In Transit
Transit is defined as the act of passing over, across, or through something. Knowing that they are “in transit” and waiting between flights, passengers often look for the transit lounge as they are passing through the airport. The transit stage of reentry begins when missionaries leave their houses in their passport countries and ends when they unpack their minds, not just their suitcases, in their host countries. It may last only a few hours or days, but it often lasts weeks or even longer.
The amount of time people spend in transit has changed greatly from Bible times to the 21st century. After thousands of years of little change, the last two centuries have seen huge changes in transportation, and this has had an impact on missions. Here is a short history of these changes.
In Transit During Bible Times
During Bible times the two most common forms of getting from one place to the other were walking on land and taking a ship when going by sea. Some people did travel by riding animals or riding in vehicles pulled by animals, but most people went on foot or sailed.
Old Testament
In Egypt God’s people were going to a new land, a new culture, one none of them had ever seen or lived in. Although they had heard much about it through oral history
When the people began their transit stage by leaving Rameses (Exodus 12), they had seen God’s incredible work in setting them free. Though they were armed for battle, God did not lead them along the shortest route because war was more likely there. God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt” (Exodus 13:17).
Using the pillars of cloud by day and fire by night, God led them to camp near the Red Sea. When the politicians in Egypt realized anew that their labor force was leaving, they pursued them. When the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians approaching, they were terrified and asked Moses, “What have you done to us…. Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 13:11-12).
The ups and downs continued chapter after chapter. When the Israelites saw God’s power in allowing them to cross on dry ground and drowning the Egyptians as they tried to cross, they put their trust in God and Moses again (Exodus 14). Moses and Miriam sang songs of exaltation to God, but three days later the people grumbled against Moses saying, “What are we to drink?” (Exodus 15). God sweetened the water, but then the people complained about food so God gave them quail and manna (Exodus 16). They quarreled and grumbled against Moses about the water, so God had Moses strike a rock at Horeb (Exodus 17). Talk about ups and downs!
In the third month of the transit stage (Exodus 19:1) they camped in front of Mt. Sinai. God had Moses make sure that the people would obey fully, and they said they would. After a special ceremony, he led the people out of the camp to meet with God as God called Moses up to the top of the mountain where he gave the Ten Commandments inscribed with his finger on two pieces of stone (Exodus 31:18). Talk about a mountain-top experience!
Unfortunately, but true to form, in the next verse the people got so tired of waiting for Moses to come down that they asked Aaron (Moses’ brother) to make gods who would go before them. Aaron took their gold and made an idol in the shape of a calf, building an altar in front of the calf. When Moses approached the camp and saw the idol worship, he threw the stone tablets breaking them at the foot of the mountain (Exodus 32). Talk about spiritual ups and downs!
In the fourteenth month of their transit stage (Numbers 10:11) the cloud started moving again, so the Israelites left Sinai. After more ups and downs Moses sent the leaders of each of the twelve tribes to explore the country before taking everyone in. These twelve men spent forty days exploring and came back with a report. At this time the Israelites seemed to be nearing the end of their transit stage.
The leaders began their report by saying that “the land flows with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27). They were amazed at the prosperity they found and brought back a bunch of grapes that was so large it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them. They brought other fruit as well.
However, they went on to say that the people were powerful and the cities large (Numbers 13:28). They felt overwhelmed by what they saw. Caleb wanted to go in and take over the country, but the others pointed out reasons not to go. The Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron and suggested choosing a leader to go back to Egypt. The whole assembly talked about stoning them. Only Moses’ intercession prevented God from striking the people dead immediately (Numbers 14:1-19).
Though God did not do that, he did say that everyone over twenty years of age, except for Joshua and Caleb, would die before the group reached their passport country, and their children’s transit stage would be another forty years, the longest in the Bible.
They did not start to enter in the book of Numbers. Only in the book of Joshua do we find Joshua, one of the men who wanted to go in and take the country, telling his people to get ready, that in three days they would “cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own” (Joshua 1:10). Note that God is giving the land to them, but they have to take possession. At this point they were ready to begin the entering stage.
Jonah, an early cross-cultural missionary prolonged his time in transit by running away from God. He headed down to Joppa on foot and caught a ship that sailed out to sea. Of course, they ran into a storm, and Jonah wound up back on land where he started. When God gave him a second chance, Jonah headed for Nineveh on foot (Jonah 1-2). Note that he used both means of transit, on foot or on a ship.
New Testament
Paul, an early Christian missionary, used both means of transit during his first term of missionary service as noted in Acts 13 and 14.
· On foot from Antioch to Selucia
· By ship from Selucia to Salamis on Cyprus
· On foot across Cyprus to Paphos
· By ship from Paphos to Perga in Pamphilia
· On foot around to several cities in that area and to Attalia
· By ship back to Antioch
Likewise on his second and third terms of service he went both on foot and on ships. There were simply no other means of getting from one place to another for most people.
In Transit During Modern Missions
Little changed between New Testament times and when modern missions began in the 18th century. Basically people still went on foot and rode on ships powered by the wind blowing into the sails. However, changes have occurred during the last few centuries that have greatly shortened the “In Transit” time.
Eighteenth Century
William Carey, the “father of modern missions,” and his family left England to go as missionaries to India near the end of the 18th century. Here are some events that occurred during the first half of 1793:
· January 9: William and his friend John were appointed as the agency’s first missionaries. William’s wife, Dorothy, refused to go.
· February 1: France declared war on Britain.
· April 4: William, John, and 8-year-old Felix departed on a ship to meet up with a convoy for India, but they were delayed six weeks on the Isle of Wight because of the war (Dorothy remained at home).
· About May 3: Dorothy gave birth to a son and named him Jabez (because I bore him in sorrow).
· May 22: Still waiting for the convoy, William and John learned of a Danish ship soon to sail for India. William wanted to see if Dorothy would go.
· May 24: John met with Dorothy and told her that “…her family would be dispersed and divided forever—she would repent of it as long as she lived…” Dorothy agreed to go to India on the condition that her sister come with them too. Dorothy and William then convinced Catharine (Kitty) to go with them, packed, sold other possessions, said goodbye to family and friends, and raised money for travel in less than 24 hours.
· May 25: The whole family, including 3-month-old Jabez left for Dover!
The couple thought they barely had time to catch the ship, but it was more than two weeks late. June 13, 1793, they sailed from England with four children under the age of eight, one of them only six weeks old. They sailed for nearly five months without a single stop in a port and arrived in India on November 11, 1793.
Note that, just as when Israel left Egypt, war delayed missionaries getting to their host country. Also note that the major transportation available to most people was on foot and by sail, so they were still at the mercy of the wind.
Nineteenth Century
However, within a century major changes began to take place. By the end of the 19th century the steam engine had been invented and developed to the place where ships were no longer subject to the whim of the winds and the sea. Rather than having to wait for favorable winds, ships could use engines with propellers to keep moving even when there was no wind. In addition locomotives could rapidly transport both people and goods by rail across continents. In addition, the telephone and telegraph had been developed to the point that communication not only across continents, but across oceans was possible, although not widely available in many parts of the world.
Twentieth Century
During the 20th century changes took place that changed missions greatly. The first half of the century was markedly different from the second half. Members of my own family were missionaries during that time, and I remember some of the changes well.
During the first half of the century missionaries traveled to their fields by ship, either as passengers on freighters or on passenger ships. Traveling on freighters had the advantage of fewer passengers, usually 12 or less on a given ship. These passengers ate at the Captain’s table, and the food was usually very good, better than that on passenger ships. Having fewer people and fewer activities made for a very restful few weeks on the way to their host countries. They had plenty of time to relax, read, and think about their time of service in the near future. Many of them treasured the time of rest away from home responsibilities before beginning their work. Of course the passenger area on the ship was quite small, and that was a major disadvantage.
Travel on passenger ships was usually in economy class for the missionaries. Their part of the ship was partitioned off from the parts of the ship in higher classes, though they usually had a small pool of their own, a library, and recreation facilities. They had more room available to them and their cabins were much nicer than on freighters. They had a variety of fellow passengers that were not missionaries, so there were more people to talk with.
Most missionaries enjoyed the relaxed time of travel. However, those who became sea sick did not. Medications to control such sickness were not yet available, and a trip could mean weeks of nausea and vomiting. Crossing the Pacific generally took about three weeks, so it was a time to relax and prepare for their service ahead.
However, just as in Old Testament times during the exodus, war could still have a profound effect on missionaries reaching their host countries. In March 1941 my Uncle George and his family left the USA on their way to Burundi by going around the southern tip of Africa to avoid the war in Europe. However, their ship was sunk by a German warship, and they had to return to the USA for a couple years before going to Burundi. My cousin Ruby and her husband were on their way to India and they entered Honolulu Harbor the morning of December 7, 1941, just as the Japanese air force was bombing nearby Pearl Harbor. It took them another three months to reach India. War still has a profound impact on missions.
Finally, by the end of the 20th century airline travel had made it possible for a person to be half way around the world in a single day. We can leave Wilmore, KY and be in Thailand 12 time zones away in 22 hours. The digital revolution made it possible to communicate electronically with people around the world, free of charge, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Offerings could be taken for special needs and instantly transferred to where they were needed nearly anywhere in the world. Today member care has the potential of being instantly available anywhere in the world at any time. Here are some of the possibilities that have implications for member care.
Note that the transit stage lasts until you unpack your mind. Unpacking your mind involves considering the good and difficult things that happened during your time in the other culture, and then fitting these experiences into your life story. After you have done this, you are ready to move on with the next chapter in your life. This may be days or weeks after your suitcases are unpacked. It is certainly longer than the time needed to fly to your passport country and drive to your dwelling there. This travel can usually be done in forty hours or less today.
The transit stage certainly includes travel time and the familiar physical jet-lag which takes anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks, depending on how many time zones are crossed. In addition, it includes the time to unpack our minds, kind of a psychological jet-lag not handled with air travel. From the time Paul, Barnabas, and Silas traveled by ship through the middle of the twentieth century, people usually had several weeks at sea on ships to think and talk about their plans and dreams for serving in their host countries. Today people are on the ground in their host countries in a matter of hours, and they usually “hit the ground running” rather than taking time to process what has happened to them.
The transit stage is a time of emotional high and lows. The Israelites were elated to leave Egypt, and a few days later they wished they were back. They sang songs of exultation to God, and days later they were grumbling and complaining against Moses. One has to be very careful during this time. For example, grumbling and complaining may generalize from people to God and result in your turning your back on him. Or you may be dissatisfied with your housing, think you deserve something better, and wind up buying a house that is way out of your price range.
Pollock’s transition model gives a good summary of people in transit. While in transit people are in the unknown. They have no status anywhere and there seems to be no structure in their world and they feel clueless about what to do. The world about them seems be in chaos with many problems and things are so ambiguous that they misunderstand things and others misunderstand them. They feel isolated and find that they have to initiate relationships. They are anxious and lose self-esteem as their grief and disappointment grow. Now they are concentrating on the future, waiting for this stage to pass.
Several brochures on related topics are available free of charge on www.missionarycare.com.
· A brochure about anxiety at http://www.missionarycare.com/brochures/br_anxiety.htm
· A second brochure about anxiety at http://www.missionarycare.com/brochures/ss_anxiety.htm .