On Being a Missionary

The conditioin of the book was good for having been previously used. The cover was a little worn and several sentences were highlighted, but those types of things are to be expected in used books. The book was rather langthy. I did not relize how long it was until after purchasing it. I found the information and insites by Thomas Hale helpful, tought provoking, and easy to read. The book influenced the way I think about missions and ministry.

This book was published in 1994, as the eleven-year civil war was starting in Nepal. The author is an MD who has spent thirty years of his time in that country, with the same NGO for which I also volunteered on my two short-term trips there. I did not know of him, nor had I heard about this book before I left. Obviously, this book is an excellent resource on "my" country and on "my" NGO; but I think it will serve the reader well if they are going to any one of the 2,500 mission hospitals sprinkled throughout the Low Income Countries of the world. The author is strongly bibilcally-based; he has a lot of stories to tell; and he has been in a senior leadership position of a complicated NGO trying to deal with crosscultural issues. Now, that's not to say it's exactly perfect. the book is long, and there are just *so* many stories to tell that Dr Hale gives the short version of each. It's not a narrative with a plot per se, more like something where you can find a provocative idea on each page then think about it for a bit. To do this kind of work requires thoughtful maturity which the author possesses and dispenses in large quantity.

Of the four gospels, my favorite is St. Luke. Luke was a doctor and wrote as a doctor- precise, bearing on the facts, and somewhat paternally. I get the same sense from Hale's writing. Hale and his wife are physicians that have served as medical missionaries in Nepal since 1970. This book might be considered a primer on missions. For me, it was perfect. Having never served as a missionary, the book gave me an idea of what it's really like, the ups and downs, the realities of being on the mission field. In reading this book, I felt like I was sitting down with a very wise man, perhaps at a pub over a beer, and asking, "so, what's it really like to be a missionary?" and this wise man patiently taking the time to tell me. Five stars for sure, don't head for the fields without this one.

This book is a wonderful book to read if you are THINKING aboutgoing to the mission field or returning again. The author is frankabout the obstacles involved in missions work and how to overcome them. I read this book a few years ago before I left for Asia and it prepared me to be a team player. It also gave me realistic insights into what was ahead.Now I am going back to Asia- leading a team this time- and once again this has been a great book to read about building team unity, making mistakes, and just trusting God's soveriegnty. This book is fat, but easy to read. I do not read much, but this book was hard to put down.