"Nothing in my entire day ever happens to me in the United States"

The titular comment, made by a fellow missionary (in Nicaragua) sums up what it's like to be a cross-cultural missionary. 

There is so much to this, but let's start with money.

But to get to money, we have to go to school. School in Zambia, that is. Local schools were underfunded, understaffed, and well, underperforming. Children often had no funds for books or for school fees, and it was a sad situation, to say the least. In order to ensure that our children got a quality education, there was only one realistic choice: the American International School of Lusaka.

I have no problems with AISL -- in fact, it was a good school and my kids loved it. They offered some amazing programing and opportunities. But money.

We were caught in the middle.

Shortly after starting with our sending organization, they raised the pay rate.... but they also changed the format of the Cost of Living adjustment which nullified the raise. So we were just getting by, struggling financially (our superior told us to save less for retirement), but to the people with whom we were working, we were filthy rich because we had a car and a regular income. They were those who earn a dollar a day. Literally every day I would have someone ask me if I had a job for them. 

On the other hand were some of the other families at the American School. Once I asked a fellow parent if they were doing anything over our October break from school. "No," came the answer. "we're just going to Zanzibar." For a family of six, flights alone would cost in the realm of $4000. Not to mention lodging, ground transportation, food, activities... 

Back to the locals again. One particular guy told me flat out that the only way I would leave a legacy in Zambia would be to build a building for them. When he was organizing a district choir for our Annual Conference, he told my ex-wife (a highly sought-after professional musician!) that her contribution could be... (and he paused for effect) "Transport!" Meaning the professional musician could pay the bus fare for the singers. 

None of this happens to me back in the USA.