The Other Side of Adventure

As a boy, I used to read many fantasy and adventure novels (and I still do!). They are written to give the reader the impetus for exploration and adventure of their own. The thrill of chasing down dreams or fulfilling wild quests, whilst showcasing the charisma of Hollywood heroism and new-found courage from your experiences. Biggles, Flashman, Allan Quartermain, Indiana Jones, take your pick. Who wouldn’t want to have their own adventure?

Our family are currently in Kenya training for an initial two-year placement in Antananarivo, Madagascar. We are planning to get involved in mobilising the Malagasy church for the mission of God that he has commanded all of his followers to be involved with ever since the Great Commission uttered by Jesus in Matthew 28. We have travelled thousands of miles away from our homeland, family, friends and the life that we have been building as a young family. As we were leaving, we were given many wonderful cards, messages and prayers that truly touched us. Interestingly many of them commented on the fact that we were embarking on a wonderful adventure.

It is certainly true that we are indeed on an adventure, one that none of our family could have possibly comprehended a few years ago. Even in Kenya, we are in the type of exotic country that adventure-reading, British boys like myself would have only read about in books. Despite our globalised society, our long term, cross-cultural migration is one that few in the UK have probably experienced.

And yet, as we are currently discovering, there is another side to adventure. The pain and grief of leaving one’s family. The culture shock of another country. And the general feeling of being unmoored from one’s previous life, as if the foundations on which life is built upon are simply no longer there. I never read about any of that in my books. The perils in adventure literature and film are always manufactured and sanitised, but you always know that the hero/heroine will come out of it alright in the end. Even if they are saved at the last second, the reader never really feels uneasy about the predicament of the lead protagonist. But Richard Sharpe is never written saying goodbye to dear friends before his next battle. 007 never gets emotional and teary-eyed in front of a loved one before his next assignment. In fact, this is probably why these characters are not written with any personal lives at all when they are back home, it is more conscionable for them to take death-defying risks if they have no ties that bind them, no widows or orphans for them to leave behind.

We have shed many tears and will be grieving more as we leave our family and friends on this adventure. Would you please pray for us, that our foundation would not be the life that we have left behind, but on our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He went on an adventure too. He left the joys of heaven and became a man to redeem his people from their sin. And whilst we can read about his magnetic charisma and heroic deeds in the Gospels, he too experienced the other side of adventure. Being nailed to a cross. Mocked by the people he came to save. Feeling forsaken by his Father in heaven. True adventure comes not just from exhilarating experiences, but through having the courage of conviction in the face of adversity. Jesus underwent adversity to the extreme, ultimately leading to his death, yet he persevered because of his courage and his conviction to save those who would call on his name. And he endured his trial “for the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2), the adventure of resurrection, ascension and reigning in glory for all eternity.

He is the hero above all other heroes that we want to champion during our time in Madagascar. Jesus is greater than any adventure story.