DEAR MISSIONARY,

When Don Richardson arrived among the Sawi people of Papua, New Guinea, he was offered a meal that tested more than his hunger. The Sawi people considered sago grubs which is a large, wriggling larvae, a delicacy. To Richardson, they were revolting. Every instinct in him resisted the plate placed before him, but he understood something crucial: that moment was not about food but honour.

So he ate with gratitude.

That single act stunned the people because in their culture, sharing food was sharing life. To eat what they ate without complaint meant he was saying, “I am not above you.” Suspicion softened. Walls were lowered, trust was born and long before Richardson preached Christ in their language, his stomach had already spoken humility which eventually opened up one of the hardest mission fields in modern history to the Gospel.

This is why your appetite matters more than you think as a missionary.

Many missionaries prepare their sermons, study culture, learn language, and curate a strong sense of calling, but very few prepare for the table. Yet the first real test of your heart on the field will often come before the first altar call and that is when a meal is served.

Food is rarely just food – it is affection, sacrifice, welcome, and identity. Sometimes it represents the best a family can give and sometimes it costs more than money. When you refuse it carelessly, or receive it with obvious discomfort, you may unknowingly reject the people themselves.

Jesus knew this and that is why He was deliberate when He said, “Eat what is set before you.” He was not teaching nutrition, He was actually teaching incarnation.

We have a generation that is already used to having options like menus, preferences, substitutions, and control. We live in a world where discomfort is seen as a problem to be solved quickly, but missions will confront us with simplicity, unfamiliarity, and sometimes inconvenience and God help you, if comfort governs your obedience, the field will feel hostile even when the people are genuinely loving.

The missionary does not eat because the food is refined, he eats because love was offered because he understands that gratitude preaches louder than preference, and humility travels further than eloquence.

In saying this, I am not saying you should ignore wisdom or genuine health concerns, all I am saying is that your posture must never be that of entitlement – your default response must be honour.

Before you ask God to send you far, first allow Him work deeply in you. Let Him disciple your appetite, free you from silent comparisons and let your lifestyle agree with your message.

Beloved Missionary, sometimes the Gospel enters a community through your stomach, and stays there, growing in leaps and bounds, just because your humility made room for it.

Let your stomach also preach.