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a ministry for independent, Baptist missionaries and pastors - Acts 8:31

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Home on the Range...or Home on the Road?

Will you decide to continue renting / paying for a home or be “Baptist gypsies” living out of your vehicle? I have met missionaries that spent three years on deputation without a home and others who always had a place of their own to come back to between meetings. Before making a decision, the following information and thoughts may be helpful.

Home on the road:

Pros:

Biggest - saving money (no rent, mortgage, utilities, phone bill, etc.)
No need to have someone mow the lawn or care for your place while gone
A sense of burning bridges and stepping out on faith

Cons:

No place to call your own or come home to between meetings
Must always find places to stay (prophets chambers, family, friends, etc.)
Limited privacy
May be an added strain on wife not having a home

Home on the range:

Pros:

Place to return for rest, stability, privacy, working, and “resetting” the family.
Able to discipline children more consistently, privately, and without interference.
Meets “nesting” need for the wife during periods of being home.

Cons:

Adds $500 to over $1,000 a month to expenditures during deputation.
Maintenance of home can create added costs and distractions while gone.
If you own a home, you may be faced with selling it while on the field.
May create an attachment and make leaving it more difficult each time.

Since this type of decision affects the wife, children, and possibly other family, getting everyone’s input is helpful. Especially be sensitive to your wife’s input and needs. If you find you may have made the wrong decision or come to the point of having different needs, feel free to change your decision. My family moved out of our rental home to start full-time deputation. For the first year, we were able to save much of our needed funds for our plane tickets, vehicle on the field, language training, documents, shipping, and setting up house. For our last year of deputation, the Lord has provided a furnished in-law apartment for us to rent. Our monthly support level is high enough to cover the added cost and will help meet some needs that arose during our first year raising support.

If you will not be having a home, there are other options. Prophets chambers can be found throughout the country that will allow an extended stay of a week or so at no cost. Check with your mission board for a list of prophets chambers or ask pastors in the area you will need to stay. Churches spent the money constructing these facilities to be used for the Lord. Let them have the blessing of ministering to you in this way.

Motor homes and travel trailers are also options some missionaries have chosen. It is advisable to talk with other missionaries who have done so to get their “hind sight” input. More than one person has warned to steer clear of getting a motor home or trailer due to the costs involved (purchase, maintenance, fuel, etc.). For example, a minivan can get 21 to 25 mpg but a motor home or pulling a trailer yields only 8 to 10 mpg. If gas is $3 per gallon and you travel 2,000 miles in a month, you would spend $600 to $750 per month on gas with a mobile home verses only $240 to $285 with a minivan. These are conservative figures (miles and price of gas), but it conveys the difference.

While some have warned against having a mobile home, others have thanked the Lord for it. Your home goes with you wherever you go. This provides more consistency for the family and constant provision of a place to pillow the head at night. You will also not have the hotel and restaurant bills that can add up, though the repair bills may make up for that.

In conclusion, the choice is ultimately between you and the Lord. Get godly counsel, pray about it, and feel free to change your decision down the road if needed.

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