Letter 07 – The Interviews

The interview

My friend,

Twice in the last year I have been asked a critical question: what customs, lifestyles, and things am I willing to change in order to serve where God sends me.?

As part of my seminary classes I needed to interview a person about their program of evangelization. The best option would be to find a person from another country, a leader involved in some aspect of evangelization. Recently, we had a guest at the church from the Philippines. His name was Dr. Saturnino Gracia and he was the national leader of our church in the Philippines. They were very involved in planting churches as a key method of evangelization. In fact, in order to graduate from the Bible school, a student had to start a cell group or plant a church.

Knowing he would be in the US for a few more weeks, I asked if I could visit with him to talk and learn more about their plan. I was also really interested in returning to the Philippines as a missionary. (I had spent 3 months there as a short-term missionary and thoroughly loved the people, culture, and much more.) He agreed, and I flew to our headquarters to do the interview.

Our meeting went well. As we finished, he asked me a very penetrating question. He had noticed my rings, a wedding band and a family heirloom, and asked if I would be willing to remove them in order to serve in his country. His question caught me off guard and my quick response was I would never do that because one symbolized my love for my wife and so how I could I even consider removing it. The other was a link to my grandfather who died while I was serving as a short-term missionary in Kenya.

Then I paused and asked why he would ask me to do that? He said that in the past, in the Philippines, the church had had many problems with people spending a great deal of money on jewelry, including wedding rings. The pressure to buy the most expensive and to display them had caused many problems and so the church discouraged such excess. At that time, very few in the church, especially pastors, wore their rings.  He also asked me if I was capable of expressing my love for my wife in other ways beyond wearing a ring.

This has caused me to think a lot about what actions and symbols can and cannot be changed.

The second event was our interview to serve as pastors in Oskaloosa, Iowa. We were invited to candidate, an interview process during which I preach, both of us are to share our testimonies, and we have a chance to meet the people of the church. It can be a stressful time. So much to observe and so little time.

We arrived Saturday and enjoyed dinner with the board who spent some time telling us about the church, its relation to the Bible college, (many students and staff attend or work at the school), and their desire to reach out to their community. We learned that the school was quite conservative in its standards related to attire and other areas. We shared with them our hope and goal to be appointed as missionaries in three years. Later that night we reviewed what we had learned.

The next day we met at the church and shared in the service and a fellowship time afterwards. Later, we were invited to the house of the president of the Bible college who was a member of the church board. We had an open and frank conversation about our goals and the church’s and discussed several key points. We first inquired if the church was able to pay me a full-time salary, so we could focus on developing plans for outreach and growth. We then discussed our goal to be appointed as missionaries in three years. Finally, I anxiously pointed out that I had a full beard and did not want to shave it. After stating this, I waited for their response.

In hindsight, I recognize that I was declaring my unwillingness to make a change. Was I being difficult or demanding? Did I have the right to force a church to accept my standards?

The leaders were very clear that they planned on paying me a full salary and were quite excited about our goal related to serving as missionaries. It was the president that responded to me with wisdom in his eyes. They would accept me as I was without requiring any change in my attire or appearance.

Twice I had been asked a crucial question that would affect our ability to serve where God sent us. Twice I had stated I would not change.

As I reflected on the two situations I began to question my answer to Dr. Garcia about not changing. But saw that the second time I did so was because I felt it was important, I saw that the church needed to make some changes in its attitude towards others. Something the president saw and helped us accomplish in many ways.

These two meetings have given me so much to think about related to changes that may or may not be needed when we finally arrive on the mission field. Or rather, changes that we may need to start making to be better prepared before we arrive.

Lots to think about as we prepare for our next steps.

Trust these stories are helpful as you navigate what God wants to do in your life.

Perry J

How will you know what changes you need to make in your personal life, in behavior, and attitudes?