Missionaries spend years preparing to go to the field, but few are prepared for what it feels like to come home.

After serving six years in Germany, Nate and Brittany Bruns share the unexpected challenges of returning to the United States, navigating reverse culture shock, raising third-culture kids, and rebuilding community.

Ultimately, they discovered God was calling them to live as missionaries in their own country. 

Their story offers practical encouragement for missionaries, churches, and anyone walking through an unexpected ministry transition.

What happens when the calling that once defined you no longer feels sustainable? When the work you love begins to cost you more than you can carry? 

For many ministry leaders, the hardest battles are not theological. They are personal. Emotional. Quiet. And often fought alone.

In this episode, Matt Davis sits down with Don Ross, former pastor and founder of Manhood Tribes, to talk about why so many men struggle in silence, especially during seasons of ministry transition. 

After two decades in large evangelical church leadership, Don stepped away - not because he stopped loving Jesus, but because the system was breaking him. 

What followed was a difficult transition marked by uncertainty, financial pressure, and identity questions that many ministry leaders quietly face. This conversation pulls back the curtain on isolation, addiction, shame, and the deep need for brotherhood. 

If you are navigating transition, questioning your direction, or responsible for leading others through change, this episode offers both clarity and hope. 

No man should have to walk alone.

When termination happens behind a closed door, the impact lands in the kitchen, the car line, and the kids’ bedrooms. 

In this episode, pastor’s wife Kristen Joy Humiston tells the story of being shut out of the room, hearing “you’re done here,” and driving home past the houses of those who voted yes.

Matt and Marilee name what many spouses carry in silence: rejection before termination, the isolation that follows, and how trauma forms when you have no voice, no choice, and no people. 

They also get practical. What to do on day one. How to breathe, pack, and protect your children. How boards can reduce harm and how churches can care for the whole family, not just the titleholder.

There is life after ministry. It may look different than you imagined. Yet dignity, honest community, and thoughtful planning can close a wound and leave a healed scar. 

This conversation offers language, tools, and hope for spouses, leaders, and boards who want to do hard things better.

Imagine walking into your church with a heart heavy from a broken marriage, unsure how your faith community will respond. The weight of shame, guilt, and fear can feel unbearable.

This episode of Life After Ministry dives into the often unspoken struggles of divorce, especially for those in ministry.