Relationships with Others
Difficulties in relationships are one of the leading causes of missionary attrition. One of the characteristics of good leaders is to care for those who follow them, not just to organize them to get the task done. Although many people do not realize it, some causes of relationship problems are the differences in generations, and the chapter “about each” other presents some of those differences.
Every missionary ought to know something about managing conflict; therefore, the chapter about conflict presents ways to resolve those conflicts that arise between missionaries. When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we ask God to forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. The chapter about forgiveness shows what this means and how we can go about it. Ideally, we can go beyond forgiveness to reconciliation as well, but since reconciliation depends on both people, it is not always possible.