Tom Lin

Craig Storti writes in The Art of Coming Home, “Re-entry should not be understood as the closing of the book on the overseas experience, for in a larger sense, re-entry never truly ends. After all, people don’t actually get over experiences, especially profound ones, as much as they incorporate them into their character and personality and respond to all subsequent experience from the perspective of their new self.”

According to most research on missionaries returning to (”re-entering”) America, re-entry can often be a more difficult transition than entering the “foreign” host country. Thus, we are praying toward having a healthy re-entry to America during our sabbatical. We want to better understand our experiences and incorporate them into our lives. We’ve also tried a few significant things this past month:

* Oct. 11-15, InterVarsity Missionary Debriefing Retreat (Colorado). We just returned from several days of meeting together with our missions department, our supervisor, a professional counselor, and 7 other IV missionaries who also recently returned from the field. The focus of our time was on self-reflection, spiritual formation, evaluating our re-entry. We finished the retreat aware that we both need to process our 4 years more thoroughly, but also hopeful for the future.

* Oct. 3-5, East Asia Regional Retreat for IV missionaries (Hong Kong). Tom was invited to lead the first-ever retreat for IV staff held overseas. The time also provided some good closure and reflection for Tom, as Mongolia was part of the East Asia region. Highlights included reuniting with American staff who are serving in Mongolia and China, sharing about best practices and common struggles, spiritual refreshment through Bible Study (in English!), and a visit to the local McDonald’s and Outback Steakhouse in Hong Kong!

* Finished Production of Our Mongolia “Summary” DVD Video. One of our generous supporters used his talents to make a wonderful 3-minute video that encapsulates the growth and development during our 4 years in Mongolia. To view the ONLINE version or to download (6 MB), click: http://www.tomandnancylin.com/multimedia/mongolia_final.avi

* Learning from Spiritual Mentors and Formal Classes. Nancy has begun meeting weekly with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). BSF has provided such a safe and encouraging environment, and we really appreciate the separate BSF lessons for toddlers as well! Tom has begun a new Fuller seminary course on “Christian Worldview and Contemporary Challenges” by Fuller President Richard Mouw. Tom’s hope is to better understand how current Christian worldview challenges in America (postmodern, 1st world) differ from what we’ve experienced in Mongolia (Christianity in infancy, 3rd world).

We’ve also tried some other fun things to help with re-entry, such as:

* Keeping in touch via email (typing Mongolian phonetically) with our Mongolian national staff
* Talking to each other in Mongolian, so Abby can’t understand things like “Don’t give her any ice cream” and “Let’s save the Elmo video for tonight”
* Establishing a regular morning routine, where Tom goes to the local caf