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Training for Safety and Security: Preparing for Overseas Missions Part 4

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Training for Safety and Security: Preparing for Overseas Missions Part 4

Don’t forget to read the previous posts in this series: Training in Godliness, Training in Developing Partners, Training in Cross-Cultural Skills

There are many great, sad ironies in the world. One is that countries with the greatest need for the gospel are usually hardest to get into. They are the most difficult places to maintain a Christian presence in and gain long-term access to. Inside the borders of these countries, the areas that need the gospel most are those that make the least sense for a foreigner to live. Yet, God calls us to go and make disciples of all nations—not just the ones that are easy.

As we go and make disciples of all nations in hard-to-reach, low-access areas, we have to find the delicate balance between wisdom and trust. While safety and security practices are crucial, we do not need to live in fear.  

“As we go and make disciples of all nations in hard-to-reach, low-access areas, we have to find the delicate balance between wisdom and trust.”

One Link International

God, Teach Me to Fear You

When I lived overseas, I struggled with fear. If I’m honest, I still struggle with it sometimes. At a particularly low period of my life, I reached out to an older Christian man and told him about some of the things I was dealing with. He said, “Your problem is you don’t fear the Lord enough. You are fearing man more than you are fearing God.”

I knew instantly he was right. I had let my fear of man become greater than my fear of God. So, I began to pray, “God, teach me to fear you.”

The Bible says in Matthew 10:28-31, 

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

If you are struggling with fear, I encourage you to pray the same prayer I prayed and to study the fear of the Lord in the Scriptures. There’s also a helpful book called The Greater Fear: Spiritual Power To Overcome Unhealthy Fears by Dr. R. Bradley Jones.

It is impossible to go overseas and be completely safe. On the other hand, it’s also impossible to stay in America and be completely safe. So, if we’re going to be a little bit unsafe no matter where we are, then we should seek to do the will of God, pursuing His heart for the world.

Fear of man will keep us from going to the nations. Fear of God will send us there with a wise measure of preparation and training so that we can avoid unnecessary danger. 

"Fear of man will keep us from going to the nations. Fear of God will send us there with a wise measure of preparation and training so that we can avoid unnecessary danger." #collegiatedisciplemaker Training for Safety and Security:… Click To Tweet

How to Travel Wisely Overseas

There are a few things you can do to travel wisely overseas missions. While we can’t eliminate safety and security issues, we can train ourselves to be prepared for them.

Develop an STS

One of the first things that we teach is that you need to have an STS. This stands for a Short True Statement. For example, “I am here as a tourist, trying to learn about the local culture.”

This is short, simple, true, and it’s also a practical reason for you to be there. With an STS, less is more. It does not always tell the whole story, but it tells a truthful part of your story. If you think about it, we do this all the time. If we’re having a bad day and a stranger asks us how we’re doing, most of us don’t say, “It’s been a horrible day!” Instead, we will say something that is true while bypassing what we don’t want to talk about, like, “Well, I’m enjoying the weather today,” or some other innocuous statement.

The difference overseas is what things we don’t want to talk about. We don’t want to talk about being on a mission trip. We don’t want to identify our host as a missionary or point out local believers to someone outside their circle.

STS in Context

An STS will be used in a variety of settings, and it will change slightly depending on the setting you are in. It is used with immigration officials, police, school officials, neighbors, and even local friends to some extent. 

The statement should be short, especially with officials. The more you talk, the more likely you are to make a mistake. It needs to be tenable—something that makes sense to them. When interacting with your local friends, an STS is used in a slightly different manner. By definition, talking with your friends will not be short. However, your STS still needs to make sense to them and give them a box to put you in.

STS in Practice

It’s not enough to write or think up a STS. You need to rehearse it, too, both by yourself and with others. It helps to have somebody poke a few holes in it. For example, if you say you’re going as a tourist, do you actually know any famous places you want to see? 

It’s important to practice using your STS in different contexts. Practice with the friends you are going with so you don’t get tripped up. Sometimes it will surprise you which places will ask more questions. You also need to practice in a slightly more stressful environment so that when you are actually there, you’re not thrown off by the pressure.

You as the student and all your team members need to be fully comfortable with your STS. Your discomfort may speak louder than your words and draw unwanted attention when you are overseas.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings

Another important safety practice when you are traveling overseas  is to be aware of your surroundings, including the people you are with and your belongings. You as a foreigner can be a target, because foreigners are usually easier marks to steal from. Those looking to steal know that foreigners and tourists are generally less aware of what’s going on around them, and they may try to capitalize on that vulnerability.

In any situation, the most important thing is always the people on your team with you. All other things can be replaced, but you can’t replace a person. 

The second most important thing is your passport. You should always keep your passport on your person, never in a bag. Countless stories of passports being stolen or lost start out with, “I always keep it in my backpack…”

Once you make some true local friends, they will be able to guide you and show you how to protect yourself. Sometimes it may seem a little silly or overly paranoid, but they do it for a reason, and you would be wise to emulate them.

Safety in Sharing the Gospel

You might think that, depending on the level of security of the place you’re going to, you should get to know somebody before you open up about your faith. However, usually we find this not to be true. An oddity of overseas life is that even in restricted countries, it is often easy to bring up and have spiritual conversations. While they may not believe what we believe, they can be much more open to spiritual conversations than we expect. Even though access to the gospel is very low in many countries, you will still find warm, friendly, hospitable people. They are just in desperate need of the gospel.

Share Soon

I recently spoke with a man who lived in a Muslim nation that the U.S. has recently been at war with. He said, “If I don’t bring up my faith in the first meeting or two, they just assume it’s not very important to me.” A single lady in India told me the same thing about her Hindu context.

While it’s good to exercise wisdom in how you share and be aware of what’s around you, don’t let fear keep you from sharing Jesus. When you share, let it  flow as part of the conversation. Share a little about God and then ask if the person is interested in learning more. If they are, then you might take the conversation to somewhere more private.

Share in Numbers

When I’m overseas, it feels more secure to share with one person. I assume that the whole family or group is probably against it, so I want to get the one person who’s interested and share with them by themselves. 

However counterintuitive it may seem, it’s actually more effective, and, in the long run, safer for the individual, if you share it with the whole group. People overseas think much more collectively than we do in the West. It’s much better for their family or group of friends to hear the same gospel story with them. Then, even if only one person makes a decision, they are less likely to be persecuted, or the persecution will be lighter.

Fear God and Go in Confidence!

It’s important to be aware of safety and security practices in preparing for overseas service. Your sending agency should be able to train you in the specific practices you need for where you are going and what you are doing.

However, don’t be so focused on safety that you don’t go at all or aren’t effective when you are there. Instead, learn your STS by heart, be aware of what’s going on around you, know where your teammates and possessions are, and learn to be wise in how you share. 

Fear God and go with confidence!

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