Count the Cost of Moving!

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

ARE you thinking about moving to another country? Have you counted the cost? We do not mean just the financial cost. After all, most people consider moving for economic security anyway. We mean the hidden costs that become apparent only after the physical move is over. By then it is usually too late to retrace your steps. The following points are not intended to alarm you, but they are worth considering:

“Learning a new language takes humility and effort. It is hard for an adult to find that even small children think he is weird because they cannot understand him. To keep on blundering while constantly being laughed at for your mistakes is a tremendous test of pride to many. Life is unbearably lonely for foreigners who cannot speak the local language.”—Rosemary, a missionary in Japan.

Perhaps you feel that you know enough of the language to get by. But are you sure that your entire family knows enough to be happy about the move?

What would be the effect on the family if some members were cajoled into migrating against their will? “Some women [from Mexico],” says the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly, “played no role in the decision process to migrate and did not want to immigrate in the first place, nor did they wish to remain in the United States after migration.” Under such circumstances, a forced move could damage family unity. But what if the breadwinner moves on his own?

It is estimated in the book Population, Migration, and Urbanization in Africa that in one small rural country of southern Africa, over 50 percent of the “adult males are absent at any given time.” This absence can rob the family of contentment and stability. It also leaves open the possibility of the marriage partners’ succumbing to immorality. How much better when the family, whether it decides to migrate or not, is able to remain together! Family unity is something money cannot buy.

Then, there is the heavy burden of coping with prejudice. “Not until I came to England did I discover ‘colour,’” recalls an Indian migrant. “That [realization] was terrible. A bitter shock. I wanted to go home, to get away from it all.”—The Un-melting Pot.

So before making the move, ask yourself: ‘What are the alternatives? Could we not make adjustments at home? Would moving to another country really be worth it?’ It may or may not be, but before you decide, consider this good advice from Jesus: “Who of you that wants to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense, to see if he has enough to complete it?”—Luke 14:28.