Missionary Shoes
Strange things transpire when we step into the shoes of a missionary. We are fitted into this institution called missions as vocation, and in that moment we receive a new identity. This identity has many friends and enemies, and it is much bigger than ourselves, but all of a sudden we are representatives of it, and are identified with it. The implications of this upon our personal lives are far-reaching, and I do not think that we understand all that will ensue when we slip those shoes on. For one, the expectations are enormous, you could say the shoes are mammoth and we will never, ever fill them. We will never feel adequate or “enough”-who can be the Apostle Paul? Or Hudson Taylor? Or Adoniram Judson? Our relationships will change. We are entering into lives that are so unusual and weird that no one except another missionary will really understand, and even they won’t understand completely because they are from a different background. It becomes more difficult to share our l