Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
“A vacation? I don’t need that! It’s expensive,” we say. “The needs of the ministry are too pressing.” The same goes for food, exercise, rest…even fun. Missionaries take care of everyone else, but self-care is usually last on our long list of needs. This philosophy …
Mission work often attracts mavericks. The challenge, the adventure of going to a far off and difficult place, it inspires pioneer types. Not every missionary has a maverick personality, but many do. These character qualities are a great help in the boldness and tenacity needed …
Pass the baton. You know this principle. 2 Timothy 2:2 says it so clearly. Paul discipled Timothy, Timothy entrusted the teaching to faithful men. They passed it on to others also. Leaders who hold on to authority may grow powerful. The scope of their ministry will be limited though. It can not grow beyond them. If you want to see your ministry become fruitful, learn to identify and empower others.
Its not easy. These leaders usually don’t seem ready. We see their many flaws. It’s easy to wonder if they can handle the weight of responsibility. Do they have the necessary skills and commitment to lead?
Moses faced these same questions I’m sure. God told him to commission his aide Joshua. Moses would not lead the people to inherit the Promised Land. Joshua would.
What if Moses had held on to authority? What if he had second-guessed the situation? Joshua had served and been with Moses for a long time. I’m sure he knew his faults.
Obeying God, Moses chose to commission Joshua. He encouraged and strengthened the younger leader. Moses’ willingness to let go of power paved the way for Israel to receive God’s Promised Land.
He was young and unproven. His background was colorful. Though well educated, he’d struggled with drugs and alcohol in his teen years. When I first met Mark, I wasn’t sure about him. He was passionate about mobilizing his people group into missions and came with some great new ideas though.
Pulling him in, I invited him to join my team in hosting a big event. As we worked together, I saw his growing commitment to the Lord’s work. We sat and drank tea after a long day and he shared his dreams with me. I listened and encouraged, also observing his actions.
He had worked under other leaders. They appreciated his talents but had used him to develop their own ministries. Mark had never had a leader who encouraged him in his own dreams and ideas.
After the event finished, I invited him to join me as my personal assistant. We worked together more closely. I mentored him and spoke more deeply into his life. Inner healing issues surfaced. My husband and I prayed with him for freedom. He soon became a vital part of what we were endeavoring to do in the ministry.
The day came when Mark began to share with me about his vision for another nation. It was burning in his heart. I faced a choice. Would I release and encourage him? That meant I would lose his help for my own vision. It was not an easy choice!
I knew that if I gave away and released rather than holding on to power and people, I’d ultimately see greater fruit. If God was putting this in his heart, my role was to help him develop and step into his vision. As an elder and leader, I was to train and release, not control.
Encouraging him to pursue this passion in his heart, we spoke about an exploratory trip to the nation he was dreaming about going to one day. Pulling money from my own ministry funds, I gave him seed money to begin to pursue this.
Today he serves in that nation. God is using Mark to train and raise up many others who have come to Christ there. I’m so glad I didn’t hold on to him but helped him pursue the dreams of God in his heart!
“But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”
Deuteronomy 3:28 NIV.
Sometimes as leaders we have the opportunity to formally commission someone. We lay hands on them and pray as we see the elders did to Barnabas and Paul in Acts chapter thirteen. This has great value and is biblical to do.
There are many other ways we can “commission” younger leaders as well. Giving a title or role is a way of commissioning. Do you have a young person with a heart for social media evangelism? Give them the title “Social Media Evangelism Coordinator.” Lay hands on them, pray, and tell them to go for it!
The blessing of an elder to pursue something new makes a huge difference in a young person’s life.
Or maybe someone has a passion for prayer. Call them the “Prayer Team Development Leader.” Find creative ways to commission and release younger people into their God-given ideas.
After you’ve commissioned by laying on of hands or giving some kind of a title, your work is not done. They still need you to walk with them. Meet with them often. Ask how things are going. Sit with them and coach them into developing plans and action steps. Affirm their efforts with generous praise. Be there when they fail to troubleshoot problems and encourage them to try again.
One of the greatest ways we strengthen younger leaders is by praying for them. Share prophetic words or scriptures God gives you for them. Show up at their events or meetings to lend your support. Often your presence alone is enough to give them hope and courage. Endorse what they are doing and speak blessing over them publicly. (Always correct privately.)
Hundreds of ministries have fallen apart because older leaders refused to let go. They pioneered God-given vision. Great sacrifices were made as they were led by God to establish ministries. The greater the investment you have made to birth something, the harder it is to trust a younger leader to carry it forward. Yet failure to release and trust younger people working under you will ultimately destroy your ministry.
Start early. Get in the habit of trusting and empowering young leaders who have potential. If this becomes a normal practice in the way you function as a leader, it will be much easier when the time is right to relinquish control. That time will likely be sooner than you think it is. This practice will cause your ministry to grow beyond your own capacity…to multiply.
Don’t be a leader who struggles to let go. Be a releaser, someone who commissions, encourages, and strengthens others.
Who could you commission, encourage, and strengthen this week? Whether this is a formal laying on of hands in a public way, or simply a few words of blessing saying “Go for it!”, find someone you can release and give away some of your authority and influence to.
I’d love to hear about how you do this. Comment below or share on the Missionary Life Facebook group.
*name changed for his protection.
When you see a Muslim woman, dressed in her hijab, many Christians feel afraid. They avoid talking to people of other cultures. One of my relatives recently befriended a woman from another faith background. It’s been interesting to watch her reach out. As far as …
“I’m not finding anyone who is open to the gospel,” he told me in a call. I asked further questions. “Who are you wanting to reach?” He described his vision to reach high caste Hindus in his area. As we talked further, I asked him …
You love Jesus and want to tell other people about Him. Maybe you have even shared your faith with many people in your own country or from your own culture. That’s great! How do you begin to reach your Hindu neighbors?
Would it be better to study the language first? Do you need to be close friends with the people you are trying to reach before sharing your faith?
I’d like to try to answer these questions in this article.
Learning the language is highly beneficial in becoming a more effective cross-cultural worker. If you don’t make a habit of sharing your faith now though, you probably won’t do it, even when you are fluent in their language.
A few basic foundational understandings are helpful. You can get started sharing Jesus with Hindus right away.
In response to the question of friendship evangelism, I want to present two principles.
I have seen some of our staff invest deeply in friendships with Hindus for many years. When they finally present the gospel, their friends have rejected it outright.
We don’t know how a Hindu will respond to the gospel until we talk about Jesus with them. It’s best to share your relationship with Christ early on.
When we meet someone for the first time, we talk about the things that are most important to us within the first thirty minutes. Think about it – you talk about your family, your ideas and your dreams. Some people say it’s not normal or it’s awkward to share our faith right away.
If we say Jesus is central to our lives, yet we don’t mention Him when we begin a conversation with someone we recently met, that’s not normal.
Now that you know that you CAN share your faith with Hindus right away, let’s talk about HOW you can go about doing that.
Though this idea may be difficult for us to understand, the reality is that Hindus respect Jesus as a spiritual teacher. Christians and Christianity are a different matter.
This has much to do with history. The imperialistic nature of the British rule of India, during the colonial period, had a great impact. This caused Christianity to seen by Hindus as a religion for a different culture and community than their own.
In their view, it was not a culture of high morals.
Gandhi was impacted by the teachings of Jesus. But he grew up thinking that a Christian was someone, “born with beef in one hand and brandy in the other.” For a Hindu, drinking alcohol and eating beef is immoral.
This feeling was increased by the negative connotations associated with the word “conversion”.
Hindus believe that conversion means being removed from their family, community, and culture. It may even mean losing their identity. Added to this is the belief that conversion is something that is forced. It is something that is done to someone, not a positive decision they make themselves.
There is an irony in asking the question, “Do you want to be forgiven of your sins and follow Jesus?” To a Hindu, their underlying assumption of what they would be doing, if they took that step, is that they would be committing a great sin. They would be abandoning their dharma – their social obligations and responsibilities.
You must combat this great unspoken assumption of Hindus. Following Jesus is not the “conversion” they have heard about. Speak directly against that misconception. Affirm that this is not what Jesus taught – along with a clear presentation of the Gospel.
In Matthew 23:15, Jesus condemned the Pharisees who traveled far and wide to make converts. This verse uses the Greek word proselytes. It is where we get the modern word ‘proselytize’. Jesus taught about a heart transformation, not an outer conversion. You can share this as you present the gospel to Hindus.
One of our staff invited me to come and speak to a friend of his. He was still learning the local language, so he hadn’t been able to give a full presentation of the gospel to his friend. As I shared with this young man, I told him about who Jesus was, what He taught, and how He died for our sins but was then raised to life again! I didn’t stop there.
I also told him the story of the demoniac from Mark chapter five. After the man was dramatically healed, he wanted to follow Jesus. I shared how Jesus’ disciples were from a different community than the man. Coming with Jesus would have cut him off from his community and family.
Jesus’ response to him was this, “No, go home to your family and tell them everything the Lord has done for you.” I shared with this young man that Jesus doesn’t ask him to leave his family or community. Jesus wanted him to be the vessel through which his family comes to faith!
I said, “Jesus didn’t talk about conversion, he talked about transformation. Not an outward change, an inward change of the heart. That’s what following Jesus is about.“
As I shared this story, I saw this young man’s eyes open. He understood what following Jesus truly meant. The stumbling blocks of foreign religion and imperialistic Christianity were removed. This left only Jesus Himself as the door through which to pass.
Sin and atonement are central to the Gospel story. For many Hindus (especially high caste groups), killing and sacrificing animals is a sin. That’s a hard place to start. There is another option.
One of the most powerful illustrations of the sacrifice of Jesus is the use of the coconut as an analogy for His death. Hindus use coconuts as offerings. They are broken open as an offering to their gods.
Hindus offer countless prayers and make offerings of flowers and coconuts. We can refer to this, then share that Jesus was the only true offering to God which made it possible for our sins to be forgiven forever.
Using this analogy, we can say that in the same way that the coconut is broken, the body of Jesus was broken for us. As the milk spills out of the coconut, Jesus’ blood spilled from His side. Through this perfect and holy offering, we are made clean and white, just like the inside of the coconut.
A video demonstration of how to use this analogy and other great resources are available in Create International’s Tool Kit for Hindu Peoples. Grab a copy today!
There are many other bridges that you will come across in your journey of sharing the Gospel with Hindus. These may be a story from their culture, a word or concept, or even a poem or song.
You will notice other barriers as well, false underlying assumptions they have about what Christianity is. By keeping an eye out for these things, you can discern what is going on under the surface.
If they say “no” when you invite them to follow Christ, you can ask, “What are they saying no to? Is it no to following Jesus or to something else that is unspoken but understood?”
Finally, remember this. Until we get out there and start sharing with Hindus, we won’t discover what the unique bridges and barriers are for our Hindu friends. Be mindful of these cultural things, but share the story of Jesus and the testimony of what He has done in your life with love and boldness. God be with you as you go!
Two billion people on our planet are born, live and die without even once hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! That’s an injustice that doesn’t end with death. Many Christ-followers want to help right this wrong. Why not personally share the good news …
Frontier missionaries are usually risk-takers. Courageous and bold, we go where others wouldn’t. We stay when others leave. Deep commitment to the task of reaching the lost motivates us to a life of sacrifice. What risks are unwise to take? Does missionary safety matter? If …
Some contemplatives live in a monastery cloistered far away from a broken world. Others engage with it believing that God’s transformation is not only for us but for many. Rich Villodas and his co-author Peter Scazzero live into this tension well. The Deeply Formed Life: 5 Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus was the winner of the Christianity Today Book Award last year. Reading it, one can see why. The breadth and depth of this book make it one I’ll not read once, but be planning to re-read every few years.
Villodas writes on page 173, “Our most effective strategy in reaching a world for Christ is grounded in the kind of people we are being formed into.” I agree. We cannot apply good ministry and disciple-making strategies and hope for good fruit. Our very lives must reflect the Jesus we work so hard to share.
This means we must be willing to take a journey of spiritual formation that involves our whole person-our sexuality, racial prejudices, mental health, areas of anxiety, relationships, and more. Villodas’ book speaks boldly to them all showing a breadth of understanding of spiritual formation I’ve not seen elsewhere.
Our spirituality, as Villodas says, is often “shallowly shaped” rather than deeply formed (p. 27). This causes us to be unaware of places where we need His transforming power and life to flow.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
– Romans 12:2 NLT
My takeaways follow three main categories.
I wish I could say I’ve conquered busyness and learned well how to slow down. It isn’t as if I don’t know of its importance. Yet this remains a constant challenge where if I am not vigilant, I find myself too busy and with too few margins in my life once again. The result is always less connection with the One who gives me life. The great danger is that if I am not deeply connected to Jesus, I’ll begin to strive in the flesh. I will work hard to produce, and doing will overwhelm being.
Villodas says, “the problem before us is not just the frenetic pace we live at but what gets pushed out from our lives as a result; that is, life with God” (p. 5). He goes on to say, “As long as we remain enslaved to a culture of speed, superficiality, and distraction, we will not be the people God longs for us to be.”
He then describes his own ways of slowing down to be with God in silence, solitude, and Sabbath. To live a fruitful life, we must learn not only to do this once in a while but to build it into our spiritual rhythm and practice of life. Apart from it, we are apart from God. And apart from God, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
Villodas writes, “Racial justice and reconciliation remain two of the most urgent matters of faith and public witness.” When the Church doesn’t get this matter right, the way the world sees us as Christians is greatly affected. At first, I was surprised to find a chapter on racial reconciliation included in a book on spiritual formation. That would not have been my first thought.
The author goes on to say, “Sadly, there is often a hyperspiritual perspective held by many Christians who see racial justice and reconciliation as optional or ancillary to the gospel.” The more I read the two chapters included in the book on this topic, the more I agreed. It is indeed part of our formation as Jesus followers that we deal with personal prejudices and issues of the heart. We must also, however, be willing to engage with this issue in our world.
When working in North-east India, I remember teaching in a Discipleship Training School for YWAM. I taught the Jonah story and called them toward mission engagement with the plains Indians that were so unreached. As I taught, hatred and racism against the rest of India surfaced. Dark-skinned Indians were not honored or liked by light-skinned North Indians. Tribals were often looked down on and thus looked down on others. There was deep pain and a need for reconciliation between the varied people groups around us.
“At the core of racism is the lie that some people are superior or inferior to others. This happens across all different people groups” (p. 56.) All of us must be willing to consider where our history and upbringing have sown seeds of racist thought in our individual hearts. But it can’t stop there. As Villodas writes on page 56, “Individual racial prejudice is about how we negatively and often violently perceive others, but institutional racism is about how power is used.” Examining how we use power in our Christian institutions is not easy. Yet it is vital to our witness and formation. It takes great courage and humility to be willing to examine and evaluate this. Many are not willing to go there and resist defensively. Instead, let’s be open to the Holy Spirit’s work in us and our ministries too.
Chapters Seven and Eight address issues of sexuality with wisdom, vulnerability, and transparency. There is much here to learn from. He writes, “When sex is reduced to the moment, our lives with each other become transactional and potentially objectifying. When it is seen as simply an act, our spouses’ bodies become means to an end and we are in danger of having marriages shaped by using and not communion.”
Earlier in the chapter, it says, “lovemaking takes practice, and it begins outside the bedroom.” The book also addresses issues of sexual abuse, trauma, and singleness. These chapters give the reader, whether married or single, much to consider and prayerfully apply.
I recognize that many of my readers do not have the ability to buy the books I review. If you do, this is one I’d definitely encourage you to grab a copy. If the book is not available where you live, or you don’t have the means to get one, I trust this short review will give you food for thought.
Spiritual formation is vital to our lives as Jesus’ followers. It must not be ignored or shoved in a corner while we pursue ministry goals. This is true for me, and it’s true for you.
Have you been paying enough attention to your inner life with God? Are you distracted by ministry pressures and priorities? If that is the trajectory you are on, don’t wait to make a course correction. Make time for your own transformation into greater Christ-likeness.
Take a Sabbath. Begin a journaling habit. Go on a retreat where you don’t think or pray about ministry stuff. Instead, you simply enjoy Jesus and allow Him to speak to you about who you are and who you are becoming.
Villodas calls our inner life, interiority. I’ll close with this quote. “A life with God for the sake of interiority requires time.” Let’s make time to let Christ be formed in us, to be, not only do.
Borders closing. Food shelves bare. Churches unable to meet. Never in history have we encountered anything quite like what our world is facing. How we respond as Jesus followers says a lot about who we are. As missionaries, will we seize this opportunity to share …