When God Brings the Story Around

Sometimes we read missionary stories and place them in a special category — as if they belong to a world apart from our daily lives. We picture “people of great faith,” traveling across oceans, learning new languages, and trusting God in extraordinary ways. And yet, if we look more closely, their stories often illuminate the same spiritual patterns unfolding quietly in our own neighborhoods, workplaces, and relationships.

The story of Matt and Emily Slack is a beautiful example of this. After years of preparation to serve in Türkiye, they found their plans halted by a denied visa. Everything they’d studied and prayed for suddenly seemed to collapse. But rather than marking an end, that moment of disappointment became a pivot. God brought their story “around” again, this time to London, where they are using their cross-cultural experience and language skills in ways they could never have planned.

Their journey is a vivid reminder that faith doesn’t mean everything works out according to our plans. It means believing that our growth, skills, and even our disappointments are not wasted. The Slacks’ story invites us to consider that our own “detours” might be part of something larger than we can see right now.

What We Can Learn

Missionaries live at the intersection of calling and uncertainty. But that’s actually a space most of us inhabit too, even if our “mission field” looks like a classroom, an office, or a kitchen table. Their experiences offer wisdom for any person trying to live faithfully in the midst of change and complexity.

1. Embrace detours as part of discipleship.
   The Slacks’ visa denial could have been seen as failure, but instead it became formation. Likewise, when our own paths change direction, such as a job loss, a health challenge, or another closed door, we can practice trusting that transformation often happens en route, not at the destination.
2. Remember that faithfulness is not wasted effort.
   Every act of learning, every relationship built, every prayer whispered — even when the outcome changes — becomes part of God’s ongoing work. We don’t always see where those seeds land, but they bear fruit in unexpected soil.
3. Look for the “full circle” moments.
   Missionaries often speak of how God brings past experiences back in new forms. We can be attentive to this in our own lives too — noticing how old lessons reappear to equip us for new callings, or how past pain opens us to empathy in the present.

Practicing Mission-Minded Faith in Everyday Life

1. We may not all be called to cross-continental missions, but we are all called to cross boundaries of comfort, habit, and self-reliance. Here are a few ways we can learn from those who serve globally:
2. Stay curious. Approach the unfamiliar — whether it’s a neighbor, coworker, or new idea — with the same posture of humility that missionaries bring to a new culture.
3. Listen before speaking. Missionaries learn that understanding comes before proclamation; we too can practice patient listening as a form of love.
4. Reflect on your own story. Like the Slacks, take time to see how God might be weaving past experiences into new purposes. What “detours” in your life might actually be redirections?
5. Invest locally. Mission begins with presence. Look for the spaces in your community where you can embody compassion and curiosity.

In the end, missionary stories like the Slacks’ aren’t distant tales of heroic faith; they’re mirrors. They show us that God’s work often unfolds through waiting, re-routing, and re-imagining. Whether we find ourselves in London, Türkiye, or our own backyard, the same invitation stands: to trust that every unfinished plan can become part of a story that, in God’s time, comes beautifully around again.