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Missionary Singles Issues
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Missionary Single Issues: Loneliness
Ronald Koteskey
download this brochure as a pdf
 Lately
you have been feeling “invisible.” It seems like everyone else has
friends, but you are just “in” the crowd—not “of” the crowd. You feel
empty, disconnected, and alienated from those around you—socially inadequate,
socially unskilled. You are anxious and sad but feel like no one else
knows how miserable and isolated you are. Thanksgiving has been the worst;
it was always a day of family and friends, but none are around. Now you
are dreading Christmas coming.
People around you are friendly and greet you with a smile.
However, you find it difficult, seemingly impossible, to have any really
meaningful interaction with others. You would like to meet new people and
make deep friendships, but you just can’t bring yourself to take part in social
activities to make friends.
Feeling unloved and unwanted, you are lonely. But how
could you be lonely when there are people all around you? Isn’t God always
with you so that you will not be lonely? Can missionaries be lonely?
What can you do?
How can I be lonely?
You are certainly not alone if you live in a city of millions of
people. However, loneliness has nothing to do with being alone; it has to
do with relationships. If you live in a village of a hundred people, you
are much less likely to be lonely than if you live in a city of a million
people. You are likely to know the names of everyone you meet in that
village, but you may never meet anyone you know in that city.
Some singles choose to be alone, to experience solitude, and
they find it a positive, pleasurable, enriching time. Loneliness is
essentially unwilling solitude, wanting to be in relationship with others but
not experiencing it. “Forced solitude,” solitary confinement, is one of
the most terrible punishments used on people in prison.
You may be relatively new to the culture in which you live so
that you find it difficult to have meaningful relationships with the nationals.
You have not yet internalized enough of the culture to feel at ease with close
relationships in it. Or you may have been in that culture for many years,
even the leader of your group, and still be lonely. Being the leader
changes your relationships with everyone in the group and it is “lonely at the
top.”
Can God’s people be lonely?
You may think, “Isn’t God with me everywhere? I’m part of
the family of God so how can I be lonely?” God is with you everywhere, but
you need human relationships as well. You are part God’s family, but you
may still not have the deep friendships you desire with other members of his
family. You can still be lonely. Here are some examples.
- Adam. Even before
sin entered humanity, God noted that it was not good for Adam (a single) to
be alone, so God created Eve as a companion with whom Adam could be in
relationship (Genesis 2).
- David. In the
Psalms David said, “My friends and companions avoid me…my neighbors stay far
away” (31:11), and “look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me”
(142:4).
- Jesus said, “You will
leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me (John
16:32). Only hours later even the Father was gone, and Jesus said, “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Do other missionaries feel this way?
Everyone feels lonely at times, and missionaries are no exception.
Living in a strange culture away from family and friends, most people feel
lonely.
Near the end of his second letter to Timothy, Paul (a single
missionary) wrote about several things that made him feel lonely.
- Demas, because he loved this world, has
deserted me (2 Timothy 4:10).
- Crescens has gone to Galatia (2 Timothy
4:10).
- Titus (has gone) to Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10).
- At my first defense, no one came to my
support, but everyone deserted me (2 Timothy 4:16).
- Do your best to get here before winter (2
Timothy 4:20).
Paul even asked Timothy to bring Mark, a man who had deserted Paul and
Barnabas years before. Paul had held this desertion against Mark many
years and would not even let Mark go with him on his second term of missionary
service. Lonely now, Paul said:
Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is
helpful to me in my ministry (2 Timothy 4:11).
What causes loneliness?
Loneliness is common because it has so many causes. These causes may be
found in your situation or within you. Here are some possible causes.
- Your moving. Part
of being a missionary is moving from one place to another, either reentering
your passport culture repeatedly or moving from one culture to another.
Singles do not even have a spouse to talk with when they first move.
- Friends moving. If
you do not move, other people from your agency are likely to.
Expatriates are constantly on the move.
- Away from family and friends.
Part of working cross-culturally is living in a place far from acquaintances
in your past.
- Expectations not met.
Perhaps you had heard how friendly people were in your host culture, but you
find them quite distant.
- Rejected. You may
not be accepted by the people you came to serve and feel rejected even by
people serving in your agency.
- Discriminated against. You
came to serve, but you find that political or social forces in your host
country discriminate against you because of your passport country, your
race, your religion, your gender, or even your singleness.
- Surface relationships. 1.
You long to share deeply with others, but you are not able to find anyone in
your agency or in your host culture who wants to do so.
- Surface relationships. 2.
You do not want to become too close to anyone because you know that either
they or you will be moving soon.
- Lack of social skills.
You do not understand how to interact well in your host culture—or maybe
your passport one.
- Self-conscious or shy.
Having low self-esteem or lack of self-confidence. You find it
difficult to get close to anyone, single or married, in any culture.
- Anxiety, depression, feelings of
worthlessness or social phobias. Personal problems in
adjustment prevent you from interacting adequately with other expats or
nationals.
- The city feels so unfriendly.
You grew up in a farming community or small town, and the large city in
which you serve has no similar sense of community.
What can I do to get over loneliness?
The good news about loneliness is that you CAN take steps yourself to get
over it. It is the only “disorder” that can be cured by adding two or more
cases together! However, the more lonely you feel, the harder it is to
take the steps needed, so remember that it takes time, effort, and commitment.
You may need the help of a counselor to begin to take those steps.
Basically what you want to do is to find the cause (perhaps from the ones
listed above) and then do things to counteract that cause. You may have to
make changes in your situation or changes in yourself. Do not wait for
your feelings of loneliness to go away—act first, and the change in feelings
will come later. Here are some suggestions.
- Look for ways to get involved with people
around you, such as eating with them, sitting near them, exercising with
them.
- Transitions, vacations, and holidays can
be very lonely for singles, so plan in advance what you will do and with
whom.
- Find an older single missionary who will
coach or mentor you.
- Put yourself in situations where you will
meet new people, such as joining a club, attending a new church, and doing
volunteer work with others single or married.
- Develop your social skills, practice
getting to know others, and become vulnerable enough to let people know you.
- Do not assume new relationships will be
the same as old ones. Look at each new person from a new perspective.
- Respond to other singles and their
interests, but do not pretend to be interested in something you are not.
People will sense your insincerity.
- Go do things you like to do even if you
have to go alone if it is safe to do so. Attending a concert or film,
even taking a walk you may meet someone with similar interests.
- Beware of burying yourself in ministry to
escape loneliness because it may make you even more inaccessible to others.
- Take a class in an area of interest.
You may meet singles with similar interests.
- Ask people about themselves because
people usually want to share with someone who is interested in them.
A word of caution!
 Modern
communication technology, such as e-mail, instant messaging, webcams, VoIP, and
low international phone rates has resulted in some people becoming so interested
in maintaining old relationships that they fail to build new ones.
These distant relationships may make us think that we do not need intimate
face-to-face relationships. This is not the case. Even though you
may be able to hear and even see the person, it is not the same as interacting
with a real person.
Trying to maintain such a relationship is often not satisfying and may result
in not developing adequate relationships with others.
Ronald Koteskey is
Member Care Consultant
GO International
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