Week 144: Marriages and Missionary Couples
Please join us this week in praying for married
couples on the mission field. Couples on the mission field often
experience a number of stressful situations all at the same time. They
are separated from family and friends; they are immersed in a new and strange
culture; they are starting a new job; they are establishing a new home; and, on
top of all that, they are often learning a new language. Just one of
these situations can create difficulties. All of them together almost
guarantee some degree of marital conflict.
Many times conflict will arise because the spouses
adjust to all the changes differently or at least at different rates. One
may have difficulty with homesickness; one may have a harder time with the
language; and one may make cultural adjustments with less ease than the
other. The more out of balance the couples’ adjustments are the more
likely it is conflicts will arise.
Also, if an adjustment period in any of these areas
is elongated, the spouses, together or individually, may start to doubt their
suitableness for the mission to which God has called them. This doubt can
cause a spiritual depression that will only add to all the other stressors
missionary couples often face.
Another factor that can cause marital stress for
missionary couples is a disconnect between expectations and reality.
Despite warnings during training and orientation, couples can envision their
impact on their new environment being greater or more immediate than it turns
out to be. This collision with reality can create all sorts of problems
for the married couple.
Pray with us that missionary couples will
- Be patient with one another; be each other’s best friend and most faithful encourager
- Be realistic about the time it takes to acclimated to a new culture
- Find new friends who will help them adjust
- Make the effort to stay in touch with family and friends
- Resist the evil one who will attempt to convince them that slow progress equals failure
- Rejoice in small successes
- Be faithful to the One who has called them and confident in His ability to sustain them
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