St Thomas the Apostle, St Thomas Missouri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries.<\/p>\n
These courageous men and women gave up everything to go live in the jungle or some other God forsaken, rat infested place to preach the gospel. They went to the desert of North Africa, the jungles of Burma and countered the dangers of communist Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n
In high school I wanted to be a missionary. I said, \u201cLord, send me to the darkest and most primitive place. Send me to the people whose hearts are hardest, whose love is cold, who hate you with a perfect hatred. Send me to the people who are locked in the misery of their sin and degradation. Send me to the very worst sinners of all\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026.so he sent me to England.<\/p>\n
Just kidding.<\/p>\n
In fact, when after twenty five years that mission field proved to soft, I asked to be sent to a place where the people\u2019s hearts were even harder and they hated God and loved their idols even more\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026so he sent me to suburban America.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Just kidding.<\/p>\n
Sort of.<\/p>\n
Or maybe not.<\/p>\n
The fact of the matter is, I never did ask to be a missionary like that, but I did have the missionary spirit. I wanted to serve God and the gospel with my whole heart.<\/p>\n
Now, as I\u2019m pushing sixty I realize that my prayer was answered even despite myself. The other side of me wanted a comfortable life. I wanted to hunker down in an Anglican country vicarage and pull down the shutters and block out the world. I wanted to retreat to my cell, my study, my books and my writing and solve the world\u2019s problems in my head.<\/p>\n
Where it was safe.<\/p>\n
Instead I\u2019ve moved on. After seven years or so in a place God has called me to pull up the tent stakes and move to the next oasis in the desert.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been an adventure and I have no regrets.<\/p>\n
This week the long and winding road has brought me to a windswept hillside in middle Missouri.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s \u201cMissouri\u201d not \u201cMisery\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a real nice place where German Catholics settled on their farms and built solid brick churches on hilltops.<\/p>\n
When I get an invitation to lead a parish mission I always try to say yes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not easy because sometimes the place is in the back of beyond and you have to travel a bit to get there..but I like these country parishes. There\u2019s something authentic and natural about them that is sometimes lacking in the larger suburban places.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not easy to do these missions because I have to get cover for my own masses and that\u2019s increasingly tough.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also not easy because to do these missions I have to charge a fee to make our ends meet and I am aware that this is tough for some parishes.<\/p>\n
But as I go I realize how grateful the people are for the few meager morsels I toss them.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re grateful that I\u2019ve come and we have a good time sharing the good things of the Lord.<\/p>\n
As usual in ministry and mission I come away feeling that I have received more than I\u2019ve given, and on the whole this is a good and happy thing to do.<\/p>\n
Fact of the matter is, I\u2019d do this full time if I was called to it. I\u2019d live in a little hut somewhere with my books and a fireplace, the dog, the pipe and the music and the silence.<\/p>\n
But that is not what I\u2019ve been given. I\u2019ve also been blessed with the most wonderful wife and family\u2013and my own parish full of joys and sorrows\u2013 A full and abundant life and this community of mine is where I really live and where I really thrive.<\/p>\n
So after my week in the farmland of Missouri I\u2019ll be back in the midst of that life: juggling the demands of a growing parish with life in the suburbs, two kids in high school, two in college, a wife who works, two dogs a cat and I think one of the fish is still alive.<\/p>\n
I never made it to the jungle tribe of lovable and wicked naked savages.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n
I found them where I was. They were there all the time\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026and their chief keeps staring at me from the mirror.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries. These courageous men and women gave up everything to go live in the jungle or some other God forsaken, rat infested place to preach the gospel. They went to the desert of North Africa, the jungles of Burma and countered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
On Being a Missionary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries. These courageous men and women gave up everything to go\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Being a Missionary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries. These courageous men and women gave up everything to go\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-02T15:49:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/files\/2014\/12\/stom-e1417534941730-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html\",\"name\":\"On Being a Missionary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-02T15:49:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-02T15:49:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\"},\"description\":\"In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries. These courageous men and women gave up everything to go\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On Being a Missionary\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On Being a Missionary","description":"In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries. These courageous men and women gave up everything to go","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On Being a Missionary","og_description":"In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries. These courageous men and women gave up everything to go","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html","og_site_name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","article_published_time":"2014-12-02T15:49:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/files\/2014\/12\/stom-e1417534941730-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html","name":"On Being a Missionary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-12-02T15:49:06+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-02T15:49:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad"},"description":"In the Evangelical Fundamentalist world in which I was raised our heroes were the missionaries. These courageous men and women gave up everything to go","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/12\/on-being-a-missionary.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On Being a Missionary"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","caption":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"stom\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/149\/2014\/12\/stom.jpg\")
<\/a>