My father thought he could never be a missionary because he wasn’t a doctor or a preacher and then he visited a missionary on the field. Now, he’s served over four decades fruitfully on the field.
There is a need for Christians serving in a variety of ways in missions.
Just as “overseas” is not one, monochromatic place, neither are the needs and opportunities for service identical everywhere. Just as within a local church, while the preaching of the Word of God is primary, there exists a need for many members with many different gifts for the church to rightly function (1 Corinthians 12), so too in missions, there is a need and value in Christians serving in a variety of ways, under the one God who gives the growth.
We don’t need missionaries who come with a specific idea of how to serve, who are unwilling to adjust according to what’s useful to a specific context. This is not a “choose your own adventure” menu. Rather, I want to help you to have a better sense of the different forms ministry tends to take so that you can set your expectations properly.
Translation and Publishing
We are unabashedly people of the Book. That means people need the Book in languages they can understand. That requires disciplined, rigorous work to ensure both faithfulness to the text and comprehensibility in the new language.
Evangelism
How can they be saved unless they believe? How can they believe unless they hear? How can they hear unless they are told?
One-to-One Discipleship
This might be carried out through being a part of a church together, one-to-one Bible reading, or simply talking with them through the decisions of their lives as a trusted friend.
Raising Up and Training Local Leaders
If we are to see those places that currently have young, weak churches learn to share in carrying out the Great Commission, those churches need to establish local leaders. As Paul taught Timothy, faithful men able to teach others is crucial to the continuance of a faithful ministry (2 Timothy 2:2).
Modeling Maturity (Individually and Corporately)
In today’s internet-saturated world, many people think they understand the gospel because they’ve read about Christians online. What’s missing is the testimony of Christians offering their entire lives as living sacrifices to the Lord.
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard young believers express that you can’t be a healthy Christian in the workforce “in this country,” “in the university dorms here” or “in this culture.” They think that because they’ve never seen a Christian faithfully work a secular job, respond to insults, or raise children—in any environment.
Missionaries need to know that their lives are being watched—even when they think they are just doing the mundane work of cleaning their home or finishing their work. The tedious 9-5 of a full-time secular job may feel like a necessary evil—a platform that gives you an excuse to live there.
But such work is part of platforming the power of God in the gospel to transform lives. Suffering and plodding endurance are far more persuasive arguments for the truth of Christianity than many of the ones we prefer to use.
Administrative Help
Moving to another country is difficult. Handling things like taxes, insurance, and retirement across multiple nations is complicated. Figuring out the logistics necessary to live internationally requires a different skill set than evangelism and discipleship. People gifted in such ways can help missionaries more gifted in the “front-line” work of evangelism and discipleship by providing a different kind of expertise.
Strategic Leadership
The work of ministry rarely moves in a straight line. There are no formulas that guarantee a person will be converted or a church will be planted in a given period. The Spirit blows where he wills (John 3:8). One practical result of that is it’s difficult to keep track of the value of your daily work as a missionary.
Missionaries need to be aware that the kind of work they give their time to is going to change and morph over time.
Those able to give strategic leadership and encouragement to other missionaries are incredibly valuable in strengthening the ministry of many, even if it means an individual has less time for their personal ministry.
These are just some generalities of the kind of work involved in global missions. Just as in exercising spiritual gifts in the context of a local church, the ministry of missionaries should be shaped by careful attention to the needs of where they are, not just your internal sense of purpose.
The ways you serve in your church should not be restricted to one or two “gifts,” to the exclusion of ever helping in other ways. Likewise, missionaries need to be aware that the kind of work they give their time to is going to change and morph over time.
We are servants in the Lord’s house. All our labor is in vain unless he builds the house (Psalm 127:1). May the Lord establish the work of your hands.
