Category: Missions for Church People

The Final Step: Obedience

The following exert is from the book What Makes a Missionary by David M. Howard

 

The bottom line of this account is simple, straightforward obedience. That must be the bottom line in your life and my life as the Lord Jesus tries to speak to us.

Jim Elliott, my brother-in-law, was killed in Ecuador in 1956 by the Auca Indians. In the aftermath I went there to be with my sister Elisabeth and to help her get reoriented and reestablished in her home without her husband. During that time they were newspaper reporters and press men who had come in to cover the dramatic story, which received worldwide press coverage.

Among those journalist was one of the top photographers of Life magazine. His name was Cornell Copa. Cornell had come to prepare a major feature article for Life. It was published a week or two later, 12 four pages. I remember Cornell, just before he left Ecuador to return to New York, calling the five widows together.

We were sitting in Marge Saint’s home in Shell Mera, and he said, “Ladies, I’m going back to New York tomorrow to prepare my article for Life magazine. I have all the pictures that I need. You ladies have been gracious in allowing me to read your husbands’ diaries and letters, and you’ve answered my questions completely. I have all that I need – except one thing. Unless I can understand this one thing, I can’t write my story. It will make no sense.”

One said, “What is it you need, Cornell?”

“For the life of me, I cannot understand why those men went there in the first place. It doesn’t make any sense.“

One of the widows turned to him and said, “Cornell, we can answer that in one word: obedience. Our husbands went in obedience to the last command of Jesus Christ. Just before He went back to heaven, Jesus Christ said to His disciples, ‘You are to go to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’ The Aucas are part of God’s creation. The gospel has never been preached to them. Our husbands went in obedience to what Jesus Christ said. Yes, they died in the process, but that is not the important point. The important point is that they obeyed what Jesus Christ told them to do.”

Since that time until blessings have come because of the obedience of five men who are willing to lay down their lives in response to what Jesus Christ told them to do.

I don’t know what Jesus Christ may ask you to do. He may break into your life and turn it upside down and make you something different than you’ve ever thought of being. He may want to give you the privilege of sharing the gospel with some who have never heard it. If He does, will you respond as Peter did and say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll leave everything and follow You?”

Not “why?” but “why not?”

From the book The creation of a student movement to evangelize the world by Timothy C Wallstrom 

 

“Suppose then that the individual Christian does have an obligation to tell others of Christ,” a student might respond, “why must he go overseas to do so? Is there not ample need at home?” The volunteers answered this objection in two ways. First, because the missionary effort is so patently an enterprise of faith, its maintenance will indeed exercise and strengthen the spiritual vitality of the home church, much as the use of the bodily extremities will exercise and strengthen the heart which supplies them with blood. Missions do not sap the vigor of the home base; they fortify it.

The individual obligation to minister overseas was in fact a simply corollary of this greater need; no special call was considered necessary. Robert Wilder, one of the Movement’s originators, found “nothing in the Bible to indicate that a man needs more of a call to take him to Africa than to Dakota.” The whole of a Christian’s existence was held to be consecrated to the service of his Master, and the sole remaining question involved the means through which that service could be most effectively rendered. In the presence of a specific command and an urgent need to minister abroad, volunteers believed the duty rested with the individual to show that his life might be used more effectively in other ways. It was not God’s responsibility to push him in the direction to which He had already pointed. Volunteers believed the Christian attitude to the missionary call should not be “why?” but “why not?”

 

If we look back through US history, there seems to be times of revival when people were being saved and other times when people were surrendering to serve God in groves. I have heard it said more than once that God is just not calling people like He did in the past. I respectfully disagree, I think God is still calling but the problem lies more on us not listening. In this article, I’d like to suggest some reasons why I believe young people are not surrendering and how we can prepare young people to more willingly surrender. The list is in no way perfect or complete, but they do offer some basic ideas to think upon.

• The authority in their lives are not convinced

Please know that I have no interest in being disrespectful, but I have seen many young people who surrender to missions and are held back by well intentioned authority in their lives. Whether it’s not willing for them to live so far away, hating the thought of not seeing the grandkids grow up, helping them “think of future financial status” or simply saying “there is plenty of time later in life.”. Whether you serve as a spiritual leader, parent or friend, we must be sensitive to what God wants and not what we think is best.

Listen to what missiologist Ralph Winter says, “Here is a tragic fact: Only about 1 out of a 100 ‘missionary decisions’ results in actual career mission service. Why? Mainly because parents, friends, even pastors rarely encourage anyone to follow through on that kind of a decision. But what if that number could double to two out of a hundred? The effect would be explosive!”

• We are not placing the right materials in their hands

I am convinced that missionary biographies are some of the most exciting and touching books in existence, yet too often they are no where in sight (in our homes, our churches or schools/colleges). Here are a few of the books that should be available to every young person desirous of serving God.

• • • • The Challenge of Missions by Oswald J. Smith
      • Adoniram Judson, Bound for Burma by Janet and Geoff Benge
      • Steps to Becoming a Missionary by Brady Van Winkle
      • Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor
      • Jacob Deshazer, Forgive Your Enemies by Janet Benge
      • They Turned the World Upside Down by Jeffrey Bush
      • Gladys Aylward, The Adventure of a Lifetime by Janet Benge
      • George Mueller, The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphans by Janet Benge 
      • Brother Andrew, God’s Secret Agent by Janet Benge 
      • Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot

• They are not openly seeing missions

William Carey said, “To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.” You don’t have to agree with that statement, but I think it’s fair to say that missions cannot be expected to be on anyone’s radar if they rarely see it. If our churches have maps and missions posters on the walls, missionaries visiting, prayers for missions, updates and videos of missionaries, missions trips, yearly missions conference, and missions mentioned in our church, certainly there will be people interested in missions. No, we can’t call a person to be a missionary, but we can’t say that someone is not called if we never give them a chance to see it. So, whether at home or at church, we must ask ourselves, how much are our young people seeing missions?

• We have not been vocal about our responsibility, the need and the urgency

The church has one responsibility and that is to get the Gospel out. As Hudson Taylor said, “The Great Commission is not an option to be considered but a command that must be obeyed.” The commission to be His witnesses, ambassadors, light, salt and soldiers was given to every child of God, not just to a select few in ministry. There are people that know not our God and this is to our shame (1 Corinthians 15:34). Our Savior said that the fields are white already (beyond ripe) to harvest (John 4:35) and that our time is short (John 9:4). Thank the Lord for church, a place for fellowship, worship, learning and growing, but we must remember that the church exists to get the Gospel out, not keep it within the ranks. We must be vocal about the need and pray that God will call out our young people. As one man said, “A great church is not measured by its seating capacity but by its sending capacity.”

I love this poem written by Leonard Ravenhill, the author of the very convicting book, Why Revival Tarries.

Could a Mariner sit idle 

if he heard the drowning cry? 

Could a doctor sit in comfort 

and just let his patients die? 

Could a fireman sit idle, 

let men in burn and give no hand? 

Can you sit at ease in Zion, 

With the world around you damned? 

As we conclude this thought, we must realize that young people can surrender to God. I am convinced that if we pray and boldly talk to them to keep missions in front of them, that we will see many young people surrender to serve our Savior in the area of missions.

“God’s plan is for churches to produce, send and support missionaries during this age of grace. The work must not cease until the trumpet signals Christ second coming” — Norm Lewis

 

Here to Serve, 

Jeffrey Bush

Everybody — Somebody — Anybody — Nobody

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. 

 

There was an important job (the Great Commission) to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. 

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. 

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. 

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. 

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. So how can you get involved in the Great Commission? Can you give, pray, or go? 

The Pastor and His Relationship to the Missionary

Excerpt from the book “Missions For The New Millennium” by Dr. Don Wardlaw

1. Are we ready to take the challenge which lies before us?

2. Are we ready to make the changes necessary to keep our missionaries mission ministries going?

3. Are we burdened?

4. Can we face the reality?

5. Is our maturity level high enough?

6. Will the Lord join our efforts?

7. With no long-range plans, what can we expect?

8. Will we continue the same old status quo?

9. What was the faithful missionary’s approach thirty to forty years ago?

10. What is the faithful missionary’s approach today?

The Man Who Tried to Conquer the World

From chapter 22 of book Tales From India; Truth From Heaven by Dr. William Jeffcoat

Alexander the Great went forth with his great armies in hopes of conquering the world. Some claim that he did. One kingdom after another fell into his grasp. Yet it was the kingdoms of India which finally convinced first those who followed him and finally the great leader himself that such a dream of world dominion had come to its end. 

During his long journey home, the disillusioned conqueror of kingdoms fell ill in Babylon. He realized then that his might and his wealth were but passing fancies. As he prepared to depart from this world, he began to loosen his grasp on earthly vanities. 

Legend tells us that he gathered his generals around him and told them, “I will depart from this world soon… I have three wishes… please carry them out without fail.” He continued by saying, “My first desire is that my physicians alone must carry my coffin. Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones that I have collected in my treasury. My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin.” 

Those who stood nearby assured their great leader that his wishes would be followed with utmost care but then inquired as to the reasons for such desires. He replied by explaining each request. He wished for his physicians to carry his coffin so that all might realize that no man can prevent death. His own physicians were powerless to prevent this moment. The path to the grave was to be strewn with wealth as a reminder that he would take neither gold nor silver with him beyond this life. He had spent his life pursuing riches but would soon leave his treasures to other men. His hands were to extend from the coffin that he might even in his death say to all, “I came empty handed into this world, and empty handed I go out.” 

The first time that physicians are mentioned in the Bible, they are being instructed to embalm a dead man (Genesis 50:2). No man can prevent this moment that is faced by all men. Neither can the dead take a single coin beyond this life. The Scriptures tell us plainly, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Timothy 6:7).