Hey Y'all! Kerry over at LeiseLife is getting ready to take her first furlough and needs some tips for a successful furlough. I have thought of a few that helped us but now I'm coming up empty handed.
I know with all your experience you must have many good tips tucked in your brain just waiting to be shared so please comment and include any tips for a successful furlough and I'll then post them here in this post. Kerry will be so happy!
I know with all your experience you must have many good tips tucked in your brain just waiting to be shared so please comment and include any tips for a successful furlough and I'll then post them here in this post. Kerry will be so happy!
Tips for a Successful and Enjoyable Furlough
1. Take time to stop and smell the roses, Enjoy your furlough!
2. Always keep a binder of thank you cards next to your appointed place in the car so you can write thank-yous as soon as you leave a church.
3. Begin calling and booking meetings way in advance of actually arriving in the states.
4. When you have an open church day, visit a church that you don't have a meeting with.
5. I would have to say, based on recent experience, consider carefully buying the things you wish to take back to the field. It will not be cheap! Take back only things that cannot be obtained on your field for love nor money. ---Rhonda, veteran missionary wife in Chile
6. Try not to worry about what's going on while you're gone. ---Rhonda, veteran missionary wife in Chile
7. Enjoy yourself!! ---Rhonda, veteran missionary wife in Chile
8. I kept a journal about everything we did, and it served several purposes: to keep a record of each church we visited, offerings and thank-you's written, special people we met and how to keep in touch with them, parks/sights visited along the way, funny things the kids said/did that I wanted to remember... I'm so glad I did that! ---Tammy in Guatemala
9. Don't pressure your children to perform or behave differently than normal. Plan some down time between meetings. If you push your kids too much they will come to associate the US as a bad experience and never want anything to do with it! I've seen it happen. ---Rita, veteran missionary wife in Paraguay
10. One thing we did was take pictures of each church sign and if possible the Pastor's family to create a prayer album. This way the children realize we are dependent on these people for our support and are more appreciative. They also recognize the church the next furlough and it does not seem so strange to them. ---Rita, veteran missionary wife in Paraguay
11. OH! And plan on gaining weight! LOL! ---Rita, veteran missionary wife in Paraguay
12. What I did was asked each Pastor's wife of the supporting (and non-supporting) churches to sign my Bible. Most of the time people are always asking the Pastor to sign, but I asked the Pastor's wife. I use it for prayer time as I am praying that I have there name as well. I had some who wrote special notes in my Bible. I treasure each and every one of them. ---A Sinner Saved By Grace
13. Your Tip Here
2. Always keep a binder of thank you cards next to your appointed place in the car so you can write thank-yous as soon as you leave a church.
3. Begin calling and booking meetings way in advance of actually arriving in the states.
4. When you have an open church day, visit a church that you don't have a meeting with.
5. I would have to say, based on recent experience, consider carefully buying the things you wish to take back to the field. It will not be cheap! Take back only things that cannot be obtained on your field for love nor money. ---Rhonda, veteran missionary wife in Chile
6. Try not to worry about what's going on while you're gone. ---Rhonda, veteran missionary wife in Chile
7. Enjoy yourself!! ---Rhonda, veteran missionary wife in Chile
8. I kept a journal about everything we did, and it served several purposes: to keep a record of each church we visited, offerings and thank-you's written, special people we met and how to keep in touch with them, parks/sights visited along the way, funny things the kids said/did that I wanted to remember... I'm so glad I did that! ---Tammy in Guatemala
9. Don't pressure your children to perform or behave differently than normal. Plan some down time between meetings. If you push your kids too much they will come to associate the US as a bad experience and never want anything to do with it! I've seen it happen. ---Rita, veteran missionary wife in Paraguay
10. One thing we did was take pictures of each church sign and if possible the Pastor's family to create a prayer album. This way the children realize we are dependent on these people for our support and are more appreciative. They also recognize the church the next furlough and it does not seem so strange to them. ---Rita, veteran missionary wife in Paraguay
11. OH! And plan on gaining weight! LOL! ---Rita, veteran missionary wife in Paraguay
12. What I did was asked each Pastor's wife of the supporting (and non-supporting) churches to sign my Bible. Most of the time people are always asking the Pastor to sign, but I asked the Pastor's wife. I use it for prayer time as I am praying that I have there name as well. I had some who wrote special notes in my Bible. I treasure each and every one of them. ---A Sinner Saved By Grace
13. Your Tip Here
I've not yet had a furlough, so I can help on this one. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteOooh, fun topic!
ReplyDeleteI would have to say, based on recent experience, consider carefully buying the things you wish to take back to the field. It will not be cheap! Take back only things that cannot be obtained on your field for love nor money.
2. Try not to worry about what's going on while you're gone.
3. Enjoy yourself!!
Good tips already given! I'll just mention what I did during our furlough in 2007.
ReplyDeleteI kept a journal about everything we did, and it served several purposes: to keep a record of each church we visited, offerings and thank-you's written, special people we met and how to keep in touch with them, parks/sights visited along the way, funny things the kids said/did that I wanted to remember... I'm so glad I did that!
Tori, I just wanted to say I love reading your blogs. I think reading the blogs of missionaries ranks right up there with reading all those great missionary biographies.
ReplyDeleteDon't pressure your children to perform or behave differently than normal. Plan some down time between meetings. If you push your kids too much they will come to associate the US as a bad experience and never want anything to do with it! I've seen it happen.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we did was take pictures of each church sign and if possible the Pastor's family to create a prayer album. This way the children realize we are dependent on these people for our support and are more appreciative. They also recognize the church the next furlough and it does not seem so strange to them.
OH! And plan on gaining weight! LOL!
ReplyDeleteGaining weight? You mean the Furlough Fifteen? Of course dieting on furlough is awful. I've tried. You'll lose the weight once you get back to the field. Promise.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much ladies! I appreciate y'all taking the time to give me some tips. I will remember these and probably link to this post on my blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Kerry
So many good suggestions.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did was asked each Pastor's wife of the supporting (and non-supporting) churches to sign my Bible. Most of the time people are always asking the Pastor to sign, but I asked the Pastor's wife. I use it for prayer time as I am praying that I have there name as well. I had some who wrote special notes in my Bible. I treasure each and every one of them.
Hey we're on furlough for the first time too! Thanks so much for this post!
ReplyDelete