Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
“I love missionary life and doing ministry, but I hate the fund-raising aspect of it!” These are common feelings for many on the mission field. I’ve definitely had them too! We have to change our mindset. Developing ministry partners can be fun and exciting. It …
True or False: Fundraising is an important priority for a missionary. Do you believe this? Or is it rather an added nuisance to our lives as field workers? If you ask those serving to answer this question honestly. You’ll get a wide variety of answers. …
Facing trials…again…and again….and again. How do we keep going in the missionary life “race”?
The following is a guest post by Rachel A.
I am a long-term, hopefully, life-long missionary. The race marked out before us is a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve come to understand this.
Many who started the race with me have given up, changed direction or overtaken me. They reached the finish line. The marathon, I’ve learned, is not run on a nice, safe, obstacle-free running track. It is an unknown journey with the only surety being that Jesus is running with me. How do I keep going, and make it through?
Jesus is the One who goes ahead and shows us the path. Never get too busy serving Him and miss being connected to Him. Do you spend far more time ministering to others? Coming to Jesus for answers to ministry questions alone? Make a radical choice to protect your intimate time with H
We need to have relationships that function well at a deep level. Whether this is family, teammates and other leaders, you need these people. The enemy wants to divide us from deep life-giving relationships. Criticism, selfishness, mistrust or independence, causes us to start to wither inside. My golden rule: make things right quickly. If there are relational problems or misunderstanding, go and sort it out, even if it is painful. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.
If you lose the vision of where you are going, or why you are doing it- distraction quickly sets in. Motivation dries up. We experience disillusionment, feel tired, and bored. The grass on the other side of the fence seems greener. Having a “big picture” from God about what He has called me to, helps me to maintain faith even when I don’t feel like it. I write down the words, pictures, and scriptures He gives me. They are great fuel for prayer.
I love going to the market to bargain. You clearly see how much something is worth to you, rather than just having a flat price. If the seller is demanding too high a price and what you are buying seems not worth it to you, you walk away. It’s the same in life. Keep a good eye on the prize. It is easy to let success in ministry, numbers or goals, become a prize. These will inevitably not satisfy. Make sure the prize is an eternal, unshakeable one- Jesus H
Feeling pain in the race or sometimes wanting to quit is normal. Being stretched further than you ever thought possible is also normal. Failure, disappointment, and periodic loneliness are normal. Get prayer, ask for help, and learn from others through the books they’ve written. Let yourself cry, and pour out all the “stuff” – don’t bottle it all inside.
If these emotions describe your daily “normal”, stretching on for months, get help. We were never meant to be titanium people. Sometimes in the mission field, we face more stress, loss, or trauma in a month than others face in years. Ask for help. Talk to some member care people, a counselor, your doctor, your pastor, somebody… you are not alone.
Life is meant to be joyful and fulfilling. Being a follower of Jesus should be something that is attractive, not sour. I find reflecting on God’s generosity and kindness frequently so helpful. Asking myself what am I thankful for today, and praying it out back to Him. When in pain, I ask God to help me see things from His perspective. I open my eyes to see the little love gifts He daily gives. Scrolling back through past photos reminds me of all the ways He has been with me. It gives me great joy and expectation for the rest of the race.
Let’s not give up, but know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. His Kingdom, like every part of His creation, is made up of many different components contributing their part. You are part of His body, His
“Unlock your phone and show it to us or we won’t let you enter our country,” the immigration official demanded. Seizing his phone, the officers checked the emails, Facebook, WhatsApp and other private messages of the nervous missionary. Though they allowed him to enter the …
The education of children on the mission field is a major concern. This is especially true when they have special needs. God loves missionary kids and knows how to provide for them. Their destiny matters to God as much as it does to us, their …
Missionary burn-out is very real. We missionaries are a deeply committed people. We are willing to lay down our lives, do whatever it takes, to see people come to Christ. God regularly asks us, His people, to do things far beyond our own capacity. He never expects us though, to do those things in our own strength! We can only do God-sized tasks with God’s mighty strength.
One of my favorite childhood stories was “The Little Engine that Could.” Published in 1906, it was part of a sermon by Rev. Charles S. Wing. It’s a story about a small train engine that is trying to get to the top of a mountain. As it chugs along, climbing upward, it says to itself, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” The story encourages a “CAN DO” mindset and an optimistic spirit. It’s a good story, beloved by children and teachers around the world.
The problem is this. Sometimes we think we can…but we can’t. The tasks we’ve been given by God require Him to show up and do something far, far beyond us! Optimism and determination are wonderful things. But they are a poor substitute for dependency on God.
The Bible is full of passages about God’s ability to strengthen His people. One of my favorite Old Testament characters is David. David learned how to strengthen himself in the Lord.
“But David found strength in the Lord His God.”1 Samuel 30:6
He did impossible things…things no one believed could be done. He killed a giant, defeated the Philistines, conquered territory and through his son Solomon, build a great temple. He also took things into his own hands at times and paid a high price for it. We can learn from both his success and failures.
What? Is that a danger? Yes, it is. Success can be a grave danger. Sometimes, God allows us to do things in our own ways and in our own strength. Though He longs for us to rely on Him and let His power flow through us, He does not interfere. When we succeed, it is easy to become proud. We worked hard, we worked smart, and look what we did! Time to wave a red flag – major danger approaching. Our success will be short-lived. King Saul took the glory for himself, became proud, and lost the kingdom.
Failure is also a danger. Stepping out in faith to do something beyond ourselves is a risk. God longs to meet us in that place. He wants to show up and do the impossible. He will not take over and lead though unless we give it to Him. The Lord waits for us to surrender, to call out to Him, to lean on Him.
When we strive in our own power, failure is very often the outcome. We then can find ourselves disappointed in ourselves… and also in God. Humans have a natural tendency (all the way back to the Garden of Eden) to blame others for failure. Often, God is the one we condemn. This can cause a distance in our relationship with God. It stunts our spiritual growth and destroys our missionary effectiveness as well.
If you push yourself too hard, striving in your own strength, the result could be burn-out. There are seasons when we work extra hard, seasons of harvest or times of birthing new ministries. pioneering efforts require much of us. They have to only be seasons though. Continually working long hours without rest is never God’s plan. Weekly sabbaths are vital and show that we are depending on God, not ourselves.
Burn out isn’t worth it. It is costly in so many ways. We must learn instead, to allow His strength to flow into us as we let go and let God.
Are you leaning on Him? As you chug up that mountain?
The little engine in the story said, “I think I can…I think I can.” Maybe a better mantra to repeat as we climb is, “I know God can, I know God can.”
With our hope firmly in the Lord, we will reach the top. We will see Father God do what He has promised. All the glory will go to Him alone for we will know it was Him who has accomplished it.
I regularly host a FREE Online Training called “Keys to Having a Kingdom Impact.” God is calling all of us to see greater fruit in His Kingdom. Join me to find out more about how God is using ordinary people to have an extraordinary impact on their regions.
Burnout signs – they are relatively easy to spot. Low energy. Reduced passion for ministry. Not getting things done that normally are quite easy to do. One way of addressing these issues is to consider taking a sabbatical. To make it a success, you need …
John Chau’s recent death in the Indian Ocean prompted many tweets, posts and news articles this past week. Murdered by Sentinelese tribesmen, John was a fairly young missionary. He went to a remote and unreached tribe with a passion to share the gospel with them. …
Ego-centric, direct, domineering, controlling, independent, critical…that list sounded down-right nasty to me. I didn’t want to be a “D” personality! I promptly decided I disliked personality tests. No one was going to put a label on me as to what personality type I had. Decision made.
Have you ever felt that way when taking a personality test?
We tend to notice all the negative words and characteristics more than the positive ones. At least I did! I had an aversion to personality tests from the time we took the Myers-Briggs test as a couple. We took it when we were applying to our denomination’s missions department.
After a year-long process, they determined that we were not fit for the field. Part of the reason was the dramatic difference in our personality types. Hmmm. We have now been on the field for more than twenty-five years.
So is there any value to these tests? Can they help with team unity and understanding? Or are they a waste of time?
In spite of my negative experiences with them, I have to say they are very helpful if approached in the right way. They shine a light on the differences between team members. Understanding personality types for various team members can bring a much better understanding.
In last week’s blog, I introduced three areas where teams have misunderstandings. Let’s go into a bit more detail now on personality types and temperaments.
Differences in personality and temperament can drive us apart. Or, they can make us into a strong and effective team.
Much depends on whether we decide to celebrate and affirm our differences. In contrast, we might be tempted to do the opposite. We can secretly want everyone to behave, value and think about things the same as we do. When we allow ourselves to have that internal perspective, we end up critical and angry.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Gal 5:13-15 NIV
There are many good tools for learning about your personality type and temperament. Take a look at my free download of the various tools I have used. Choose one that you will use as a team. I personally like the DISC test. (In spite of not liking the initial results for my own personality!) I like it because it is quite easy to understand. But there are many good options you can use.
Make time in your normal work schedule to do this test and receive your individual results.
After taking the tests, set aside a time to share these results with one another. If you are the team leader, ask permission to have a copy of the results from each person. You will need to study these. Be serious about learning who each person on the team is and how they best function.
If you can, go on a short retreat away and spend a day together. Do some fun things and also reviewing the results of your personality tests.
Have each person share their results and then receive feedback from the others on the team. It is important that you take time to affirm the positive aspects of that person’s personality as they share. Some may feel insecure or threatened by the test’s results.
Then, pray for one another. Ask God to help each of you to be fully free to be yourselves within the team. Pray that each person would feel valued in who they individually are.
There will be some negative things that come up in the tests as well. Take note of these things, but do not focus on them. Instead, think of them as areas where help and encouragement from other team members are needed.
Particularly if you are the team leader, the information you gain from these tests is extremely valuable. Study and learn from it.
Use this understanding of the personality types within your team to guide you. It will help you as you assign various roles and tasks. You want people to be in their “sweet spot” – the place where they function with excellence and joy. You don’t want them to struggle to do things that are not a good fit for their personality type. That won’t serve them or the team well.
Also, keep personality types in mind as you consider the needs of people in the team. Some of your team members need detailed information provided before they can “buy in” to a plan. (The S and C’s on DISC for example).
Others need the freedom to innovate and create or they will feel controlled.
Questions to Consider:
Personality types and temperaments are not the only thing that can cause disunity in a team. They are certainly one of the major issues to consider though. It is worth putting in time and effort to understand one another in this area.
Have you tried this in your team yet? If so, how did it go? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook page.
Pretending to ride a horse on his back, traveling on motorcycles to distant villages and sharing the good news of Jesus with others…these are a few of my memories of dad. The love, affirmation, and acceptance of our fathers is a powerful force in our …