Lauren Ducommun

Book Review: Rerouted: Caring for Missionaries When Unexpected Trials Bring Them Home by Candice Schroeder
Independently published, 2022
133 pages

My husband and I sold all of our belongings, except our blender, when we moved to Asia. We were in our early twenties, with a two-year-old in tow. We spent four years studying the Bible and intercultural ministry, a year serving with our missions organization stateside, and then a year-long internship with our home church before we had finished training to be indigenous church planters.

Four years after we stepped off the plane, we found ourselves scrambling to return to Canada as our health had deteriorated to the point we could no longer fulfill our responsibilities at the school we worked at. Due to these medical issues, we could no longer return to our ministry that we wholeheartedly believed was where we’d spend the rest of our lives.

We found ourselves in an interesting position — what next? We had prepared our whole adult lives for a career in another country. Thankfully, we found new ministry positions we felt fit our skill set and passion. But, we still felt the pressure that so many of our Canadian co-workers expressed–we could never leave the organization, because we aren’t hireable and we can’t afford rent off campus.

Unfortunately, most missionaries are not prepared with a backup plan. What happens if you have to return from overseas ministry because of health, family issues, or finances? Missionaries already wear so many hats — they manage their finances, visa paperwork, language study, homeschool, and medical work, along with their ministries — so devoting time to consider developing non-ministry-related skills or classes is challenging.

We returned from the field right before Covid. While most of our peers had bought their house a while ago and were deep into their careers, we were just starting afresh. When we finally resigned from our missions organization, it was a step down — from a reliable income with affordable housing to no credit in the States, losing our kid’s college investments, using the majority of our savings for appliances and vehicles, an unusable education, no health insurance, and one of my husband’s first jobs back in the States was at Target. We felt stuck, overwhelmed, and very frustrated. Did we just waste a decade of our life for nothing?

What happens when missionaries are rerouted? Candice Schroeder realized many cross-cultural church planters were struggling when they unexpectedly found themselves transitioning back to life in North America. In Rerouted, she shares some of her family’s experience, along with practical and loving ways churches and mission organizations can support missionaries in crisis.

Schroeder saw that so many missionaries were deep in grief when they were being asked to serve in their churches, why they couldn’t stay longer overseas, or explain why they still needed support when it could go to a missionary still on the field.

Rerouted addresses a huge need in caring for missionaries — that needs to be addressed both by missions organizations and church leaders. What is the most effective way to get missionaries overseas? Since we know the attrition rate is so high–we are sending families to some of the most challenging places to live after all and culture stress and jungle diseases can take a toll–then what plans can we put in place to ensure that missionaries are cared for upon return? What sort of culture are we creating when we ask returning missionaries why they “didn’t make it” or if we hint that they just go get a job like every other adult.

Schroeder shares stories that offer insights into what missionaries feel in these circumstances and offers practical helps to recognize a missionary in crisis, and the thought process most missionaries go through upon return. She created the acronym THRIVE which helps communicate five common needs that missionaries have when they unexpectedly return.

This book is exceptionally insightful and a great recommendation for those who support missionaries, are on their missions committees, or who are leaders in missions organizations.

My only critique is that I see so many returned missionaries who aren’t skilled, gifted, or qualified for ministry roles they fill stateside, yet they stay in these roles because it’s easy and familiar. It’s a fine line to know when to lovingly care for a missionary and when to cease support so you aren’t condoning unnecessary “missionary welfare” or poor leadership within an organization. But this is exactly some of the issues and needs Schroeder is bringing to our attention. There is a huge gap within Member Care and missionary support. Now that we know about these needs, how would God have us do to be a part of it?

I hope that Schroeder’s book can open up a conversation that will not only help us to better support our brothers and sisters in crisis, but also help us move forward to be involved in global missions in more effective ways.

Memorable Quotes:

“I didn’t know I was signing up to be a janitor or construction worker for the rest of my life when I chose to go into full-time ministry right after college.”

“Like a brain surgeon who had broken his hands, [the church planter] had completely lost the opportunity to do all he’d ever been trained to do. Highly qualified one day, nearly-useless the next–that’s how it felt, anyway.”

“We had to buy all our life’s purchases at one time, ad the costs add up to way more than the average person realizes.”

“In the same way that you wouldn’t expect someone to jump energetically into service if they were experiencing any other type of major loss, understand that your missionaries need time.”

“When we see people’s newsletters from over there, we’re happy for them but it’s always a reminder of the life we’re no longer living.”