Sherrylee and I saw a delightful movie last night, Dustin Hoffman’s directing debut film Quartet. The story revolves around about fifty residents of a state-run retirement home in England. All of these residents were once renowned musicians, but are now reduced to trying in their dotage to put on a gala fundraiser to save their home.
What makes this film unique among a growing number of films about paleo-aged people is that it is not about dying, not about dealing with long-term disease, and not really about dealing with a world that has passed them by. It is about living!
One day the most famous operatic star (Maggie Smith) of her time steps out of the minivan to enter the home. She brings her reputation as a diva as well as her personal history into an established group of her former peers, which stirs up old rivalries as well as old passions.
Her colleagues need her to recreate her part in the Quartet from Rigoletto by Verdi, along with one patient whose mind is slipping (Pauline Collins), one who continually crosses social boundaries of propriety (Billy Connolly), and her ex-husband (Tom Courtenay)—and therein lies the tale.
You’ll laugh, cry, be mildly embarrassed, but mostly be touched by the joy, the love, the drama of these extraordinarily talented people. And you will love the music!
What do we do with old missionaries? Sorry, I couldn’t help but going to this question.
Most of the old missionaries that I know have gone down one of three paths:
- The most fortunate old missionaries have found a Christian college that gives them an office and an occasional class, where they can share what they have learned and experienced with students barely able to appreciate it.
- Some are able to preach for a church—usually a small, rural church. These churches are often older people, so they don’t mind the slower pace of an older preacher—and they don’t mind the stories of other places.
- Some just vanish! Yes, they just disappear.
- Occasionally they quietly return to their foreign home, where they work very quietly, living on social security checks or very small support from many small churches who remember their reputation for greatness. And they live there until they die.
- Others vanish in the States. They have no retirement, maybe not even social security since they lived out of the country for so long. They live with children or on charity. I’ve heard that a few Christian retirement homes make places for them.
We have finally awakened to the need for missionary care, both for those workers currently on the field and those who have recently returned, but are we not missing a great opportunity to draw on years of experience and continents full of wisdom and hearts full of love for lost souls?
In Quartet, these ancient musicians pooled their remaining talents and produced a splendid evening of entertainment.
What would God’s people do if our ancient missionaries’ talents were pooled? What could we learn? What would we attempt? Where would we go? How much faith would there be in that room?
Enough to move mountains!
Mark's Blog 
Much needed post, as this is something most churches don’t seem to think about. Where do we go? What do we do? We are grateful that the Lord has allowed us to purchase our own tiny home here in Italy where we serve so should have a roof over our heads. But pensions…what are those? Savings account…are you kidding? I would ask folks, do you know how expensive it is to live in Europe (and on very little money)?
But we do not worry. The one who sees the sparrows fall knows all this and he will continue to take care of us. We also have two grown children who are very supportive of our work and that is a blessing.
But what will many of the “old-timers” do? I hope you can bring about some changes in this area!
Mark,
God did not call my wife and I to mission service until I was 49. That gave me time to have a career in hiher education , earn a small pension and start saving for retirement through a tax sheltered annuity. The ministry that I am with encourages missionaries to contribute to a retirement program and has brought in financial advisors and an estate planner to help all of us with planning for the future, should the Lord tarry. At 66 I am switching direction from fundraising for the past 17 years to leading the short term program for people from the Caribbean who want to serve from one week to 11 months. God has renewed my passion and my direction. My wife’s time is heavily involved with aging parent issues but I pray that she can be more involved in the ministry in the future.
Jorge is a retired Methodist missionary who spent the bulk of his ministry life in Argentina. On retiring he moved with his Argentinian wife to Spain and began to participate in the church we had planted there. They were fantastic, supportive and contributing to church life in so many ways. Every church should have one…
[…] What Are We Going To Do With Old Missionaries? […]
Mark
So glad you are addressing this. Too many tragic stories
We are initiating a study of all our churches to see what the actual church retirement contributions are for ministers. Then making some best practices recommendations.
Thanks for raising awareness for these issues.
Had a great memorial service for Marcia’s dad. Got to show Clarks Hill to our oldest grand daughter. Nostalgic but sad to see how it has deteriorated. Great Memories though.
Love Roger
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Thanks, Roger. I’d love to know the results of your study. I had heard about Marcia’s dad. I have good memories of having met him a couple of times. Peace and grace to you both! Mark
When I attended the Summer Missions Seminar in the summer of 1966, the best part of it for me was the evening lecture. We had people like Dr. Benson, Otis Gatewood, Wendell Broom, Dr Gurganus, and Bob Hare who either were then or had been on a mission field. They very honestly shared their mistakes and successes, and we learned so much about missions from them in those 6 weeks of guest speakers.
You are so right! Where does that happen now?