“I want to go back. I cannot stand it anymore.”

Those were the sentences I exclaimed to my husband one night last year during a crucial conversation that made us align our expectations with the reality of the—sometimes lonely—mission field.

I think you already understand that the missionary life involves many sacrifices. You have likely read a number of stories of resilience and miraculous ways that God intervenes in favor of his people in the field.

The biggest challenge for me was not the food, weather or the work. The most significant burden at that moment was the isolation. Please do not misunderstand me; we do have friends with whom we talk and occasionally go out. What I was missing the most was the feeling that comes with belonging to a group of friends.

I believe that the cultural fatigue and shock appeared together. I wanted to understand the jokes people told and have deep conversations without a tremendous effort to remember and understand each word.
This feeling of discomfort was growing fast and, despite knowing that this would be a challenge, I did not expect how hard I would find it to be.

Someone once said to me, “When God wants to bless us, He sends us friends.” I started praying to Him, asking for opportunities to create deeper connections with the people around me. The answer I received was clear and accompanied by a bitter regret for my lack of patience at that moment: “Creating friendships takes time and effort. If you go back now, you will not know what could have been.”

I kept fighting and praying, but the answer was the same. This is a work that requires time, just like friendships.

Weeks later, when the feeling of discomfort eased a bit, I received a message from a Thai friend. She was not inviting me to go out or anything like that; she only wanted to know if I was in need of something. She wanted to bring some fresh homemade bread to my house.

Although this was a very simple gesture, it spoke deeply to my heart and gave me the hope necessary to remain in the field and to strive to belong and connect here. More than that, I even pondered the need to extend our stay here in this town.

After months of cultural study and language learning, we are entering a new phase in our project: active discipleship with some locals with whom we are studying the Bible.

We did decide to stay longer as missionaries in the city of Nong Khai, northeast Thailand. For that, we need your help to continue this discipleship work here.

The truth is that we do not only need friends here, physically close, we also need friends who, no matter the distance, will support the mission and join us in hope for the soon return of Jesus.

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