What is Deputation??

I get asked this all the time. Growing up in church, I know it's something all missionaries do and I can explain it to people- but I realized the other day I didn't really know the definition of the word. Missionaries.org explains "A "deputy" is one appointed to represent another person or group. Newly-appointed missionaries travel across the country presenting the challenge of their field and seeking churches who will "deputize" them, send them as their representatives to the field." This is a great explanation of what we are doing. We are traveling the U.S. looking for churches to help us with our mission work.
Now help comes in many forms as we have found. Some churches can support financially. One of the most important supports we can get is prayer. Another help we have received is through meeting people that can teach us new things. Growing up in two closely located and similarly run churches, I really started out with one view of how a church should be. But traveling and visiting has opened my eyes to a whole new side of "types" of churches. And they're all ok! (if Biblical :) ) Not one is better than the other. Some have young pastors, some old; some have choirs, some have worship teams; some have mostly youth; some are mostly older folks. This all varies depending on the environment a church is started in. Seeing this is going to help us so much with accepting that a church in a different culture can in fact be DIFFERENT! It will be ok if we don't sing out of the blue book every service, or if we only meet once a week. What makes up a church is not the traditions. It's the group of people and what they're doing for the Lord.
Now deputation is hard work. It is like a never-ending road trip. Some days we drive all day, just to stop at one church, then do it again the next. It can be very tiring, but it also has so many benefits to the new missionary. One major benefit of traveling on deputation is meeting so many different people. We have met many people of the culture we will be moving to and we are learning how to communicate with them, and getting a lot of advice. Another benefit is learning to trust God with your day to day needs. Jared and I both quit our jobs in December and I'll be honest, I was sick thinking about how to pay the bills and where we would live, what we would eat. But it didn't take long for me to realize that God can take care of it all! He has provided us with the food we need, places to stay, safety, and given abundantly above what he promised with blessings of seeing new places and visiting family we hardly get to see. My faith has grown tremendously as we travel. I have less and less control of my schedule, and just have to trust that God will take care of it.
I hope this gives you a little idea of what deputation is all about and why we haven't just jumped on a plane and headed to Thailand right away. As with any big decision, it takes preparation. God Bless!
P.S. That is not our car- but sometimes I feel like it is!