Moving across the pond is often seen as the biggest shock for missionaries. New culture, new language, new food. Culture shock is one of the most interesting phenomena of being a missionary, but what people may not realize is that the harder shock may not be the one they are expecting. Reverse culture shock is when Walmart feels like a mall, road laws are a thing again, and there are five new Pop-Tart flavors that would be illegal in twelve different countries. People talk to you in the supermarket; not about your shockingly blonde-haired-blue-eyed baby or to scold you for not bringing your reusable tote, but about how excited they are to try said Pop-Tart. However, it’s not always the culture that can make integrating into life difficult, it can be the memories, friends, and the found family that are left behind.
Joey Cadden is the young adult pastor at West Jackson Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee. He and his wife, Corrie, met while studying at Union University in the early 2000s, both feeling a strong call to full-time missions. After graduating, they married and moved to Nashville, Tennessee for eight years. Joey served the community as a police officer, and together he and Corrie helped with a Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) church plant before honoring God’s call to move to Central Asia.
“We knew it would take time to get to the mission field,” Joey said. “But that didn’t mean we stopped praying about missions, instead we asked, ‘How do we get around internationals?’”
After looking and praying, the Caddens partnered with Vanderbilt on a project called First Friends where graduate and doctoral students were “adopted” by community members and welcomed into their homes. They were also prominent volunteers and members of their local church. Never ceasing to pray for missions and seek out opportunities to serve, the Caddens continued to grow in their faith and relationship with the Lord and with each other.
Understanding that answering the call to the battleground of the mission field meant a lot of sacrifices, they started to add to their life experiences. These experiences were practical, each one honoring God in a new way: joining church plants, starting a family and deepening friendships and support preparing for overseas. A lot of these partners and friends are now here in Jackson.
After diligently waiting, serving, and sacrificing, the Caddens were approved for the field. Knowing they wanted to witness to Muslim nations, Central Asia was high on their list, but that was not their original sending location. Upon hearing their new destination, they started researching and saw how they could serve and fill the need. After seeing the need, and preparing for their new roles, they got the call — Central Asia was waiting for them.
“Success does not look like a new church, or a school thriving,” Joey said. “Success as a believer is obedience.”
Seeing church plants rise and fail, inviting countless families into their home for meals, inviting home churches to send students and teams — all of this became a part of their daily life. The Caddens loved sacrificing themselves for the Lord each day.
After six years of service, they began to feel a need for change, so the Caddens started praying for what God had next. The answer they got was not one they expected. There are times when people go to the field as full-time missionaries and only expect to be there for a certain amount of years. They did not go with this in mind. They left and settled into Central Asia, fully expecting to raise their children, see them graduate and move to college and maybe show their grandchildren around the streets of their town and a church they planted. After some prayer and consultation with fellow believers and other missionaries, they understood God’s calling and promptly obeyed.
Upon returning to America, they knew they were still called to ministry, but where? A few months prior to their decision to leave, they had received an offer from West Jackson Baptist Church about a youth and young adult ministry program. They had declined in the moment but were excited to see doors reopen years later.
“God knew what the timing was and should be, and he led us into a planned and thought-out program,” Corrie said.
This program takes college students in the church and provides a space for interconnectivity with each other, opportunities to serve the church, and also prompts them to spread into the college community and invite others.
They are now doing what they love, serving God and His Kingdom, here in Jackson. While the Caddens may be in the States, they still seek out international students, families and any who may not have heard of the Word of God. Often seen at Cobo chatting with a large group of students, or meeting a couple of people in Modero’s or Barefoot’s, the Caddens are an integral part of Union’s campus as well.
While many on the outside see and appreciate the success and service that the Caddens have provided, it is also important to acknowledge and thank them for their immense sacrifice. Leaving Central Asia meant leaving behind what had become home. Mission colleagues became aunts, uncles, and grandparents with whom they spent Thanksgiving and went on summer vacations, exchanging Christmas presents and counseling each other when life hit. Local churches and those strong bodies of believers that taught them so much about truly living life in Christ. Non-believers they shared meals with and with whom they shared countless Gospel tellings.
“It’s simple, but I miss going to the stationary store, handing them the school slip, and getting all of my kid’s school supplies,” Corrie said. “It’s the things that I start doing here that I also did there that feel different now.”
The Caddens wear their heart for Christ on their faces. Joey has the fire of the Lord in every sentence, dying to tell you about Him and how He moves. Corrie’s eyes speak of stories with women from all over the world. It was an honor to sit with them and listen to their stories. While the Lord has them here for now, they are not going to shy away from the opportunity to go back to the field if God calls.