The Greatest Job Calling of All Time

After 30 years of missions’ service, John and Sylvia Nowlan are finally hanging up their hats.  Their incredible journey with Wycliffe has taken them from the jungles of Papua New Guinea to the prestigious Black Forest Academy in Germany. And although they have had their fair share of challenges along the way, Nicole Partridge discovers they would do it all again … in a heartbeat.

It has to be one of the most challenging, yet rewarding careers of all time - missionary service. These are the men and women, young and old who for centuries have packed their belongings into suitcases, trunks and barrels; leaving family and friends behind to travel across the country or the world in order to fulfill the great commission. 

It’s a noble quest, but one that comes with a price. For most, it means leaving the comforts of home, saying goodbye to loved ones, raising your own support; putting up with less than favorable conditions.  From the comfort of my couch, in front of my plasma TV, I ask myself: Why?  What is the drive that sends men and women into scorching heat or freezing cold? Putting up with bland food, no electricity, malaria, hard beds; risking life and limb to deliver the gospel?  As I sip my tea and fluff my back cushion, I wonder about the rewards and the pitfalls.

John and Sylvia Nowlan, career missionaries from Australia, whose 30 year journey has taken them around the world, have experienced the trials and triumphs of missionary service and are the first to tell you: it’s not a job, it’s a calling – thank goodness for that!

Did you always have a sense of calling?

John: My dad was a pastor in Brisbane.  I was a Christian from about 13 onwards, but the call to missions didn’t come until I was 16. A man came to our church to talk about his role as a missionary and an artist. Until then, I had never realised the two could work hand in hand. That’s when I received the call.

Sylvia:  I grew up in a Baptist church; but unlike John, I didn’t like missionaries.  Missionaries would come to our church every summer.  I remember thinking at the time they were totally weird and disconnected with life. It was just the way they dressed and communicated.  To me, it was all too intellectual and dowdy.

But then at 19, I met and fell in love with John and he told me he was going to be a missionary. I said to him at the time, ‘Just because God’s called you; doesn’t mean He’s called me.’ Then I added, ‘Sorry, that’s not going to be part of my life.’

A year later at a missionary convention God got me! This guy sang a song:  ‘So send I you to labour unrewarded.’ I still cry today when I reflect back on this. John had to take me out the back door of the auditorium. I was a mess. When he asked me what was wrong, I turned to him with tears in my eyes and said, ‘I’m going to be a missionary too.’