How to choose a missionary! – By Austin Gardner

  1. Ask him about his preparation or what makes him feel that he can do what God has called him to.  Has he been prepared?  Has he studied?  Is he looking into language schools?  What are his prerequisites for the language
schools that he plans on going to?  Why did he choose that one.  Be sure that he is going to language school and if not do not support him.
  2. Missionaries do not need to be taken on by pity or by need.  Many time the pastor and people in the church feel pity for a person and when they do this, this causes the church to want to help.  Help by giving a one time offering maybe, but a missionary should not be taken on by need they ought to be taken on by their fruit.  Look for a man who will produce or has produced in what God has called him to do.  Some pastors might say, I just know that no one else will support him so I just wanted to help him.
  3. How much research have they done on their country.  Before a missionary comes to the church check out the general statistics of the country and ask him about them while he is there.  He ought not know everything but the general questions.  If he hasn’t studied his country enough then he probably isn’t the kind of missionary that you want.
  4. What is his work ethic?  Missions is over spiritualized many times.  Just because a person has been called by God to a place does not mean that he ought not be working. The answer I have not had to call any pastors
and I think that is what God wants me to do is very spiritual but very rarely works.  They will then proceed to tell you how it has been a long time and not much money coming in.  If a man has a full schedule for a year or so then it might be alright but if not they need Continue reading “How to choose a missionary! – By Austin Gardner”

Ideas for Senders

  1. Get people from your church to prepare cards and notes to send to your missionary.
    • Have special cards and notes sent to the children.
    • Have everyone put in a few dollars in each card to make it 
very exciting for the children to open
    • Adults might send gift cards for iTunes or Amazon in
cards
  2. Get together some goodies to send to your missionary. Be sure to contact them and make sure that they will not have to pay customs on whatever you send them
  3. Be prepared to report on your missionary in the missionary presentations for the Goer Sender Coalition
  4. Make sure that you keep their name in the church bulletin, on the church Facebook page, etc.
  5. Ever so often set up a display from their country, give out their prayer cards, and get Continue reading “Ideas for Senders”

Eleven Essentials for the Missionary

Hudson Taylor’s Missionary Equipment

  1. A life yielded to God and controlled by His Spirit
  2. A restful trust in God for the supply of all needs
  3. A sympathetic spirit
  4. A willingness to take a lowly place
  5. Tact in dealing with men
  6. Adaptability toward circumstances
  7. Be real in service
  8. Steadfastness in discouragement
  9. Love for communion with God and for the study of His Word
  10. Some experience and blessing in the Lord’s work at home
  11. A healthy body and vigorous mind

Themes for Missions Conferences

(Many I have gathered from conferences I have attended or have heard of, others I have gathered in the past from other sources, those of which I do not remember)

How Beautiful are the Feet – Rom. 10:15

Punching holes in the darkness

Hear their Hearts Cry

That All the Earth May Know – I Sam. 17:46, Prov. 25:25

How to Build Waist Cities – Is. 64:1

Ambassadors for Christ – II Cor. 5:20

Set Sails for Souls

Is There Not a Cause – I Sam. 17:29

Is it Nothing to You? – Lamentations 1:12

Reaching this Generation

Enlarging our tents Continue reading “Themes for Missions Conferences”

A Missions Parable About Lost People:

Putting World Evangelism Statistics In Perspective

By James M. Weber, missionary to Japan

    Once upon a time there was an apple grower who had acres and acres of apple trees. In all, he had 10,000 acres of apple orchards.
One day he went to the nearby town. There, he hired 1,000 apple pickers. He told them:

“Go to my orchards. Harvest the ripe apples, and build storage buildings for them so that they will not spoil. I need to be gone for a while, but I will provide all you will need to complete the task. When I return, I will reward you for your work.

    “I’ll set up a Society for the Picking of Apples. The Society — to which you will all belong — will be responsible for the entire operation. Naturally, in addition to those of you doing the actual harvesting, some will carry supplies, others will care for the physical needs of the group, and still others will have administrative responsibilities.” Continue reading “A Missions Parable About Lost People:”

Our Generation Camp

In 2004 a group of young missionaries headed to the field held a camp (Baptist Camp for World Evangelism) for college-aged students interested in foreign missions. God blessed in a such a tremendous way that the world is still feeling the impact of the decisions made that week as alumni are now serving all over the world. Over the years the camp evolved into the Our Generation Student Leadership Conference and remained a focused training ground for foreign missions. In 2011 we expanded our vision and began to provide the Our Generation Camp for middle school and high school age students. It allowed them exposure to young missionaries, missions training, plus all the fun and excitement expected in a summer camp. During the Our Generation Camp we have two tracks running simultaneously. It is two camps, five days, but for one mission! We have blessed to have over a dozen missionaries families join us to serve as keynote speakers, counselors, and to spend time with the students. We believe this unique equation makes for an awesome week with maximum impact on the life of the teenagers and college students.

Camp Promo_ColorGrade from Our Generation on Vimeo.

What We Believe…

We accept the Bible as the Word of God without requiring logical or observational proof. The Bible claims to be the perfect Word of God, and since we accept the Bible we must accept this claim.

We consider the belief that God exists to be so obvious to every observational and rational faculty and to every culture in history, that such belief is not necessary to state. The pivotal concept is that God exists as He is revealed in the Bible. All other items in the Doctrinal Statement are drawn from an examination of the Scripture.

Doctrine

The Bible

We believe that the BIBLE is the WORD OF GOD, and that it is divinely inspired. We believe in the plenary, verbal inspiration, that it is the only complete and final revelation of the will of GOD to man, and the supreme, infallible authority in all matters of faith and conduct. We use the King James Bible for all teaching and preaching in English. II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20,21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31,32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32

God

We believe in the Trinity, the unity of the Godhead. There are three persons: The FATHER, The SON, and The HOLY SPIRIT. They are equally perfect in every divine quality, and execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (A) We believe in GOD the FATHER (B) We believe in JESUS CHRIST (C) We believe in the HOLY SPIRIT. Genesis 1:1,26; John 1:1,3; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; Romans 1:19,20; Ephesians 4:5,6

The Father

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. Luke 10:21,22; Matthew 23:9; John 3:16; 6:27; Romans 1:7; I Timothy 1:1,2; 2:5,6; I Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6

Jesus Christ

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus Christ is God. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth. Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; 8:46; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30, 31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8; 6:9,10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; I Timothy 3:16

The Holy Spirit

We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide. John 14:16,17,26; 15:26,27; John 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26

Man

We believe that all men by nature, choice and practice are sinners, but that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We believe, therefore, that those who repent of their sins and by faith receive Christ as Lord and Savior will rejoice forever in God’s presence, and those who refuse to receive Christ as Lord and Savior will be forever separated from God. John 3:14,16; 5:24; John 5:30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26; Romans 9:22; II Thessalonians 1:9; Rev. 19:3,20; 20:10;14,15; 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19; 5:19; Proverbs 28:13; I John 1:9; John 3:16; John 1:13; II Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1

Eternal State

We believe in a literal Heaven, the eternal home of the redeemed. We believe Heaven to be the literal place where the saved will live forever in the eternal bliss and blessings of God. We believe in Hell, the Christ-less eternity for the lost, where there will be burning and tormenting for those without salvation, who have refused to receive the gospel and Jesus Christ as Lord. We believe that Hell, unbelievers, Satan and all the fallen angels shall be cast into the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and forever. Matthew 13:41-43 Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-24; John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 21-22

Salvation

We believe salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.

Baptism

We believe in baptism by immersion after salvation with no merit for salvation in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Spirit). We reject infant baptism and any form of sprinkling for infants or adults.    Baptism is an outward expression of our faith in Jesus Christ and simply a public testimony of what God has done by His grace. Romans 6:1-5; Acts 8:36-38; Acts 2;41; Matthew 3:16; Matthew 28:19-20.24; John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 21-22

The Church

We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of professing, born-again believers in Jesus Christ, immersed on a credible confession of faith, and associated for worship, work and fellowship. We believe that to those local churches we are committed, for perpetual observance of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and that God has laid upon these churches the task of proclaiming to a lost world the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and the enthroning of Him as Lord and Master. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:42; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-26; Ephesians 2:19-22; Ephesians 5:19-21; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 10:23-25.

The Relationship between Church and State

We believe that every human being is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and autonomous and must be free from any ecclesiastical or political authority; therefore, Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions with each fulfilling its duties free from the dictation or patronage of the other. Matthew 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25; Acts 5:29; I Timothy 2:5; Romans 13:1-7; 14:7-9,12

Spiritual Gifts

We believe that spiritual gifts are given to the church for the express purpose of winning the lost and edifying other believers. The Holy Spirit is given to each believer upon acceptance of Christ and His purpose is to exalt and bring people to Christ. Speaking in tongues was the least important of these gifts and was given as a sign for unbelieving Jews. That is why Vision Baptist Church does not teach or practice speaking in tongues. John 7:37-39; 14:17; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 1:22; 3:16-17; 6:19-20; 12-14

Eternal Security

We believe in the eternal security of all blood-bought individuals or believers and that such inheritance is incorruptible, and undefiled, and that each believer is kept by the power of God and nothing can separate us from Him, ourselves included. We believe that believers can lose the joy of fellowship with God, can grieve God and can quench the Spirit of God in him or her, but not lose his/her salvation. John 3:16; 5:24; 6:37-39; 10:27-30; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 5:11-13; Jude 24

World Evangelism

We believe that the apostolic office ceased with the death of the Apostles. We believe that it is His church that He promised continual existence, to continue the work He started until He comes again. We believe that the ministry of reconciliation is committed to every believer and all are saints/priests of God. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. Matthew 16:18; 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10

Second Coming

We believe in the literal return of Jesus Christ to the clouds to take all saved people from the earth before the beginning of the Tribulation period. We believe in his bodily visible return with his saints at the close of the Tribulation period to rule and reign for a thousand years on earth. We believe that unbelievers will face God and be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment according to their works, not for salvation, but for their proper and rightful places in the lake of fire. I Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 4:1, Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20; Thessalonians 4:15; II Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 4:5; I Corinthians 15; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6,11-15

Biblical Separation

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God. II Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1-2, 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1

Ecumenicalism

We believe that doctrinal purity is essential to gospel harmony and that the Bible commands us to not associate ourselves with someone who is preaching another gospel, or teaching contrary to sound doctrine. Romans 16:17-18; II Corinthians 6:14-18; 11:1-4; Galatians 1:8-9; Ephesians 4:14-15; 5:11; Philippians 3:1-2; Colossians 2:8; II Thessalonians 3:14; I Timothy 1:3; 6:3-5; II Timothy 3:5,13; Titus 1:10-14; 3:9-11; II Peter 2:1-3; 3:17; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3; Revelation 2:2,6,14-16,20-23