At some point in their ministry, missionaries will encounter the question of whether to stay or to go. Grit to Stay Grace to Go is a workbook written to assist missionaries with working through the difficulties that accompany either scenario. Sue Eenigenburg and Eva Burkholder together have over 70 years of ministry experience, most of those years being cross-cultural. Eenigenburg has degrees from Moody Bible Institute and Lancaster Bible College. Burkholder is a graduate of Baylor University and holds a Master of Christian Education from Columbia International University.

The workbook is broken down into three sections. The first, written largely by Eenigenburg, primarily focuses on not leaving the field too early and having the “grit” to stay through difficult times. In Part II, Burkholder addresses the ones who stay behind when a teammate leaves. In Part III, both authors attempt to assist those who are in the process of choosing to stay or go.

The strength of this workbook lies in the wealth of experience of its authors. If you can imagine a scenario or challenge from the field, one or both have likely been through it. Pulling from the authors’ personal experiences as well as input from other cross-cultural workers, each chapter offers tangible and practical applications for a broad spectrum of challenges. At the end of each chapter, there are sections for reflection, response, and prayer. These sections provide an opportunity for the reader to process the information in a meaningful and intentional manner.

The combination of the authors’ wealth of knowledge is a strength of this book, but it also seems to be the cause of one of the weaker aspects of the book. For example, one of the strengths of Part II is its Reflection section, which provided a variety of scripture passages for the reader to reflect on. Unfortunately, this beneficial aspect was only featured in Part II. Both Part I and Part III provide helpful questions in the Reflection section, but they would have benefitted more by providing the reader with additional passages as a foundation for personal reflection.

As a cross-cultural worker, I believe that all of us would benefit from reading the subject matter covered in this workbook. When we arrive on the field, most long-term missionaries expect to be in our place of service for the long haul. However, it does not always work out that way. We often arrive thinking our team will be together for a long period of time. In my experience, this is rare. Learning how to stay behind well when our teammates leave, learning how to leave a team well, and learning how to send our teammates off well seem to be topics that are given less attention in missions preparation. My family and I have been on the field for only five years, and we have already experienced leaving a country. We have also been the ones who stayed behind as teammates were forced to leave. I have seen colleagues leave their teams well, and I have seen colleagues leave their teams in ways that could have benefitted from the material in this book.

This book will not necessarily provide an answer to your situation, but it does not intend to. Grit to Stay Grace to Go supplies the reader with examples, ideas, methods, and resources to approach difficult situations in a way that is God-honoring. Using a biblical foundation, this workbook provides nuanced, practical steps and beneficial points of reflection while allowing each reader to process a given scenario in his or her own way. Every cross-cultural worker will, at some point, need to process staying or leaving, going or being left behind. Grit to Stay Grace to Go is a book that can help one process the challenges and difficult emotions that accompany those scenarios.