Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
Moses wrote of himself in the book of Numbers, “Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth.” Has that ever struck you as strange? Humility is not an unwillingness to acknowledge one’s strengths. It is knowing both positive and negative areas, …
He came to the fundraising training discouraged. There had been numerous attempts to raise funds. All had failed. Hope was not high, but he still came. Would this missionary support raising training work for him? His spoken English was fine, but writing in English was …
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where everyone you know is a Christian? There have been times in my missionary life when ministry demands and family needs were intense. I found myself in situations where I had almost no contact with unsaved people. What do we do when this happens? What do we need to do? To be Great Commission Christians, we must intentionally stay connected with lost people. Jesus did.
How many close relationships do you have with those who don’t yet know the Lord? Go ahead. Stop for a moment and count them.
Jesus, our Master and model, was extremely proactive about engaging with sinners. He consistently made time for them. The Lord regularly stopped and noticed those who were broken…those who were seeking. As missionaries, no matter what our particular ministry role is, we are called to be intentional about loving lost people. We prove how much we love the lost by how much time we invest in knowing and relating to them.
We had just moved…yet again. Missionary life seems to be full of transitions. My life certainly has been! I was in a new location and starting to settle in. Missionary colleagues were kindly helping our family get oriented to our new location. We attended meetings for our organization regularly. I was busy with my family and setting up our home.
Around this time, I attended a training related to our church planting and coaching work. In the seminar, the speaker asked us to write down a list of all the lost people we knew. I drew a blank! My mind searched and searched again, for names of people around me who were not yet saved. After a few long minutes, I came up with two or three. We were to write down at least twenty!
It was a major wake-up call. I am passionate about reaching the unreached, speaking and teaching about it. I challenged and mobilized others toward the Great Commission…but here I was, with only three names on my list! I needed to get active in building real relationships with those who didn’t yet know Christ.
The next day I took out my calendar and scheduled time to engage with my new neighbors. I started praying for people whose names I didn’t yet know. In the following days, I was intentional about getting their names and starting new conversations.
It wasn’t long before I had a growing list of people I was reaching out to in my daily life. I looked for opportunities to share Christ with them. Soon, one of them put her faith in Jesus!
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:10 NIV
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I love the story that precedes this verse! Jesus is walking along the road, passing through the town of Jericho. I wonder where He was going that day…what plans He had already made?
His plans changed that day! As He walks along, He notices a sinner in a tree. “Zaccheus, come down. I want to hang out with you today!” (This is my paraphrase, as I imagine this.) Jesus made time. He noticed. He engaged.
How often do I pass by and not even look at the people around me? Maybe I don’t even notice those who are seeking to know more about God. Those who are interested in my life? In the Jesus I represent?
The natural flow of life as Christians and missionaries often takes us away from lost people, rather than moving us toward them. It is easy to get busy with ministry, meetings, and lots of good Christian activities. These are all good, but they can take us out of contact with those who don’t yet know the Lord.
To engage with lost people, we must be proactive. Plan time for engaging with unbelievers. Put it in your calendar. Think about a club or group you could join in your community. Is there something that would put you into more contact with the lost? Do they play football somewhere? Instead of playing with Christians, you could intentionally join a football club made up of non-believers. (I like to call them pre-believers).
Take that extra five minutes at the store to chat with the clerk who is serving you. Be intentional! There are hundreds of ways to engage further than we normally do.
I make a point of prioritizing those who don’t know Jesus over meetings with those who are already “saved.” This is appropriate. Wouldn’t you focus on someone who was drowning in a pool, over talking to someone who was safely relaxing in their lounge chair beside the pool?
We must let our hearts be filled with a fresh sense of urgency about relating to lost people. They truly are drowning in brokenness and sin. Ask God to open your eyes to see them as He does. Like Jesus, let’s be willing to alter our plans to make time and respond to the hunger and needs of people around us. It may cost us something to do this, but it is well worth it!
How available are you to give time to the lost? Is your schedule crammed full? So much so that you have no spare time to love and relate to broken people? There are many instances where I have been guilty of this! Regularly check your level of availability to the lost around you. This is especially true if you are an introvert with a high task orientation (like me!).
People will judge whether or not you love them by how available you are to them. Do you take time to listen well? To notice and observe those around you? To invite someone in for a cup of tea?
It is easy to live inside a Christian or missionary bubble. Everyone inside that bubble already knows Jesus. It is where we spend our time…where we feel comfortable. Our needs are met there. We love and we serve our Christian friends. Nothing wrong with that!
We need to step out of the bubble though. Noticing the bubble exists is the first step. Then, we must take action to break it, to open our lives up to a broader group of people.
What will you do this week to engage with lost people? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or the Missionary Life Facebook group.
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When Jesus called His disciples, He called them to serve together as a group, not as individuals. He gathered a team of twelve men and sent them out two by two. Though most of them were fishermen, each of them was unique in personality, character, and giftings. They had to learn how to get along and work together as a team of disciples. It is not easy to maintain a healthy team, especially if your team is made up of people from varied cultures.
A team is a group of people who share a specific common purpose, skills, and method for accomplishing a task. They share mutual accountability to accomplish the goals they set together. A team is committed to each other’s success and to each other’s personal and spiritual growth. A team that works well together does not just happen. It requires hard work!
Working in teams has both challenges and rewards on the mission field. Jones defined a team as a group of people who share common objectives and who need to work together to achieve them. (Jones and Jones 1995:17). We need each other and we are dependent on one another to help us in the areas that we are weak to get the job done.
It is a sad fact that many cross-cultural workers leave field assignments because they cannot get along with their colleagues. It is crucial that teams learn to work well together. They must use their giftings and talents, as well as their personalities and cultural differences, to enhance the Kingdom of God.
Ken Williams, from Wycliffe Bible Translators, developed a 4 1/2-day workshop. It is called Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills. The workshop is for cross-cultural workers. It provides training on how to have healthy relationships.
This teaching tool is also used by many mission organizations to equip their workers to work as a team. William’s workshop shows a way for interpersonal issues to be addressed by cross-cultural workers.
“The more cultures represented in a team, the more complex the team dynamics become.” (Roembke 1998:93). Roembke emphasized that in a cross-cultural team it is important for the group to establish a team culture. The majority culture in the group should not dominate the culture of the team.
For a multicultural team to work well together, team members need to respect one another’s culture. Mutual respect sets the stage for a reciprocal relationship between equals. This is the foundation for trust.
Communication between team members is a high value. There is no one way or method of communicating that is the right way. The important thing is learning to listen to each other.
Don’t assume that the majority culture will rule the team culturally. Nor should the team leader’s culture. When we impose cultural (not Biblical) values upon the team, or a team member, it creates cultural imperialism. Some on the team are blind to their attempts to elevate their own value as the norm. This superiority needs exposure.
Multicultural teams can be an exciting place for spiritual and personal growth. If the team leader is able to help members mutually respect each other’s culture, it communicates acceptance to each one.
Kelly O’Donnell identifies eight characteristics of resilient teams.
1) For a team to be resilient they need to have a commitment to one another and to the team’s purpose.
2) They need to learn to appreciate one another.
This means acknowledging each other’s important contributions.
3) The team must persevere.
Together they believe in each other, in spite of their weaknesses. They recall the many examples of God’s faithfulness in the past.
4) The resilient team needs to work through communication impasses.
5) Quality time together, especially during the early stages of team life and during crisis situations, is important.
6) Build and maintain good communication skills.
Team members must learn to listen and empathize well. Share thoughts and feelings with each other in culturally sensitive ways is important.
7) Having a good understanding of one another is a key to building a resilient team.
Healthy teams experience tensions and hurt. How do you overcome the impasse?
Look at your “styles” and preferences: personality, leadership, decision-making, learning, work, communication, and spirituality. Genuinely try to understand and accept one another.
8) A resilient team requires regiment (routines).
It is important to have clear roles for leaders and members. Well-defined decision making methods, clear accountability and conflict resolution guidelines are helpful. Often, a written agreement or “memo of understanding” (O’Donnell 2002:393-395).
Which of these eight characteristics is missing in your team?
Share in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook group.
The above article was adapted from a longer paper by Ah Kie Lim, PhD. called “Cross-Cultural Team.” It has been adapted with the author’s permission.
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Do you love to travel and new adventures? Eating new food and seeing new places? Do you find people who are from different cultures fascinating? If you answered yes to any of these things, missions might sound like a dream job to you!
Your heart burns for the nations. Even watching the international news makes you feel stirred to pray. Traveling is adventurous and exciting. How do you discern if you are called by God to missions, or going because it sounds fun? If you are interested in missions, I would suggest that God has already planted the missionary seed in your heart. We can often make “getting God’s call” more complicated than it should be.
I remember talking to a friend who answered yes to all the above questions. She had done mission training, had the financial backing of her family, and many invitations from teams on the field to join them. When I asked her where she was going to go, she said “Nowhere. I am waiting for God to send me.”
Many people say they would like to be missionaries, but don’t know where to go, or if God is calling them. They are waiting for some mysterious urge to make them go.
In my experience, this “call” does not usually come until we are already demonstrating our commitment to God by moving forward. As we take the first steps of obedience, then God confirms the direction.
We are co-workers with Christ. He does not strong arm us into obedience. He is looking for our delight in going.
In Isaiah 6, God asks the question “Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?” We see that Isaiah’s response was “Here I am send me.” God is looking for people who will go so He can then direct them.
Think about steering a car, it is impossible to direct when it is stationary. It is only once it starts to move that you can turn the wheel, and direct it to the destination you desire.
The same with us.
Let’s get going! We are already obeying the general will of God because Jesus commands all His disciples to go (Mt 28:18).
Missionary work has great challenges.
“There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”
Hudson Taylor
Commit yourself to get it done. Don’t quit!
After you have been following God’s path for a while, you will turn around, look back, and recognize that He has been leading you faithfully step by step.
Don’t hold back in fear or doubt. Step forward! Jesus is the good shepherd and He will find you if you wander!
Just keep following His voice.
What questions do you have about the “call of God”?
Share in the comments below or ask us on the Missionary Life Facebook page.
Do you need a community to process these questions with as you discover your calling? Check out the YWAM Frontier Missions short online course called Next Steps in Missions.
*this was a guest post by R.M.
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