Cross-cultural life. Full of change and adjustments. And along the way, some unexpected challenges.
One of those for us?
Frequent ailments.
Sudden, unexplained illnesses.
Challenges
Reading through old journals from our years in Karachi, I lose count.
Sickness is mentioned over and over. Every other page.
Prayer requests written for this or that member of our family who was ill.
Vomiting, diarrhea, fevers.
Challenges seemed to never end.
In the air
When our second-born was 3, she called her stomach “my tummy-ache”—which tells you something.
I asked our doctor for advice.
And carefully described how we were filtering and boiling our water. Soaking our vegetables in a special solution. Cooking our meat well-done.
He just shook his head. “Oh, it’s in the air. What to do?”
King Burger
Todd wasn’t feeling well. At all.
He figured it was something he’d picked up during a recent lunch out. At King Burger.
Western fast-food places had not made it to our city at the time.
But we did have King Burger.
Hepatitis
Later that week, at a farewell dinner for some members of our church, a friend looked at Todd and said, “What are you doing here? You have hepatitis!”
What?
He told Todd to go look in a mirror. Sure enough, the whites of his eyes were bright yellow.
We headed home immediately. And Todd entered several weeks of bedrest.
Remedies
Along the way he tried various helpful remedies offered by friends from different cultures.
Our Singaporean friends delivered a bunch of fresh young coconuts and told him to refrigerate one each night and drink the coconut water in it the next day.
A Pakistani friend gave him roasted black channa (chickpeas) to aid in his recovery.
An American nurse brought over packets of ORS (Oral Rehydration System) and said, “You know you’re dehydrated when this tastes good to you.”
It did.
Discomforts
More than 30 years ago, when we were commissioned to cross cultures with the Good News, our leader cautioned us.
“It won’t be the dangers, disasters, and wars that discourage and cause you to give up. It will be the mosquitoes. Small inconveniences. Discomforts.”
And frequent illnesses.
His words echoed through those years.
We held on to the Lord and His Word in the midst of challenges.
And learned how to persevere.
Interceding
Today, I see posts from those in their first years serving overseas.
Entire families getting slammed with viruses and bacteria. Unexplained illnesses.
And I pray. With understanding. Asking for wisdom. And courage. In the midst of what can feel all-consuming.
Interceding for discernment. So they know when and where to find help.
And willingness to persevere according to His will.
Walking by faith. Trusting He will lead the way.
Hope
“Yet I call this to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for His mercies never end.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!
I say, ‘The Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in Him.’”
What about you?
What challenges have you experienced while living the cross-cultural life? How did the Lord give you courage to persevere?
6 replies on “Challenges”
My family lived in Latin America when I was growing up, but my parents were not missionaries. I have a lot of admiration for my mom, who also boiled and filtered water and soaked vegetables in a special solution. Depending on the country, there were frogs in our water tank, iguanas, scorpions, wharf rats, tarantulas, and we checked our beds for chameleons. We slept under mosquito nets. There were bouts of amoebas and typhoid. I don’t remember my mom complaining, but I do remember that after retirement, she really enjoyed the cleanliness and modern conveniences of living in the US! She never took them for granted. And God was faithful to always provide for all of our needs. He continually pursued us and grew our faith even in places where there were no English-speaking church services.
Thank you so much for sharing your story! Checking your bed for chameleons 🙂 made me smile. Once upon a time I thought about writing a story or a book entitled, “There’s a Lizard in my Toaster” because of our experiences with cicaks (lizards) in Indonesia.
I just spent time with some folks going through a difficult season. I am so burdened and lost sleep thinking of solutions or helps that I could provide. But I am not what they need – God knows and He will provide.
As if I needed a reminder – God provided a special help for me from a friend who does not yet trust Him, but cares deeply for me.
May my heart be attentive to His provisions and blessings – even if I have to slather on the bug repellent!
Sometimes those situations are when we truly learn to depend on Him…and trust Him. Thanks for sharing.
It’s not the elephants, it’s the ants. So true.
Indeed! Thanks for sharing that image–soooo true.