Why do We Romanticize Foreign Missions?

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by ILG

When we were Home Missionaries, we were treated terribly and were expected to give to EVERY department to prove we were "cooperating". Foreign Missionaries are held up high and Home Missionaries are the dung on the feet of the American Church. I know that's strong, it's just my opinion.

My Dad always complained about how home missionaries were treated; this isn't a new problem. And I have no bone to pick with this point. However, the fact that the home missions department of the UPCI has unresolved issues doesn't really have much to do with the sacrifices (which may be completely different in nature) that foreign missionaries make.

I am in complete agreement that home missionaries make sacrifices for their calling. They should be as "romanticized" as foreign missionaries, IMO. No one needs to tear down foreign missionaries to make that point. It's very hard to start a work from the ground up, whether at home or abroad. I think the difference is that foreign missionaries have to completely leave their homes and families and in some cases, pull up their children from their roots and be gone for a very long time. In some ways it can be an adventure; in other ways, it is a huge sacrifice--even with full financial support.