Round Trip Ticket

Over a five year period along with our colleagues, we hosted  550 volunteers who came to work with us  for a minimum of 30 days. Living in the Sahel of West Africa where the temperatures can soar up to 120℉ can present challenges enough for a family but dealing with the needs of dozens of volunteers in those conditions multiplies the difficulties.

Those volunteers slept on an aluminum cot covered by a thin piece of nylon. Their lodging was an 8’ by 8’ space covered by a metal roof with walls made of woven elephant grass. They had a crude nightstand to keep their items off the cement pad because the most poisonous snakes came out at night, and it was dangerous to reach your hand on the ground to pick up something.

The volunteers used latrines made by the early volunteers and local villagers. The luxury was running water for the showers with hot water that was heated by a crude solar system that we made from local materials.

These men and women worked hard, and for the most part they did not complain. But when you get that many humans you can count on getting a few who are partial to complaining and griping about this or that. There were those guys who thought they knew so much more than those of us who lived there all the time.

During their 30 days of service, either Cheryl or I or one of the long-term volunteers (we had a few dozen to stay for 1-2 years) would take the volunteers in small groups for a break in Ouagadougou. This trip would usually include eating out at one of a couple of restaurants in the capital city that were good enough to take visitors from the states.

When I hosted a group, like the other hosts, I would offer to translate the menu items for them. There was usually one of the guys who was a “know-it-all” and would say that they did not need any help. I loved it when they ordered a dish just because it sounded like English and were surprised at what they were served. My favorite was when they ordered “steak tartare” thinking it was a steak served with tartar sauce. For those who don’t know, steak tartare is a popular French dish made of raw ground beef or horse meat mixed with several spices and served with a raw egg yolk on top of the patty.

There was one guy who was actually obnoxious about everything, and he not only irritated me, but no one wanted to work with him. One day he started in on me about something relatively insignificant but important for him. I listened and when he was finished, I responded, but he disagreed with my response. Trying to get the final word he said, “What makes you so smart about how to do things here in West Africa?” I know that I could have responded in a more gentle, kinder manner, but here is what I replied, “Ron, you came out here with a round-trip air ticket, and I came out here with a one-way ticket. I was here before you arrived, and I will be here long after you have returned to the USA.”

There are thousands of retired missionaries all over the world who dedicated their entire careers to serving in a foreign culture and sacrificing so many comforts of life and relationships with their families to tell people about Jesus in a language other than their native tongue. So many people who live around them each day do not even know of the challenges that these spiritual giants faced over decades of service. All of them traveled from their homeland to their country of service many times, but never did they possess a round-trip boat or air ticket.

I just wish that we could place a sign in the front yards of all these emeritus missionaries saying, “Heroes live here.”

Here’s to you Emeritus Missionaries! Thank you for your faithful service to the Lord.