This is the first of a series of articles I am going to write about missions. Why? Well, there are at least two ways of looking at missionary work. The point of view of the organization that sends the missionaries (and the missionaries themselves), and the point of view of the people that are ministered to by the missionaries.

I have received ministry and collaborated with several missionaries. I have seen their work here in Portugal. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. And we (me and other portuguese) are the ones left here to pick up the pieces after they are gone. After some of this, I guess I earned the right, no, the responsability of doing so.

Who should read this? Everyone who wants to be a missionary (in the traditional way) and everyone that supports missionaries or sends them. This is for everyone that want's to know how it feels to have missionaries sent to him. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Sometimes my words will be hard, but that's a price I am willing to pay. It's just that... this is too important to be left unspoken.