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Missionaries Are Human Too Missionaries Are Human Too Glimpses of Life in Mexico Nancy Perry (edited and re-issued by Doug Perry, 2008) DEDICATION This book is dedicated to my parents, Gayle and Edna Whitlow. The time and love I invested in authoring this book are but a fraction of what they invested in guiding, nurturing, and shaping my life. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have been helpful and encouraging during the writing of this book. Special acknowledgment, however, is given to Miss Mabel Hale for reading the manuscript and offering helpful grammatical suggestions. For her help in providing maps and illustrations, I am grateful to Mrs. Sharon Faucett and also to the Summer Institute of Linguistics of Mexico City, Mexico. I extend my sincere appreciation to Dr. Olan Runnels for reading the manuscript, for his encouragement, and for writing the Foreword. I am especially indebted to my husband, Bob, for his constant reassurance and advice throughout this writing venture. As is so evident, his experiences form an integral part of the book. Without the patience and understanding of Bob and our two sons, Douglas and David, this book could not have been written. One scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NAS), © The Lockman Foundation. Other scripture quotations are from the Today's English Version Bible (TEV): Copyright © American Bible Society. All quotations used by permission. Copyright © 1978 Nancy Perry Copyright © 2008 Doug Perry 2 FOREWORD This is a different kind of inspirational book – one that is “down to earth but up to God,” acknowledging that missionaries are people too. Nancy shares her joys and sorrows, her hopes and fears, her triumphs and defeats. She presents life as it really is for her and her family, as well as the way it ought to be, freely owning strengths and weaknesses. Some folks think that missionaries are angelic beings who live in the world of Christian cliches: trust in God, commit it to the Lord, pray about it. Nancy and Bob have found out that giving this kind of easy advice to a friend or taking it yourself is not always the way to go. It may just be an easy way out instead of getting involved with people and their problems. I predict that Nancy Perry's commonsense approach will help thousands of people to come to know what a real live missionary is all about. When you finish reading this book at least two things will happen to you. If you haven't been to Mexico, you'll want to go; if you've never thought about being a missionary, you will. It will be fun reading, especially if you are lonesome for a personal relationship with Christ. If you've been afraid to get close to God because He might call you to be a missionary, ready this book anyway. Here is the missionary book of the future: utterly open in its approach to God, free of threadbare cliches, homespun yet profound, passionately honest. Olan H. Runnels Pastor, Swope Park Baptist Church First Vice-President, Southern Baptist Convention March 20, 1978. 3 CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 5 I. How Does a Missionary Begin? Conversion, Call, and Appointment ........................................................................................ 6 Orientation ............................................................................................................................... 7 Language School ...................................................................................................................... 7 II. Where Does a Missionary Live? Guadalajara ............................................................................................................................ 10 Oaxaca ................................................................................................................................... 11 Mexico City ........................................................................................................................... 13 III. What Does a Missionary Eat? Cactus .................................................................................................................................... 15 Chicken with Rice in the Market ........................................................................................... 16 Wild Boar .............................................................................................................................. 19 Ten Meals of Fish .................................................................................................................. 22 IV. Where Does a Missionary Sleep? In a Carry-All ......................................................................................................................... 26 In a Tehuantepec Motel ......................................................................................................... 28 V. How Does a Missionary Travel? By Bus to Yucatán ................................................................................................................. 31 By Nylon Hose in the Desert ................................................................................................. 33 By Prayer in San Agustín ....................................................................................................... 37 By Foot to Llano de León ...................................................................................................... 38 In First Gear in Mexico City .................................................................................................. 41 VI. What is it Like to be a Missionary Kid? An MK Climbs Over Ancient Mayan Pyramids .................................................................... 42 As Seen by Their Father ........................................................................................................ 43 Lying in a Hospital Bed ......................................................................................................... 46 Having a Nightmare ............................................................................................................... 47 With the Chicken Pox ............................................................................................................ 48 VII. Who Are a Missionary's Friends? Mexican Christian Women .................................................................................................... 49 Little Children ........................................................................................................................ 51 Co-workers, Past and Present ................................................................................................ 53 A Hundred Names and Faces ................................................................................................. 54 VIII. Does a Missionary Face Frustrations? Soldiers near Puerto Escondido ............................................................................................. 55 Baptist in Cuauhtemoc ........................................................................................................... 56 IX. Does a Missionary Experience Joy and Victory? The Home/Church Missionary ............................................................................................... 60 Women's Bible Study ............................................................................................................ 62 Conversion of a Catholic Priest ............................................................................................. 64 Peter and Humberto ............................................................................................................... 64 Briana ..................................................................................................................................... 65 X. What is the Missionary Challenge? ............................................................................................. 66 Glossary of Spanish Words ................................................................................................................... 67 Pronunciation Guide to Spanish Names ............................................................................................... 70 About the Author – and Doug's Closing Dedication and Family Update ............................................. 72 4 INTRODUCTION During our first four years as Southern Baptist representatives in Mexico, Bob and I have many times wished to be able to share more of our experiences in detail with those people back in the States. Our experiences have run the gamut of emotional levels from joy to sorrow, hilarity to tragedy, exhilaration to frustration. It has not always been easy to immediately experience victory and peace in these widely varied circumstances. Yet both of us can truly say that the Holy Spirit has led us all the way. Missionaries seem to be a great mystery to many people. We are asked similar questions about missionary life over and over again. Sometimes people want to ask questions so basic and simple that they are embarrassed to voice them. This book has been written in an effort to show that missionaries are human, too. We share in these pages some of the happenings that have made our lives on the mission field at times interesting, exciting, and challenging; and at times dull, frustrating or discouraging. Volumes have been published with facts and figures about missions. Stirring biographies have been penned. We offer very little herein to that body of literature.
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