There is a very important “Life’s Lesson” that I have learned or am learning on the mission field and that is What is a missionary really supposed to do?
When I was 16 years old, the Lord clearly put it upon my heart to serve Him – and more specifically I felt He was directing me to the mission field. I desired to be a missionary, but did not know exactly was a missionary really was. Finally getting to college and then language school, the Lord began forming me more and more to what He would have for my life. I was very fortunate to have met a veteran missionary, Austin Gardner, who took me under his wing and began teaching me what missions really was.
When I finally arrived to Argentina in 2004, we started up and within a short amount of time the Lord sent us great young people who became pillars and leaders in the churches. I thought I was doing what a missionary really is supposed to do. I thought by leaving the United States and starting a church on foreign soil, that this was enough, but it really wasn’t what I was supposed to do. I was taught that anyone can cross a border – military, army, tourist, business men, etc … and I was no more spiritual than any of these men by simply living on foreign soil. So what was I supposed to do?
Is a missionary simply a foreign pastor, one that begins with strength but then settles in a church? So the Lord began to teach me that one of my “Life’s Lessons” was to remember what I was taught … to remember what I am really supposed to do as a missionary.
Life in any aspect can be very frustrating not knowing what one is supposed to do, so this “Life’s Lesson” is very important. I am not supposed to just be a pastor on foreign soil, I am not just supposed to “hold the fort” until the Lord comes back, I am not supposed to just live as any other man. The man that is given much, is required much (Lu 12:48). So I am to know what a missionary is supposed to do.
Every man is convinced in his own mind of where or what his job is, but my “Life’s Lesson” is that I must prepare MANY to continue the work of the Lord in every part of this globe. My preaching is not to be general, but with the end to prepare generals in the army of the Lord. My time is not to just be spent, but to prepare generals in the army of the Lord. My prayer is not to be aimless, but to prepare generals in the army of the Lord. The need in every corner and every area of this world is great, but the laborers are few (Mt. 9:36-38). Therefore what I am supposed to do as a missionary is to prepare the laborers for the great harvest.
My prayer is that I will never forget of this “Life’s Lesson”, that I will not walk aimlessly. The difference between time and time well spent could be the fact that one realizes what he is supposed to do. May God use our generation of missionaries and those to come to really know what we are supposed to do.