How to Avoid Burnout and Thrive on the Mission Field

Deb Wyss • Jun 05, 2017

I had been on the mission field for 10 months. I was holed up in one of the few less-than-desirable guest houses in a remote East Asian mountain town.

I was relentlessly vomiting from food poisoning, and there was only one public outhouse for all of the guests’ bathroom needs. There was no running water. And I could hear the rats scurrying in the walls.

I was miserable.

I remembered the romantic visions that filled my head as I prepared to go to the mission field. The excitement that bubbled out of me at the mention of this faraway place with exotic people and gorgeous landscapes. The physical burden my heart and body carried for these lost ones to know the one true God.

Those things had carried me for a while. But the beauty of it all was fading, and fading fast. I was tired.

How was I going to make it for the long haul?

When I was well enough, I stumbled out to the grasslands to get some fresh air.

I quickly realized that the mission field of my dreams wasn’t my reality. I had to reframe my thinking and adopt new practices if I was going to thrive overseas. Photo courtesy of Deb Wyss

The massive snow mountains exploded out from the lush, rolling green hills, and horses decked in colorful ribbons dotted the pastures filled with wild flowers. I was living my dream. But I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be.

I rested my weary head in my hands and cried.

And then.

His sweet whisper. “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.”

He endured.

That’s what I needed to hear in that moment because that’s all I was doing at that moment: enduring . And Jesus had moments like that as well.

And just a few days after my very low, low, I had some wonderful highs.

I joined a group of four villagers herding yaks for the day. I sincerely enjoyed the company. Making real connections for the sake of the Gospel as we cooked over an open flame at the mouth of a cave. Belting out hymns on a plateau that had never had the name of Christ spoken there before.

God used an outing with locals to reenergize me when I needed it most. Photo courtesy of Deb Wyss

There was nowhere else in the world I would have rather been at that moment. It was a gift that carried me through that low period.

Over the next seven years, I experienced it all. Periods of balance in life. Periods of extreme fatigue, completely worn out and broken. Periods of floundering. And periods of thriving.

So, how do we keep ourselves healthy when serving overseas? What are some practical things we can do to thrive on the mission field?

1. Set goals.

Often on the mission field, there is no boss delegating tasks and no one following up on your work.

A specific plan is vital. Set measurable goals, and work toward them.

Keep a short list of prayer requests that reflect your goals somewhere you will see daily. Pray until you can cross your goal off the list. (For example: Make five new, local friends.)

2. Have a routine.

This may sound ridiculous to anyone who has spent time on the mission field. (An enduring joke is the only thing certain in missions is that nothing is certain.)

But spending time, day after day coming up with ideas and plans about how to order your day without a concrete schedule is exhausting. For anyone.

Ordering your weeks gives rhythm and routine to life , which generally makes people feel like they can manage better and also is almost always more productive.

3. Reflect. Regularly.

Every six months, sit down and write a list of all of the things you’ve seen God do.

In the day-to-day, it’s hard to see progress. But when you take a chunk of time and look back, you will be encouraged. It will bolster your faith. It will push you to keep walking forward.

4. Have someone in it with you.

Having someone who gets your situation, you enjoy talking to and who cares about the outcome of your ministry as much as you do is so helpful. Without this, you will wear down more quickly.

For married couples, this often turns out to be your spouse, and that’s great. Be intentional about debriefing the nitty-gritty of ministry life with each other, but don’t vent.

For single missionaries , the most important thing to look for is someone who wants to listen to you talk about details. It may be a teammate, but it may be someone back home with whom you have regular Skype calls.

One of my most helpful relationships was with a woman from another country who was 30 years older than I was. Although she had never met a single one of my contacts, she kept a binder with all of their pictures and wrote notes about each one of them on their respective pages.

5. If you’re tired often, pay attention.

You are probably not in a healthy place. Figure out why, and make changes.

Fatigue often comes from having too many irons in the fire. Consciously make a decision to decrease your activities for a while. Have a second party help you if you feel like you don’t know how. Inability to make decisions is a big red flag that something is not right.

Often, simple things like eating right, exercising and getting good sleep can make you feel better quickly. Don’t neglect your physical health.

If you are dealing with weighty issues, make sure that you have someone outside the situation that you can talk with.

6. Take up a hobby.

It’s best if this hobby is something you can do in the community with locals. But, more importantly, it must be something you genuinely enjoy. It may be basketball at local university courts, or it may be an art class.

Being you rather than the role you are given in ministry is beneficial for not only yourself but also for those you have come to serve.

Pursuing a hobby gives you a moment to let your guard down.

It’s a chance for them to just enjoy the person God created you to be, without placing expectations on yourself.

A hobby will grow your love for the place and the people. If you find it hard to engage in activities the locals enjoy, daily life can become a drag very quickly.

7. Remember that you are a foreigner.

As much as you strive to fit in with the local culture, you cannot become them. You are different. They know it. And it’s ok!

You’re going to need time to practice familiar traditions. For me, that meant “American” pizza and movie nights. A holiday celebration without locals. Or a cup of coffee and a light novel.

8. Take time off to rest.

If possible, leave the country to do this. Leaving will refresh you in a deeper way. It will give you perspective. It will fuel you for the long haul.

If it’s not possible to leave the country, create a tradition of “getting away” in-country. Make it a yearly practice, something you look forward to. Head to another city where no one knows you. Go exploring, hunker down in your hotel room, eat some yummy food. Whatever sounds relaxing to you.

If traveling can’t happen, block off a week on your calendar to rest as best you can. Don’t do any of your normal activities. Make a plan for how you want to rest, so that you don’t spend your week wondering what to do with yourself!

9. Practice thankfulness.

Missionaries have an easy slide into complaining. The weather, the dirt, the food, the harsh life. The more you talk about it, the worse it feels.

Instead, be thankful. Write down something you’re thankful for every day, or make it a practice to share a grateful thought at dinner. Be conscious about not grumbling.

10. Remember your job description.

Your job is to speak truth. Only God can change hearts. Sow seeds. Water. Trust God for the increase in His timing and His way. Relax into His plans and purposes.

May the joy of the Lord be your strength as you carry on!

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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.