Review: What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee
What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee
By Veronica Stone (Woman’s Missionary Union)
What freezes someone with fear? What causes that fear to take flight? A Chinese drug dog’s sniffs and a tiny room for questioning? Infertility followed by a problem pregnancy where there’s no advanced care? Financial betrayal by “trusted” church members/business partners? A spitting cobra in the living room?
How do missionaries weather not only the day-to-day challenges of language and culture, but also massive storms of medical emergencies, a global pandemic and spiritual warfare? Missionary Veronica Stone shares her story and those of her husband Ron and children Anna and Abe in What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee.
The saga begins when Veronica discovers a one-year teaching job in Korea online when filling out applications and goes for it. The Christian school eventually hires Ron as well, and the newlyweds begin what would become their entrée into international missions.
Taking a detour on their return home, they arrange to spend 10 days “sharing the gospel alongside two missionaries who worked with unreached people.” They arrive in the United States with a new call, and after several years of seminary and preparation, they leave for international mission service in the marketplace.
Veronica’s experiences evoke laughter as she discusses packing for that first term, suffers a horrendous haircut because of language misunderstanding, and becomes a regular wedding crasher with her husband to get to know people and begin conversations. Other accounts bring tears, including saying good-bye to her beloved dog, enduring obtrusive personal questions, and almost dying from an allergic reaction after she receives medication at a local hospital.
Yet, God remains faithful as he times perfectly the births of Anna and Abe, provides a Christian “Auntie Cora” as mentor and friend, guides the family through “unexpected turbulence,” and provides a support system of family, friends and volunteers near and far.
Joy comes in service, in seeing God move in the hearts of the lost, in watching him speak to their children, and even sometimes in suffering but never suffering alone.
Not only does the missionary help readers step into her shoes, but she also offers subtle ideas of how to support missionaries—from adopting their dog when they leave for the field to sending snapshots from home to simply listening and encouraging—usually by email—without trying to offer advice or fix things.
At fewer than 120 pages, Veronica Stone’s What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee is a quick, sometimes funny, and always inspiring read that provides lessons for anyone desiring to live on mission.
Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president
Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas
Waco