“I miss my home!” I complained to my sister.
I’d been in the US for several weeks. My schedule was packed with meetings with supporters, presentations to small groups, Sunday school classes, and time with family and friends. I loved reconnecting, but it was also exhausting, and I missed having my familiar space and routine back “home.”
Some people laugh when I tell them I miss home. It’s a simple, two-room structure with no running water or plumbing, and certainly no air conditioning to battle months of daily highs over 100° Fahrenheit.
But at least there, I have my own bed (even if it’s just a thin mattress on the ground with a mosquito net to keep out the cockroaches).
I can also get around really easily in my host city. I don’t need a car. I can just walk to the street, flag down a taxi, and go wherever I want for less than $1.
My thin mattress, my taxi network… these things help me feel at ease, competent, and independent in my adopted homeland.
But in the U.S., I feel disoriented. How am I going to truly rest? How will I get around?
Here are some ways you can empower workers with competence and independence during their home visits:
- Lend them a car
- Help them find housing (many returning workers will need an extra amount of privacy and solitude)
- Lend them a cell phone
- Offer them the use of a family cabin, or pay for a getaway for a few nights
- Send parents out on a date night while you babysit their children
- Volunteer to take their children out to a fun event