Short-Termers

Whether you have been serving cross-culturally for a few weeks or months or a year, you are different now than when you left home. Perhaps you have not been gone long enough for the culture or relationships back home to have changed drastically. But going home will still involve some grieving, some longing for someone to understand what you have experienced, and most likely a changed worldview.

While not everything in this Transitions resource will apply specifically to your situation, much of it will still be helpful in preparing you to leave your country of service and re-enter your passport country. Some of the information in the resources below may overlap with the other section of Transitions, but these have been written with short-termers in mind particularly. The longer you have been on the field, the more helpful you may find the other sections of Transitions to be.

Here are some good articles you may find helpful:

Home Again (Online article) Different ways of coping with re-entry adjustment from a short-termer’s perspective.

Keeping the Flame Alive (Online article) “If your experience in missions has allowed God to light a fire under you, or to fan the flame, then add more kindling, add more wood, and make sure you protect the fire from things that will put it out or slow it down.”

Serving in Short-term Missions: Coming Home (Online article) “Each of you will reflect differently on your mission trip, but presents the challenge of thinking through the question ‘now what?’

Re-entry After Short-term Missionary Service – a book by Ron Kotesky in PDF format