Christian Parents Play a key role in enlisting harvesters in the local church

From the book “A People for His Name” by Paul A Beals

Through both attitudes and activities, moms and dads introduce their children to the world of missions as no one else can. Several methods may be used to create missionary interest in the home.

  • Extending hospitality is a successful way to have children and teens give their first serious thought to missionary involvement. Many people on the field today can trace their first interest in missions to a visiting missionary who showed concern for them in their home.
  • Parents can build meaningful prayer interest in missionaries into their family devotional life. Systematic prayer for missionary friends makes a lasting impression on young lives. Prayer can be particularized by using prayer prompters from the church, prayer cards, and current prayer letters received in the home.
  • Visuals make missions come alive for the family. A prayer card bulletin board or album, curios from family missionary friends, maps, and a globe help children identify with missionaries they know. When a nine-year-old asks, “Where does Cindy live?” Dad can heIp find Brazil on the globe. This kind of geography lesson is not soon forgotten.
  • Letters written to missionaries are a source of encouragement difficult to measure. Letters full of family news are like a cooling breeze to a busy missionary. And, of course, missionary response gives reality to names, places, and various facets of the work.
  • A family can take on a special project for a missionary friend. Purchasing a piece of equipment, Christmas, anniversary, or birthday gifts, providing clothing for missionary children—all are concrete reminders that missionaries are people just like we are
  • Some have found family missions interest highIy increased by participating in short-term missionary service. At any given time missionary families in supportive roles can be found in cross-cultural situations around the world.

Why don’t we have enough laborers?

Matthew 9:38, John 4:35

  • Untold millions remain untold
  • Why should anyone hear twice when so many have never heard?

  • Spiritual Condition of the world today
    • Only 33% of the world claims to be Christian
    • That includes Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults
    • If the ratio of Christian workers to total population that exists in North Africa were applied to the U.S. and Canada, those two countries would have about 120 full-time Christian workers living in them. Also, there would be only 7 small churches in the entirety of those two countries.
    • 865 million unreached Muslims
    • 550 million unreached Hindus
    • 275 million unreached Buddhists
  • Fully 90% of the world is un-evangelized
  • No need to ask me where in the world missionaries are needed
  • No need to ask where the final frontier is
  1. Watered down church and Christianity
    • Many believers simply haven’t understood it is our duty as the church to carry the gospel to the world Matthew 28:19-20
    • Church is not asking God to send out laborers Matthew 9:38
    • Not experiencing God work in our lives where we currently are Colossians 1:29
    • Not maturing as a believer Colossians 1:28
    • Church and God have become about you and your needs and comforts and not about Him being your Lord and Master
    • Christianity is your will not His will, Him blessing you and not you blessing Him
  1. Fears
    • Maybe God will not meet our needs or protect us I Peter 5:7
    • Fear of the unknown I John 4:8
    • We are not to fear what man can do to us Hebrews 13:6
    • Fear is a trap for you Proverbs 29:25
    • He will never leave you or forsake you Hebrews 13:5
  1. Wrong goals
    • The love of money chokes out God’s work in our hearts I Timothy 6:10
    • A desire for things is destroying many believers I Timothy 6:9
    • We as believers are to flee these desires and seek godly goals  I Timothy 6:11-12
    • You have to hate one and love the other and you may have fallen into the trap of hating God and His will Matthew 6:24
    • Family unity and peace Matthew 10:37
    • Personal goals and ambitions Matthew 10:38-39
  1. Lack of love for God
    • The greatest commandment is to love God and then to love people Matthew 22:36-40
    • God’s love should be shed abroad in our hearts Romans 5:5
    • The fact that Jesus loved us so much that He died for us compels us to live for Him instead of ourselves II Corinthians 5:15
    • It is the love of Christ for us that compels us to go to others II Corinthians 5:14
  1. Help me by giving me the excuses you are using!
    • If you are not called to go then you are called to stay
    • You should be as involved in getting the gospel to the world as the missionaries
    • How are you serving God where you are?
    • Are you just warming a seat or are you making a difference?
    • Is your income so that you can live it up or did God give it to you because you are responsible enough to use what you have for His purposes I Timothy 6:17-18

Which Of These Churches Will Our Church Be?

Prevailing Attitude in Church “A”:

  1. Our blessings outweigh our responsibilities.
  2. Missions is that annual weekend event for taking Faith Promise pledges.
  3. Only those who are super spiritual or those who are “called” get involved in missions.
  4. Other than during the Faith Promise weekend, missions is rarely mentioned.
  5. Adults decide on their own if God is “calling” them into missions.
  6. It’s O.K. if you insist on going on a short-term missions trip for a week or two.
  7. The average attendee in this church can only name 2-3 Scripture verses that deal with missions.
  8. In a financial pinch, the first thing that reduces is missions giving.
  9. Most members don’t know who their adopted missionaries are or where they are serving.
  10. Meetings focusing on missions aren’t held very often and are poorly attended.
  11. World Missions gets the minimum funding suggested. (10% or less of the church’s income)
  12. Missions is a “necessary evil” that occasionally intrudes on the real ministry of the church.

Prevailing Attitude of Church “B”:

  1. Our blessings bring equal responsibilities.
  2. World evangelization permeates church life throughout the year.
  3. Every member expects to have some role in the global harvest.
  4. God’s heart for the nations is heard in almost every service.
  5. Church leadership continually challenges couples and singles to consider going overseas.
  6. Going on short-term or missions trips is the expected norm.
  7. The average lay member of this congregation can name several verses, knowing God’s heart for all nations is the theme of the Bible.
  8. Missions needs are met even before the electric bill is paid.
  9. Most know who the church’s adopted missionaries are, where they serve, and what their needs are.
  10. Mission information and prayer times are mainstream.
  11. The church has a goal of giving no less than 25% of its income to world missions.
  12. World evangelization is seen as half the reason the church exists.

“The mission of the Church is missions.”– Unknown

Wanted, World Christians by J Herbert Kane (page 187-188)

If I were an artist I would paint a picture in two parts.  On the right I would have a large round table with three place settings–one for the father and one each for a son and a daughter.  On this table I would place all kinds of good things to eat–meat, fish, fowl, cabbage, beans, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower.  I would have various kinds of potato–fried, baked, and mashed.  For dessert I would have a choice of pastry, pie or ice cream or an assortment of fruit–peaches, pears, oranges, and bananas.  For a beverage the two children would have Coke, Sprite, Orange Crush, or Mountain Dew; the father would have tea, coffee or cocoa.

On the other side of my picture I would have another table, with nine place settings, one for the mother and one for each of the eight children.  At each place setting I would have a glass of water, a bowl of soup, and a crust of bread.

And I would call my work of art, “The American Family at Dinner.”  You would come along and inspect my picture and read the caption and shake your head saying, “No! No! That’s a lie.  From Maine to California there isn’t a single family in which that kind of wealth and that kind of poverty can be found.  We have rich families and they share their riches.  We have poor families and they share their poverty; but no matter where you look you won’t find a single family that combines that kind of wealth and that kind of poverty.  That picture is a lie.”

And you would be right!  The picture is a lie.  But suppose I were to change the title and call my work of art, “The Human Family at Dinner.”  I should be precisely on the mark.  That is how the human family lives–part in poverty that beggars description and part in wealth that borders on the obscene.

Prepare for God to call us

How do we prepare for God to call us? We must thus prepare our hearts for the call of God. For this we make several suggestions:

From the book A Biblical Theology of Missions by Peters — page 278-279

  1. Make sure your body has become a living and sanctified sacrifice unto the Lord (Ro 12:1–2).
  2. Make sure there is no conscious sin dulling your spiritual ear and spiritual sight (Eph 1:18; Col 1:9).
  3. Make sure there are no preconceived personal plans and preferences (Ps. 25:9).
  4. Make sure you obey God daily and gladly in the little things of everyday life. Practice obedience to God and man (Lk 19:17; 1 Sa 15:22).
  5. Make sure you are willing to go and to be used anywhere (Jn 7:17).
  6. Form the habit of daily prayer, Bible study, and private meditations before the Lord (Josh 1:8; Ps 77:12; 119:15, 25, 45).
  7. Form the habit of waiting patiently upon the Lord and expect Him to direct every step of your everyday life and doing (Pr 3:6; Ps 23:3).
  8. Study carefully the Word of God relative to the purposes of God for the Christian life and the Christian church. Get saturated with the Word of God (Ps.119:11, 104–5).
  9. Study carefully the great spiritual needs of our day and prepare to meet them. Get a world vision and a world burden (Jn 4:35).
  10. Spend much time in intercessory prayer for the cause and ministry of Christ at home and abroad (Mt 9:37–38).
  11. Pray regularly and earnestly that God will make His will and call definite to you (Ps 25:4; 27:11; 143:8).
  12. Rest assuredly in the promises of God and expect Him to meet you according to your need. He will make His will and calling sure (Ps 37:5, 7a; 32:8). The clarity, depth and definiteness of the call of God will depend to a great extent upon the quality of the heart, the intensity of our fellowship with the Lord, and the degree of our willingness to obey the Master in His command and commission.

Consider this about the call By Dan Truax

There is no more direct call than a command, and we have a command.

There is no more precise command than a written command and we have a written command.

There is no more authoritative command than that of a king, and we have a command from a King.

There is no more powerful king than Jesus the King of Kings. How then can we say we have not been called?

Hudson Taylor, The Dead Man

“You are a dead man!” the doctor exclaimed.  “Go home as fast as you can and get your affairs in order before it’s too late!”  Hudson Taylor was in London studying medicine in preparation for missionary work in China.  While performing a dissection,  he had pricked his finger with a
contaminated needle and was immediately infected with malignant fever.  The average man would have fled home horrified, perhaps cursing God for his misfortune, but Taylor calmly replied, “If I should die, I will have the joy of being with my Master in heaven.  However, I believe that I shall not die, for God has a work awaiting me in China, and however severe the struggle, I must be brought through.”  Hudson Taylor died that day.  No, not
physically, but inwardly he had completely resigned himself to the will of His Heavenly Father, and was prepared by life or by death to glorify His name.  Hudson barely made it to his house where he collapsed on the stairs and had to be carried to his room.  Two of his fellow students who had encountered the same misfortune died of the fever, but not Hudson Taylor.  After days of intense physical suffering, he recovered.  God was not
finished with this man of faith, and now, having come through the fire for the finer, Hudson went on to be one of the most greatly used men of God this world has ever seen. Let us ask ourselves this question.  Have you died yet?  No, your heart may still be beating, but have you died to self?  Is your life, its circumstances, activities and ambitions, entirely committed to the use of the Lord Jesus Christ?  The question is not, “Are you trusting him”, for this must be assumed if we are to ask ourselves, “Does He control you?”  Do you see and accept His Divine hand in all the downfalls and uprisings of your life?  Have you prepared yourself as a finely tuned instrument, ready at a moments notice to fly to His service whatever it may be, or are you living according to the whims of your own self worth?  Can it be said of you my friend, “You are a dead man?”

Why aren’t more called to missions?

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

1. The Great Commission is considered to be church history instead of a command to the church

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of Why aren’t more called to missions? Summit 2017, Page 1! of 1! 0 the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

a. We all know about this verse and believe it
b. It is right in there with Jonah and the whale and the world wide flood
c. Just can’t see how it relates to us

2. People aren’t looking to the field they are just chewing the fat about the need

John 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. Continue reading “Why aren’t more called to missions?”