Connecting
to A New Life and Ministry
(These tips can work for any long distance relationship)
So your loved one has moved away to serve in a cross-cultural
ministry. Now what do you do? When you hear from your son or daughter she speaks of people and places with
strange names. The time zone is different and sometimes the season or climate as well. There
is no Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Thanksgiving. At this point you begin to feel like you are on the
edge of a chasm and your child is on the other side. How do you connect again so you can have intelligent,
understanding conversations and a meaningful relationship?
Take Notes: The next time you are on the
phone/computer with your child or receive an email from them take notes. Write down the names of the people
they are mentioning with notations to help you remember how they are connected to your child. Ask them to spell the names
of the places where they live and work. Write them down along with a phonetic spelling so you can pronounce
them correctly the next time you talk. Make notations about the events coming up in your child’s
schedule. It’s important to be able to ask, “how did that meeting go last week?”
Ask
for photos: You might be surprised how pleased they are to send you pictures of their everyday life.
Ask for pictures of friends (with names please), their house-inside and out, their neighbors, where they shop, where
they work, where they worship. You will be able to put faces with names, and imagine where your child works
and plays. A “day in the life of” video would be fun, especially if grandchildren are involved.
