{"id":13981,"date":"2025-07-09T07:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=13981"},"modified":"2025-07-18T11:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:11:07","slug":"d-is-for-dysentery-the-a-to-z-of-christian-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=13981","title":{"rendered":"D Is for Dysentery: The A to Z of Christian Missions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As we discussed missionary hero stories over dinner, my husband said he didn\u2019t think anyone would buy a book about a missionary family putting in four tedious years in training and two years traversing their country to raise support, then spending their first term slogging through language school while suffering from one illness after another and quickly coming home. Maybe not.

Trying to be helpful, he asked ChatGPT for a more balanced picture of missionary life. Here how AI sees it (lightly edited). Let me know if it makes you grin or cringe. Probably both<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A survival guide for the called, the curious, and the culturally confused<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A is for airport <\/strong>\u2013 where all missionaries cry, say goodbye, and question their calling, often five times a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B is for bugs <\/strong>\u2013 in your bed, in your rice, in your ear, but mostly in the stories that will seem funny later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C is for convert<\/strong> \u2013 the one person who actually came to Jesus during your first term and who is now your pastor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D is for dysentery <\/strong>\u2013 because the Great Commission includes great bowel movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E is for evangelism<\/strong> \u2013 sometimes it\u2019s street preaching\u2026 sometimes it\u2019s eating weird food while waiting for someone to ask a spiritual question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F is for fundraising<\/strong> \u2013 or is it sanctified begging?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

G is for goat<\/strong> \u2013 you\u2019ll eat it, pray over it, and once, you\u2019ll ride it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H is for hospitality<\/strong> \u2013 when someone gives you their only chicken, and you realize you\u2019re eating dinner and their income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I is for interpreter<\/strong> \u2013 because your attempt to say, \u201cGod loves you\u201d came out as \u201cYour pig is on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J is for jet lag<\/strong> \u2013 the spiritual gift of being awake at 3 a.m. for no reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K is for kid <\/strong>\u2013 the one who calls you \u201caunt\u201d or \u201cuncle\u201d after four minutes of conversation and one piece of candy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L is for luggage <\/strong>\u2013 the stuff that made it to Nairobi, but not to your village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M is for mosquitoes<\/strong> \u2013 tiny missionaries of malaria. Anointed. Persistent. Demonic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N is for nationals<\/strong> \u2013 the people who teach you that this was never about you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O is for outreach<\/strong> \u2013 involving skits, puppets, and a donkey that wasn\u2019t part of the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P is for prayer letter <\/strong>\u2013 a monthly guilt trip in 500 words or less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q is for quarantine<\/strong> \u2013 because someone brought back something from the jungle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R is for reentry<\/strong> \u2013 when you return home and cry in the cereal aisle because there are too many brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S is for supporters <\/strong>\u2013 people who send checks and ask if you\u2019re \u201cstill doing that missionary thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T is for team conflict <\/strong>\u2013 because iron sharpens iron, and sometimes stabs it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U is for unreached<\/strong> \u2013 the people group you went to reach, only to find out your neighbor back home was one, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V is for visa <\/strong>\u2013 that magical document that determines if you\u2019re on a mission or on vacation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W is for water<\/strong> \u2013 if you can drink it without boiling it, blessing it, or fearing it, you\u2019re not on the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X is for xenophile<\/strong> \u2013 you loved the culture until the third power outage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Y is for yes <\/strong>\u2013 what you said to everything, until your immune system said no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Z is for Zoom<\/strong> \u2013 how you now do missions, conferences, and spiritual warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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As we discussed missionary hero stories over dinner, my husband said he didn\u2019t think anyone would buy a book about a missionary family putting in four tedious years in training and two years traversing their country to raise support, then spending their first term slogging through language school while suffering from one illness after another … Continue reading D Is for Dysentery: The A to Z of Christian Missions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13981"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14025,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13981\/revisions\/14025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}