel-responsive demographics of our neighborhood. Yet, we also couldn’t know which people would be responsive until we began reaching out and discovered our own limitations along the way

My local co-workers and I have years of ministry experience, but we had to try and fail at lots of plausible strategies before we saw progress. The Gospel opportunity here is real, and God has blessed our efforts. But it’s been a highly instructive time of experiencing how church planters must fit the challenge of the church planting opportunity and also grow to meet it.

In the end, wise plans are vital, but church planting is still a comprehensive spiritual marathon that no one comes in completely prepared to face. Wonderfully, God knows this. I moved here with a plan to grow a church and found that He had an additional plan for the neighborhood: to grow church planters.

By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
By Suzanne Pearson 23 Feb, 2024
Justin Burkholder, pictured here with his wife Jenny and their daughters Isabella, Olivia, and Zoey, has recently been named as TEAM’s next International Director. On February 19, 2024, with much excitement and gratitude to the Lord, TEAM announced that Justin Burkholder will become our organization’s new International Director, effective July 1, 2024. Justin, who is currently TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Ministry, will assume his new role upon the retirement of the current International Director, Dave Hall. ( Read the full press release here. ) We sat down recently with Justin to learn a little more about his background, his family, and the journey that has led him to TEAM. Q: Tell us a little bit about your “origin story” - Where did you grow up? What was your family like? A: I grew up in Mexico City as a missionary kid. My parents were focused on church planting. We were very close as a family. Both of my parents are still alive, and my dad serves as a pastor in southern Florida. I have one brother who is a pastor in Wisconsin, and the most special individual in my family is my sister, Amber. She was born with a very severe case of cerebral palsy and is entirely dependent on my mother...who is extraordinary! The three most impactful forces that have shaped who I am (outside of God’s grace) are growing up in Mexico, having parents who loved and planted churches, and sharing life with someone with a severe disability. My parents belonged at the time to a church and denomination that came with quite a bit of legalism and performance-oriented Christianity. Grace was a challenging concept to grasp. While I had an awareness of my sin and need for redemption, it wasn’t until I attended Moody Bible Institute that I began to grasp the fullness of God’s grace and His delight in His children. I have continued learning and trusting in the Gospel through formal education, like completing my M.Div., and through spiritual practices in community. Learning the Gospel and believing the Gospel has been a daily exercise. The Gospel is as beautiful and multi-faceted as a diamond! At an individual level, it is simple enough for us to live convinced that “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At a corporate level, it becomes the foundation that forms and informs our life as a spiritual family. At a cosmic level, it is redemption that reaches as far as the curse is found. It is hard to even grasp the multiplicity of goodness found in the Good News. Q: Share a little bit about your family life now. What does a typical day look like in the Burkholder household? A: My wife Jenny is my high-school sweetheart! She brings joy and kindness wherever she goes. She’s the best listener I’ve ever met, and we love spending time together. We have three daughters. Isabella is ten, Olivia is seven, and Zoey is four. Each of the girls is unique and has taught us a lot in our process of following Jesus together. We like to go out on walks and go to the park together. Once a month I try to get some alone time with each of my daughters which usually includes bowling or trampolines. A typical day in the Burkholder house starts around 5:00am. Because of traffic here in Guatemala City, we have to leave early for school. After school, the girls come home to different activities - sometimes swimming class, sometimes piano lessons. Four or five nights a week we have dinner together where we usually talk about our high and low moments of the day. On weekends, we enjoy time together, playing outside, or watching sports together. Go Cubs and Go Buckeyes! Q: What are your interests and hobbies? If you have the day off, what are you likely to be up to? A: I enjoy physical activity, running, strength-training and following sports. I also love music and, truth be told, am a bit snobby about my taste in music! I also am a very curious person and love reading just about anything that passes through my hands. A day off is usually an opportunity for time with family. Jenny and I like to cook something interesting together on our days off. Often there is time for some reading and watching some type of athletic event. Q: How did God lead you to TEAM? A: My wife and I were working in the Chicago suburbs. I was a youth pastor and she was a Spanish teacher. When we got married, we had already sensed God’s direction to serve cross-culturally, but it was a matter of discerning when and where. There was a driving desire in me to see a church deeply love the Scriptures and at the same time, be deeply engaged in loving and serving their city and the most vulnerable among them. As God directed our paths, we visited a variety of places and made some friends in Guatemala who opened up the path for us to serve here. While we were exploring, we knew that the International Director of an organization called TEAM happened to go to our church, so I decided I should probably invite him out for breakfast - his name was Charlie Davis. Charlie was extremely thoughtful, passionate about disciple-making, and very gracious in creating space for us as we stepped into this endeavor. Charlie connected me with Steve Dresselhaus, a fellow TEAM global worker who was at that time serving as the Senior Director for the Americas. I cannot express the debt that I owe Steve. He walked closely with me in the transition, encouraged courageous thinking about the church and her role in society, and blasted open the doors for us to serve in Guatemala. After meeting Steve, we spent some days praying about joining TEAM. One thing I will never forget – one night during the process, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. A peace like I have seldom experienced passed over me confirming that we should join TEAM. There is no doubt in my mind that God tied all of these pieces together to bring us into the TEAM family and community. Q: What roles have you held in TEAM? What have been the milestones in those roles? A: The most important role I have held in TEAM is that of a global worker. God in His grace has allowed us to help plant two churches here in Guatemala, serve in leadership development, counseling, and discipleship. Our greatest joy has been found walking with those who are learning to follow Christ more deeply. I served as the Ministry Area Leader in Guatemala from 2016 to 2019. We helped to establish and lead this ministry area as it grew from just four global workers to over 15. I then served as Senior Director for Mexico and Central America from 2019 to 2021, Regional Executive Director for the Americas in 2021 and 2022, and then transitioned to the role of Executive Director of Global Ministry which I’ll continue in until the end of June. Q: What do you love most about being a part of TEAM? Why TEAM rather than other organizations or job opportunities? A: The TEAM community is full of people who have faithfully served God’s mission and have given up a lot to do so. It is a privilege to know many of our global workers and be counted among them. I am also fascinated by the fact that TEAM has existed now for more than 130 years! There is something to be said about the resilience and faithfulness of an organization that has continued to impact the world for so long. The rest of our conversation with Justin will be coming soon on blog! We’ll hear more about how God called Justin to the role of International Director, and what Justin sees for the next chapter in TEAM’s work in the global Church.
Share by: