The year was 1980. The turbulent decade of the 70’s had come to an end, but Dale and Patti Duerksen still felt its effects. They had come home from their first foreign mission experience with mixed feelings, some euphoric and some disillusioned. They had seen a lot of new and interesting places, had made many new friends, and had some thrilling experiences, but by the time they decided to ask for a permanent return to their homeland, they felt that their service had produced very little effect on the great task of taking the gospel to all the world. It seemed that the work that had been assigned to them did nothing more than attempt to maintain the status quo. Maybe with some more preparation and experience they could do a better job the next time around. Yes, they did anticipate that there would be a “next time” some day.