Meet the Nelsons

I don’t know Tim and Julie or their life story all that well, but I do know that they are a family that has chosen to live their lives in a different way than the majority of Americans. Tim’s parents were missionaries here in Honduras. He grew up here, speaks Spanish fluently and is very comfortable in the culture.  Not that he “fits” in, after all a 6’5” blonde haired giant is hard to miss in a country where the average male is 5’5” (a rough est.). He and Julie met at Moody Bible Institute and were married several years later.  After graduating Moody they continued their education, Tim in architectural drafting, Julie as an LPN. After working only a few years in their chosen careers, they felt called to fulltime foreign missions. CAM placed them in Costa Rica where they lived until coming to Honduras several years ago. Tim is a gifted administrator and enjoys using a lifestyle approach to discipleship. Julie is “Aunt Julie”. Her's is the house all the kids want to hang out at. They both have the gift of hospitality and enjoy using it. 

While Julie and I were waiting for Barbe to come out of the recovery room following her emergency surgery, I had the opportunity to interview her. One of the first questions I asked her was this, “In your most honest moments have you ever regretted your choice to live life as you have, giving up the careers, the two story house and 3 car garage with all the toys and moving to a foreign country?” Without a moment’s hesitation, she replied, “Not once, not ever”.

I asked her to define what success or a successful life meant to her. She thought for a moment and said that for her it would be this, “A successful life is having done all that God has asked of me.” I think that may be the best answer I have heard.

When I ask about her children, Julie’s face lights up. Both children are living with grandparents in MN and attending college. She misses them, it is obvious. Both are graduates of the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace  program. Both are interested in returning to missions after college. Julie says that both her children have world views that are different than the kids they are attending school with now. Superficiality seems to be the word that comes up most often when they describe what they most dislike about American culture. Does she have any regrets about raising her children in a foreign country? Again, a resounding no!

There is a great paradox that exists (in my opinion) most of the time with American missionaries. From what I have seen in my travels, most American missionaries live quite well, often far better than most of the lower class in America. But, to put things in context and in all fairness, they often live far below the level they could be, if living in the US. In Tim and Julie’s case, if they had continued pursuing careers in the US, I’m sure they would be bringing down $200,000 or better a year. Here it’s probably a quarter of that. The paradox is this: While living poor by US standards, they are living rich by the standards of the country they serve in. Julie recognizes this paradox and has had to come to terms with it herself. I asked her what conclusion she had reached. “We have learned to enjoy whatever God has given us and to be content with that.” Currently they are living in a small duplex on campus, having just moved out of an efficiency apartment. One of the things I really appreciate about them is that even though a larger house was available they chose not to take it. Any comments or opinions on the subject are welcome. It is certainly something I have wrestled with personally as I look at my life and the future.

Always prepared to pick up and move, I wanted to know what they take with them. Most of the time it is easier to sell or give away household items and start from scratch on arrival in the new country. However, there are a few things like pots and pans received as wedding gifts that are both useful and filled with memories that travel with them. A few pictures, games, toys and of course Tim’s books make the list as well. Their philosophy has always been to leave any place they leave better than it was before. Isn’t that the Boy Scouts motto too?

Well, there is much more I could tell you. As Julie said, to every question I asked she responded with a story. I asked her if Tim were here, what would he say to sum up all my questions. She laughed and said that Tim, who loves his life here, would say, “Just suffering for Jesus”.