As someone who grew up in the largest Muslim populated country in the world (Indonesia), I’ve met several missionaries. In fact, my first ever English-speaking friend was a missionary kid from a family that served in Indonesia. Missionaries are important for the church, as they go out to reach the people who need the Gospel, and I’m glad that World Reach Week has become an active program that Cairn uses to encourage people to go and reach the people in other countries. To celebrate World Reach Week, I spoke to two of my MK friends, Johnathan Wright and Kayla Beuggert, about their experience living abroad as MKs and how culture has impacted them. This is the interview I had with the 2 of them.

Where did your parents serve as missionaries? How long were you there?

John: Papua New Guinea. We were there for about 10 years.

Kayla: My parents first started out as missionaries in the Philippines and that’s where they met and got married. I lived there for six years, and then we moved to Thailand in 2004. I lived there until 2014, and then we moved back to Virginia.

What was your experience like there? Did you enjoy your time abroad?

John: I really loved being there. PNG was home and I loved everything about it. I spent many of my days going to school like most kids, but after school or during breaks me and my friends would do everything kids and teens would do. We played in the rain, made up our own games, played video games, played with LEGO’s, went into town and explored the world around us. I like to think that while the setting was different, we didn’t grow up all that different from other kids in many different countries.

Kayla: My experience living “overseas” (I never knew anything different so it wasn’t really overseas for me!) was super positive. It definitely felt like my home and I never felt like I was being forced to be there. I made so many international friends and really enjoyed the different cultures that I got to interact with at my international school. I also really liked the warm weather over the weather that we have here, although the snow is nice when we have it! and I do enjoy getting to wear sweaters, since I always had to wear summer clothes in Thailand! There were definitely difficulties sometimes since I looked so different from the people around me, but it was never anything that bothered me that much.

Did you experience a culture shock when you first lived abroad/when you came back to the U.S?

John: I have experienced culture shock every time I have come back to the US. It is a very different culture and it takes some getting used to.

Kayla: When I moved back to the United States, I didn’t really feel any culture shock. I kind of just blended right into the culture that I was in, since that’s what I had always done growing up. After a few years of being in high school, though, I was able to kind of process through what had happened and realize how much I was really dealing with. I think the culture shock that I remember was how confrontational everyone in the United States was. I had never experienced that in Thailand, as everyone there never expresses extreme emotions, especially anger or confrontation. I also had to get used to the culture of sarcasm and picking on each other; I used to get really upset and hurt when people used to do that. I had to realize that when people like you, that’s when they make fun of you! That was really confusing to me. Also, how disrespectful people are to their elders. In Asian culture, it is extremely looked down upon to be disrespectful to your parents.

We recently had the Global Feast on campus; what are some of the local dishes/places that you guys missed from the country you lived in?

John: As far as dishes go, there isn’t really a lot that I miss. Most of the meals can be made here, and my family still makes a lot of them. What I do miss is the quality of the food. I miss fresh fruit and veggies, something that is difficult to find here, especially tropical fruits.

Kayla: I definitely miss the Thai tea in Thailand! I used to get it all the time on my bike ride back from school. My favorite dessert in Thailand is “kao niew mamong” which is “sticky rice and mango”. It’s is absolutely delicious and hard to find here! I also really like something called “Khao soi” which is a chicken and curry noodle dish. I really miss the food there!!

Do you want to say anything to the people whose hearts were reached during World Reach Week and are now thinking of serving abroad?

John: I would tell them to seriously consider it, but to be careful to remember why they are considering it. I have noticed a lot of missionaries in the last few years that, while willing to move to other countries, were not always so willing to actually give up their comforts and luxuries. These things aren’t bad, per se, but they can get in the way of missions work. If you really want to go serve people, then go and serve them. Remember the story of the young Prince who was unwilling to surrender his worldly possessions and comforts? don’t become like him. Remember who you are serving and why you are going.

Kayla: I think I would say to go for it! I’m not saying that it would be easy, but I think that every experience that you have in other cultures really opens your eyes to how other people think and live. Ask any international kid. For them, they are living overseas! I’m sure there are times that it’s very hard for them, and they miss their home country, but they’re also learning so much being here. Even if you just serve abroad for a short time, like two or three years, I don’t think you’ll ever regret that. I do think that you will regret never trying! But that’s just my biased personal opinion, since I’ve lived overseas!! 🙂

So as you can see, it’s not easy being a missionary. As they said, one must be willing to leave behind the luxury of living in a more developed country to serve Christ in the more unreached parts of the world. But although it may be tough, the cultural experience and work you’ll be doing for God is important in fulfilling the Great Commission.