MISSIOLOGY
LECTURE 26
Preparing to be a Missionary
Praise the Lord! You now know that God has indeed called you to be a Missionary (or helper)! You’re excited; you’re obsessed with the whole thing; you want to get going with it all; you want to be there already! If you could, you would buy a plane ticket tomorrow and take off for your new life as a Missionary….
But, just because you’ve recognized and submitted to the call of God, doesn’t necessarily mean that you are to head for the hills the following day. There is probably a lot of preparation left for you before that great day.
Here are some areas to briefly discuss with the class:
Training prep.
Family prep.
Financial prep.
Purity prep.
Commitment prep.
Personal devotion prep.
Travel prep.
Culture prep.
Health prep.
These, and many other areas, will be discussed in much detail later on in this course.
Acts 13:1-3 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
A Missionary needs to be preparing for the work ahead of them by serving the Lord in their own church with all they’ve got! They need to be ministering and fasting. The Holy Spirit will then tell them and the church when and where to send them.
Mark 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
Acts 13:2-6 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
I believe that God intends for every Missionary to have a fellow Missionary (2nd man) to go with him. Thus, the called Missionary needs to find that 2nd man. That man that will co-labor with him on the field. That man that will be a helper, a motivator, a friend, a fellow preacher. You might be the 2nd man for someone else. But, you need to get this figured out. He, most likely, is a member with you in your church.
1 Cor 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Start running for the prize (getting to your field); don’t move slowly; don’t meander your way there. You’ll need to be temperate in all things in your life now; moderation; self-control; mastering your control over all the lovely American temptations out there. Keep your eyes on the goal, the prize. Africa, or Indonesia, or India, might not be a wonderful paradise, but that is your prize! So run, that ye may obtain. Don’t be fond of American lifestyle anymore. Hate the comforts of life; despise TV; get sick of nice restaurants; loathe the comforts of home. Don’t blow it and become a castaway; don’t still desire the leeks in Egypt and end up murmuring and complaining your whole time in the wilderness of Russia!
John 15:2-4 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
There is a lot of fruit to be born there in the field God has called you to. Right now you are probably not bearing tons of fruit. Therefore, God is going to be purging you in order to bring forth more fruit. It involves you staying very close to Him and realizing how dependent you are on Him for…everything. The Missionary preparation time is one of being on an intense learning curve in your spiritual life.
Gal 1:15-18 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
God wants to reveal His Son in you; you will be preaching Him among the Heathen. He has called you by His grace.
You are to follow the Lord in His training program for you. You need to have formal education to be a Missionary; but this doesn’t mean that you go to the popular Bible College (Jerusalem) as all others before you have gone to; no, it means that you go ‘in the desert’ for maybe 3 years and get trained…by your Pastor. The real training comes from the Holy Spirit, not conferring with flesh and blood (man’s popular view on things).
Rom 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It is time to present your body as a living sacrifice; God doesn’t want to use someone who is still hanging on to this ol’ world. He wants someone that has detached himself officially from it; this takes sacrifice. He expects His Missionaries to lead holy lives; this is acceptable unto God, and is very reasonable for service as a Missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ. There needs to be a ‘transformation’ in your life as you prepare to go to the field. As you make this change, it will come about that you will prove God’s perfect will in your life as you go to Kenya, or Bagdad, or Paris, or Lima, as a Missionary for Him!
2 Cor 6:4-10 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Life as a future Missionary is going to probably be full of challenging situations. You will need to prepare yourself for tough times; for lean times; for sad times; for dangerous times; for confusing times; for life-threatening times. How does one do this? A soldier goes thru training exercises. A Missionary soldier needs to go thru some exercises also. He needs some challenging scenarios to come his way to help prepare him for the battle ‘field’. Preparing to be a Missionary should be full of challenging circumstances that are brought about by the Lord to eventually allow you to one day be approved in all things as a minister of God.
1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
You will probably need to go through some trials of your faith to prepare you, temper you, for what is to come. Getting ready for the Mission field is a very exciting time, but also a very challenging one too.
Rom 5:3-4 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
These months or years in preparation for the mission field will be ones of character building. Tribulations will come and make you more patient; and this will give you great, invaluable experience; and you will have hope for whatever the future may bring; for those jungles of Zambia, or the deserts of Iran, or the hills of North Korea, will require much patience, past experience to pull from, and great hope in God.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Get the skeletons out of the closet! Get all those things that might come to haunt you some day, all out and taken care of! Those things that have been a persistant hurt to you serving the Lord, need to be finally, once and for all, layed aside. No more can you afford to have sins hanging on you that keep slowing you down. You’ve got a difficult road ahead, and you need to have all distractions gone.
Rom 7:23-25 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Your biggest enemy is yourself! You need to get yourself under control! Don’t let your flesh keep controlling you. On the Mission field you must be ‘invincible’; you can’t be one that is up one day and down the next. You need to have this warring within you be under very good control. Your flesh will be all the more weaker on the Mission field. It will want the luxuries of America. It will miss family and friends. It will miss fast food restaurants. It will miss high speed internet access…
2 Tim 2:20-22 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Prov 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
There is probably a lot of ‘dross’ that needs to come off the Missionary as he awaits going to the field. There needs to be time and effort put in to having him come forth a vessel for the finer. Get rid of excesses in the life; remove those sins which do so easily beset you; have a squeeky clean testimony…above reproach. Watch out for that youthful, sillyness. Be an honourable man. Ask God to take away the ‘rough’ stuff in your life…the things that hurt the appearance.
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