Explore the plight of Mission Society missionaries serving in nations hostile to Christianity

Imagine going away from home on a trip and not being certain you’d be allowed back again. Imagine being called into a local government office and told that you could not teach about the faith. Imagine being given three days notice that you had to leave your home of many years, then not even being allowed back to pack up the belongings you left behind or say goodbye to dear friends.

Fortunately, in most places our missionaries are able to serve openly and are welcomed, or at least tolerated, by local officials. Missionaries may need to work in acceptable platforms, such as teaching, community development, or project management, but these platforms themselves can provide bridges to sharing the Gospel. However, there are some settings where missionaries must be extremely careful – where the word “missionary” itself carries so many misconceptions that it has to be avoided altogether.

Passport black stamp
The three examples above are all cases going on right now in the lives of some of our missionary families. (I cannot divulge the names or the country names and will use pseudonyms in place of the families’ names.) The Baileys were recently deported from their country of service. From the best we can tell, the reason appears to be jealousies of local officials with the success of the community development work the Baileys were involved in. Officials enlisted the help of former staff members to spread untruths about these missionaries’ work. Several from the local Muslim population came to the Baileys’ defense, protesting the deportation, but to no avail. They were given very little notice; the Bailey children were pulled from school and their other activities, and were removed from their friends. Now a black stamp in the Baileys’ passports prevents them from even applying for a new visa.

God’s plans
Even as we grieve with the Baileys, we celebrate with the Adkins with the news that they received a one-year visa to return to their country of service. There, recent political changes have resulted in many missionaries being denied visa renewals. (In fact, in the past year the number of missionaries serving in this country from one major mission agency has gone from more than 130 to just a dozen.) We were already discussing where the Adkins may go to serve if the door closes. But praise God that they found favor and were granted one-year visas. So for now, back they go.

Another family elsewhere has been told that they may not do any religious teaching without having a missionary visa. If they continue at all, they will be prosecuted, fined, and deported. Yet we also know that a missionary visa there is hard to obtain and can be a target for harassment. What to do? We’re still working on that one.

Missionaries all know deep down that we serve at the pleasure and even whim of local officials. How does one emotionally and spiritually handle this uncertainty? This is only possible by focusing on the One who called us, and by remembering that we really serve only at His pleasure. Thankfully, He does not decide by whim, but by the plans He has laid out for us (Jeremiah 29:11).

Missionary work can be hard, frustrating, and heartbreaking. From their temporary home in a neighboring country, the Baileys wrote, “I do regret not being able to bring more books, though. I’m afraid that in three weeks, I will be done with all the books [for the children’s home school] and will need more. It’s frustrating to know that they are just sitting on a shelf in my house. … I feel very homesick and so do the kids. They miss their friends. I miss my art students, my team, my house, my friends, and my routine. Steve feels the most hurt in regard to the betrayal of our two staff members. He really trusted them.”

The pain is real. But in the end, we know God will have His way and that in everything – everything – God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

After 10 years on the mission field in Central Asia, Jim Ramsay now serves as The Mission Society’s director of field ministry.