A tricky question on mission … What questions do you ask when you find yourself in the midst of a dangerous situation away from home?

How do you balance your sense of God’s calling with personal safety? What is the impact on your family?

This is the second of a two-part series in which we ask UFM mission partners to share their experiences of grappling with these very real challenges.

Living through the Myanmar coup

Covid was raging. The medical situation was unreliable. The national airport and those of surrounding countries were closed. This meant no medical evacuations available if there was any emergency. The healthcare system had always been struggling but was now under severe strain trying to deal with COVID-19. Then, to add further complications, the military arrested all the democratically elected leaders and took control of the country by force. The unstable situation was changing quickly and constantly.

In years gone by, foreigners had been targeted in similar situations, so our main thought was this: is this country we call home still a safe place for our children to be? Many of our fellow mission workers chose to leave the country. Each time someone left we would prayerfully re-evaluate our position. We were not politically involved and we felt that, as long as we made wise and thoughtful choices, we would be safe if we stayed.

Sometimes explosions or shootings would happen close to our home.

We really appreciated communication from friends and family who realised that our situation was not easy and who prayed. We were open and honest with our children about what was happening, in an age-appropriate way. However, we never went into too many details about some of the terrible atrocities that were committed. One of our children showed signs of anxiety and we tried our best to model being broken-hearted about the situation but reliant on God.

Sometimes explosions or shootings would happen close to our home and we learnt to pray hard as a family and trust God to keep us away from dangerous places. We continued to go about our ministry and, although the situation was often terrifying, we weren’t directly threatened. We didn’t want to live in fear and were desperate to support and encourage our church family at this time of anguish. 

UFM mission workers in Myanmar 

Evacuated from Ivory Coast

August 2004 marked a long awaited return to Ivory Coast for our family after having to leave in a coup d’état two years earlier. We moved to what was considered a safe area, the political capital, Yamoussoukro. For the first time, our children enjoyed attending a mission school as day pupils, where Rosalind was a teacher. I was beginning a new chapter of ministry with national colleagues in this strategic location.

These plans came crashing down when war broke out again, this time with the heat of the conflict on our doorstep. The days leading up to our evacuation by the British Embassy, in an RAF Hercules transport carrier, brought anguish and uncertainty, but ultimately a deep consciousness that God was leading us. 

We wrestled with many questions: Should we risk ignoring the British Embassy advice to evacuate? Could we temporarily relocate to a neighbouring country? What about our national colleagues without the choice to evacuate? There was a huge sense of forsaking them in their hour of need.

What about our national colleagues without the choice to evacuate?

Reluctantly, we came to the conclusion that, living under curfew, with a high anti-West sentiment abounding, we could no longer fulfil the ministry we had begun, and could bring risk to our national colleagues who were determined to protect us.

Over the coming years, the Lord allowed us to minister into the country in ways we never envisaged: sending containers of literature, visits with building or well-digging teams, teaching trips and children’s ministry.

God did not need us on the ground to accomplish his purposes, and we prayed and watched from a distance while believers, fleeing areas of conflict, planted churches in unreached areas. As John Piper put it, ‘The pain of our shattered plans is for the purpose of scattered grace.’

William and Rosalind Brown now serve as Deputy Director and TCK Coordinator for UFM Worldwide

‘The pain of our shattered plans is for the purpose of scattered grace.’ John Piper