You may be a missionary on deputation if:

While on deputation, I had the opportunity to share this list with a group of ladies during a missions conference. I thought I would share it here. Without further ado, here is my list,

You may be a missionary on deputation if:

1. When asked “Where are you from?” your children stumble over how to answer. “Well, I was born in Massachusetts, but my home church is in Ohio, but we live in Texas now and then we will go live in Hungary in this summer…”
2. You have not only homeschooled your children, but have also van schooled, hotel schooled, coffee shop schooled, and library schooled them.
3. You consider a city 200 miles away to be “very close”.
4. You consider a 3-hour car ride to church to be “not too far”.
5. You speak with authority on the subject of airline travel.
6. You have friends in 20 different countries;  you sort your friends by continent.
7. You tell a story about your travels and use the phrase “and then we went to” at least five times during the story.
8. You go to a church and find your family picture on the bulletin board.
9. You go on Saturday morning visitation and, in the middle of talking with someone, forget what church you are on visitation with. (Could I please see that tract I just handed you?)
10. You carry a coffee maker in the van. (and sometimes even a grill!)
11. You can’t remember what state you got your last oil change in.
12. (for the men) Your son could get up and finish your message because he has heard it so often.
13. You don’t worry too much about packing enough clothes for travel: Goodwill has become like a closet for you.
14. You have slept in five different beds during the course of a week.
15. Your Sunday afternoon nap has been in the car, on the couch at the home of a pastor, or even by the Ohio River under a bridge.
16. On any given day, your three meals may have been in a hotel in one state, a fast food place in another, and at a church dinner in another state.
17. You go to put a tract on the table at a restaurant in OH and realize the tract is from a church you visited in Texas last week.
18. You reach for your prayer card in your Bible to hand to someone and pull out 10 different cards from 10 different missionaries you recently have met. None of the cards are your own.
19. You have no special musical abilities but have sung in countless churches all across America.
20. You get very…. Very tired of talking about yourself. 

And there you have it. Maybe now someone here will be inspired to go on deputation…. Either that or run away from it. One or the other.

Want to see more from our deputation adventures? Check out these Vimeo links:

First year:

https://vimeo.com/132620287

Second year:

https://vimeo.com/169579241