The Truth About Being a Missionary at Christmas

Deb Wyss • Dec 12, 2016

I love Christmas. My mama always called me her “Christmas girl.”

When I was growing up there was nothing like waking up at Grandma’s house on Christmas morning. The Christmas tree twinkling in the early morning hours, holiday smells wafting from the kitchen, stockings filled with treasures. Listening to my dad read the Christmas story from the Bible and thinking about Mary giving birth in the stable to Baby Jesus warmed every inch of my soul. Even crawling half asleep into a freezing cold car to go home felt like a magical part of the whole experience to me.

Yes, my mama was right. I am definitely a Christmas girl.

I’ve spent seven Christmases on the other side of the world. For the most part, they were beautifully simple, meaningful days mixed in with a whole lot of loneliness.

And I guess that’s the first thing to get out of the way when we’re talking about Christmas on the mission field.

It’s lonely.

Loneliness is an issue most missionaries face almost daily. But on Christmas, it just hurts more. And, to be totally honest, it’s just part of the deal. When we left family and friends, comforts, and our favorite snacks, Christmas — as we knew it — was gone forever, too.

Most missionaries wouldn’t trade it. In our minds and deep down in our hearts, we know that. We’re compelled by His love to be exactly where we are. And we want to be. I mean, we get to celebrate the incarnation of Christ every single day by speaking the good news of a baby born to change everything. How’s that for year-round Christmas joy?

But that doesn’t mean we don’t have moments when we yearn to be surrounded by buttery Christmas cookies and crackling fires and hot chocolate.

When I was overseas, I missed everything. I missed the lights, the music, even the feeling you get when you walk into church for the Christmas service with everyone dressed in red and smiling, while someone is playing familiar carols on the piano.

The traditions we left behind, no matter how non-essential, are genuine losses as well. Just like giving up indoor heat or your heart language or your mom and dad.

It’s a real sacrifice. It’s a genuine cost.

So, missionary, take it as a loss. Accept it. And then embrace it.

My first four Christmases overseas were spent as a single person. An extrovert at heart, being alone was not going to cut it. Without family nearby, I had to get me some fill-ins. (Just kidding. But not really.)

I invited neighbors and friends and anyone around to come for Christmas brunch and Christmas games and the Christmas story. It was a reminder and a picture of Christ calling all from the highways and byways to His feast.

Inviting friends and neighbors to celebrate Christmas with me brought new joy to old traditions. Photo courtesy of Deb Wyss

I got to share some of my favorite traditions and watch friends’ joy unfold as they discovered for the first time the things I had loved for so long: neighbors trying to unwrap presents while wearing bulky mittens. Howling with laughter as a teacher tried to act out “yak” in a game of charades. Watching guests spend over an hour decorating the perfect Christmas cookie. Experiencing old traditions in new ways brought a different kind of joy.

The forced simplicity of Christmas overseas made everything that much more meaningful for me. I will always remember the years of worshiping Jesus together on Christmas with just a handful of people, who represented multiple countries. What a foretaste of glory divine!

Making new traditions became a special and helpful way for me to bring new joy and significance to the holiday season. Here are a few ideas for you:

1. Get yourself your very own “Charlie Brown Christmas tree.”

One year, it was as simple as a plant from the local market for us. I began to add my own homemade ornaments year after year to commemorate special events that happened during the year. This was pure bliss to my sentimental core and satisfied my constant desire to record and analyze the happenings of my journey.

My Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Photo courtesy of Deb Wyss

It was a reflective and praise-giving activity to thank God for His sovereignty in it all. By the way, I am not crafty. I cut out photographs, made holes with pens and tied thread to each one.

2. Make a Christmas countdown paper chain.

I made mine with a different name for Christ quoted in the Bible for each day of Advent.

3. Make new food traditions.

Not having the traditional Christmas foods can be a big let down. We started new traditions in the area of food.

We had a Christmas Eve “snack meal” by making fun, special foods that are familiar but could be made from local ingredients. We made meatballs and homemade “nachos” and splurged on dried fruits and nuts we didn’t normally have during the year.

4. Make giving presents into something a bit different.

Set a very small dollar amount with your family or other foreign friends, and see how far you can stretch it. One of my favorite presents from my husband was a roasted duck and grapes.

5. Have a special activity you reserve for the holiday season.

For us, we put together a jigsaw puzzle each Christmas. This took some forethought, as I purchased a few of them when we were on home assignments to have them ready for Christmas.

6. Do something out of the ordinary.

We chose to blast the heaters. After being so cold for so long, we chose to ignore the cultural norms and the bill and be warm!

7. Celebrate the “family” God provides for you overseas.

Gather together and just be. Play games, laugh, talk about your family traditions at home. Celebrate God’s wisdom in having you born in the exact place He preordained, just as He sent Jesus to be born in a manger.

Wishing you joy in Christ during this Christmas season!

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Bridging Dissonance: Finding Connection in Music and the Gospel

By Emily Sheddan • 18 Jul, 2024

TEAM worker Luke Standridge and his fellow musicians use music to build connections to faith in Japan. In music terms, dissonance creates movement or even suspense in a song. It invites tension. That tension is what helps grab our ear’s attention and the interchanging of these notes with pleasant melodious parts is what makes music such a delight. In a similar way, God is using music to grab people’s attention and catalyze Gospel impact in the largely unreached nation of Japan. TEAM Global Worker, Luke Standridge moved to Japan in 2019 with no clear direction on how he was going to use his passion for composing music while doing ministry. However, after Luke got involved with a local church and began developing deep friendships, the Lord opened unimaginable doors for Luke that in time, coordinating his creative skills with sharing the Word. “People Need to Come to Japan!” Growing up as one of ten kids in a family that was heavily involved in ministry and missions, Luke never considered that it would one day be a part of his own journey. In 2016, via a Japanese language learning class in Indiana, Luke and his brother had the opportunity to travel to Japan. Hearing, learning, and using the language in the context of Japanese culture was the goal. While it was Luke’s first international trip – even his first trip on a plane - it was also his first time hearing about the spiritual condition of the Japanese people. “And just through that, God did a huge 180 change on my heart,” says Luke. “More people should come here as global workers. People need to come to Japan!” The call God was laying on Luke’s heart is echoed when looking at the spiritual landscape of Japan. The nation is home to the second largest unreached people group in the world. It is one of the most difficult places for the Gospel to take hold and grow. Japan is also home to a deep and rich culture that prizes creative arts from pottery to ink to music to anime – a fact that would help Luke find his niche in life and ministry. God’s Guiding Hand In the short three-month timespan of that first trip, Luke found that opportunities came naturally to share about life, and people’s curiosity for Christianity grew. “I left Japan knowing I just had to come back,” Luke shares. “Even if I didn’t get back to the same area, I knew Japan was where God wanted me to be.” The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. His plans do not fail. Luke returned to Japan in 2019, and less than a week after arriving, he was put in touch with a renowned composer in Japan. The composer saw some of Luke’s music and invited him to help write the music for a beloved in-country animated show. But God wasn’t finished yet! Fast forward a year, and more connections and opportunities allowed Luke to help with music for Pokémon - a franchise that has brand recognition around the world and was being developed into a TV series in Japan. Luke recalls how the Lord began using these connections in the production world to open doors for Gospel conversations. One night while having dinner in downtown Tokyo with famous artists and composers from all around the country, Luke was asked about his ministry-focused visa. This was a rare opportunity in a setting with people otherwise uninterested in Christianity. Luke shares, “The whole time I could see God’s hand in guiding the entire thing.”

Connecting in a New Kind of “Neighborhood”

By Lorena de la Rosa and Suzanne Pearson • 13 Jun, 2024

Through creative arts and other forms of innovative outreach, “The Neighborhood” is creating connections to the Gospel and the love of Jesus. CONNECTION. It’s a common word with powerful implications. Dictionary.com defines connection as a joining or linking together; a relationship between people or objects that unites or binds them together. God has created each of us with a deep need for connection with Him as well as connection with others. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to this, as the writer exhorts, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” This God-given need for connection lies at the heart of a creative and innovative ministry in Japan known as “The Neighborhood.” TEAM Japan global worker, Kelly and her family created The Neighborhood as a place where connections are formed through creative arts, educational opportunities, and simply just providing a space for people to be together. A Family Calling The journey to the creation of The Neighborhood began over 5,000 miles away from Tokyo, in California where Kelly, her husband Jeff, and their five children were living. The kids were the first to sense God’s calling to missions, and asked why their family wasn’t serving in this way. How Kelly and her family came to TEAM is a God-story in and of itself. “God placed a TEAM Japan worker at our lunch table the same week that the kids posed that question to us,” Kelly recalls. “We had never heard of TEAM and so we thought, ‘let’s check this out.’ After that, God just kept confirming that we were supposed to be here.” After a period of fundraising and with much excitement, the family of seven moved to Japan in 2014. For the first five years, Kelly and Jeff served as a part of other TEAM ministry initiatives, but they began to sense a stirring for something new. Creating The Neighborhood Kelly and her family truly have a deep gift for hospitality, and regularly opened up their home to others they met in Tokyo. They saw a great need for people to have a place to gather and connect, and they wondered what doors the Lord might be opening for them to meet that need. “About a year before we were to return the States on home assignment, we were just really thinking about our future in Japan,” Kelly says. “We saw a need for people to have a ‘third place’ – a place that’s not home and it’s not work. They didn’t have a church community or any other place where they could meet people and just connect.” Kelly goes on to explain that in Japan, the culture is such that people don’t generally invite each other into their homes, but as her family did so, people embraced that opportunity. “This idea formed in all of our hearts of a student ministry center – a place where we can create community and learning,” says Kelly. “It was born out of what we were already doing in our home, but seeing how we could expand it and have better space.” God’s Provision What happened next is a true testament to God’s provision. Kelly, Jeff, and the kids returned to the States and began sharing their vision for The Neighborhood with their supporters and churches who responded generously. Upon returning to Japan, the search was on for the right space. “We had a Christian realtor that we told our dream to, and he just went looking for it,” Kelly recalls. When the realtor found a 5-story apartment building, he said, “It’s kind of out of your budget but it has what you need and want.” The Lord provided the funds and the family moved into the space in November 2019. They now occupy all but the ground floor, with living space for their family as well as classrooms, areas to study or hang out, and guest rooms for exchange students or others who need a place to stay overnight. The first floor is occupied by a pizza shop – a welcome amenity for the many groups and students who visit The Neighborhood. “It’s very convenient!” Kelly says with a laugh. The Neighborhood began to see lots of activity right away until the pandemic hit in early 2020. During the height of the quarantine, Kelly and Jeff used the time to redecorate the space and plant gardens outside the building. Then as the restrictions eased, they invited individual students or families over for meals and fellowship. It wasn’t until March 2023 that The Neighborhood was able to fully open again as intended. Kelly shares that despite the setbacks of COVID, the Lord continued to provide the funds to pay the rent.