“We just want to come and serve” was the comment by a North American family wanting to visit the African country for two weeks. The family wanting to visit were supporters of the missionaries, so they hated to say no to their request. The missionary on the field serves in a harsh environment. His work is an agricultural training project and from 8 to 5 every day he works on the hot, dusty, dry farm.
In the two weeks the family of five was on the field, they rarely
went to the farm to help, ended up mostly touring the area. The missionary husband had to abandoned
most of his ministry responsibilities for two weeks, acting as driver and
interpreter for the visitors. The missionary wife spent most of her time
cooking meals for their guests.
Granted, most short-term visitors try not to be an
imposition. Their heart is in the
right place, they might even help out financially. This particular case is unusual to be sure, but certainly
more common than most people in the states realize. Every time a visitor comes to the field it always takes time
away from the ministry and in some cases is a financial and physical burden on
career missionaries. We just want
to come and serve may be code for, we want to come for an adventure at your
expense.
