Where Should One “Retire” After Serving as a Missionary in the Field?
The above question has become more relevant to me of late as I have reached the traditional age for retirement in the Philippines, and my wife has reached the traditional age for retirement in the US.
Some argue that there is “No retirement in the ministry.” That may be motivational, but it is also not strictly true. In fact, it is not particularly true on any level. One thing that God knows far better than we do is our limitedness. We are created to go through life stages. In the Bible, every Levite semi-retired from ministerial duties at age 50. Elijah retired with God’s blessing—- taken up into the clouds after he had trained up his replacement. I personally believe that the Apostle John “retired” from his role as an apostle (church planter) to being an Elder in the Church of Ephesus. We certainly know from the Didache that transitioning from Prophet (traveling preacher) to Elder was a common thing. It might be more “Biblical” to say that “Retirement from ministry does not mean that ministry ceases.”
But if one retires from being a missionary where should one live? The two most obvious places are (1) your home of citizenship… or the country that one considered to be one’s home before going into the mission field, or (2) your home of ministry… or the country in which one served. The fact I had to give a lot of explanation when using the term “home.” Missionaries commonly have more than one home. Which home should one embrace as one’s retirement home?
When I was a young missionary I was surprised seeing so many missionaries finishing their time in the mission field and going back to their birth country to retire. If you don’t find that strange, maybe consider this scenario. I was born in New York State in the US, but for the last 3 decades I have been recognized as a resident of the State of Virginia (still in the US). Let’s assume I was never a missionary. I would find it weird if people in Virginia would say to me, “Now that you are retiring, you will be moving back to New York State, right?” Why would people assume that? I could… but I could retire in many different places. I have a daughter in Florida and I could (cringe) retire there. I mean, I could retire anywhere. As a missionary, why would people ASSUME that I would go back to my (birth) home country to retire?
As I got older, I did start to understand why so many missionaries do retire to the country of their birth.
A. Legal Issues. Not all nations like foreigners living inside of their borders indefinitely. Some are quite accommodating while others are not. Some others may allow one to stay long-term but with periodic travel outside of the country. However, as one gets older, such travel can become a big challenge.
B. Health Issues. Let me give our example. We are, or soon will be, on US Medicare Insurance as we are reaching that age. Medicare does not work outside of the US, in theory. They do accommodate some foreign travel, but not beyond 6 months outside the US. Now here in the Philippines, one can receive good health care that is cheap. However, paying out of pocket for major surgery would still be a big burden. We have a friend who is a semi-retired missionary living in the Philippines. He needs heart surgery but can’t really fly back to the US for insurance-covered surgery, and cannot afford cash-based surgery in the Philippines. A conundrum. He is trusting God to keep him alive until God’s time to take him home.
C. Family Issues. All of my children now live back in the US, and we now have a grandchild (also in the US). To stay in one’s mission field home may mean living in a different country than many or all of one’s family.
D. Housing Issues. Many missionaries don’t have regular lodging in the mission field. Often a mission agency either owns the housing or leases it. Perhaps in this, some may feel less connected to the mission field than back in their birth country even if they don’t have lodging there either. To me this one makes less sense than the others since, in many countries, the housing costs are much lower than in their birth home country. But in some situations, housing is a big concern.
E. Identity Issues. I have met missionaries that really seem to fit in naturally in their mission field. Others really seem like they have much stronger ties to their birth country. It is hard to explain… but people really give off the vibes that they would want to be buried in their mission country, while others would never consider such a thing.
But there are reasons to retire in the mission field home. The following apply to me at least. Some others may find this true as well.
A. Boredom. Retirement can be boring. I already find my birth country pretty boring. There always seems like things to do in my missions home. I don’t want to be too busy, but don’t want to spend all my time binging online content.
B. Friends. After a few decades, many missionaries will find that they have more friends in their missions home country than their birth home country.
C. Cost. For SOME missionaries they may find that living in their missions home country cheaper than their birth home country. This will vary with the situations of each missionary.
D. Maintaining ministry. Retiring doesn’t necessarily mean entirely quitting ministry. It may simply mean getting out from under organizational control, and doing what one wants to do rather than what one is told to do. I know a few missionaries who are active in their 90s. I have a friend (mentioned above) who is in his 80s and very active in his “retired” ministry. Many choose to die in the mission field, working at some level to the very end.
I truly don’t know what we will do. We have decided for the moment to keep things as they are for 5 years. After that we probably will “retire”… but we have no idea what retiring actually looks like or where it will be.
