The Task
A few weeks ago, our family completed "field personnel orientation" with our missions sending organization. In my previous post, I described the campus where we lived and our daily schedule. In this post I'd like to give you an overview of what we learned.
What does it mean to be a missionary? The word missionary does not appear in the Bible, but if we hold the Bible as our ultimate authority in all things (which we do), then we must use it as our standard for faith and practice, including how we understand and practice missions.
The whole Bible cries for the earth to know the Lord and proclaim his glory (as in Psalm 96:3), but the New Testament book of Acts gives the account of how the first disciples of Christ spread the gospel (good news) about Jesus. They were "sent-out ones" (Mark 3:14), and as missionaries, we follow in their footsteps by preaching the gospel to those who have not heard in order to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) and help them form healthy churches that will multiply as they take on this task for themselves.
So throughout our orientation, or training, we studied the book of Acts as a blueprint for the missionary task. This task has five steps: entry, evangelism, discipleship/leadership development, healthy church formation, and exit.
Entry. As missionaries, we enter a new place and a new culture, and how we do this sets the stage for everything that follows. Entry takes much prayer, thought, and discernment. We know that God is already working in the places we're going, and we want to find out how and where so we can join Him.
Evangelism. Sharing the gospel is the heart of the missionary task. We do not go to sell our brand of religion to people. We go to tell people about the God who created them, who loves them, who wants them to know and worship him. As Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3, while we are responsible to preach, God is the one who transforms hearts; he is responsible for the outcome of our sowing.
Discipleship/Leadership Development. Our goal is not to start a church on our own and pastor it. Churches cannot multiply locally unless they have local leaders who can train other local leaders (2 Timothy 2:2). So as we disciple new believers, through prayer and the discernment of the Holy Spirit, we identify those who have a desire to learn and lead, and we train them, as Paul did with men like Timothy and Epaphroditus. We do so with the goal of exit in mind.
Healthy Church Formation. We learned the Biblical characteristics of healthy churches so that as we evangelize and train leaders, we can teach them these characteristics in the hope that the churches they form will be healthy. These characteristics include worship, Biblical preaching and teaching, prayer, giving, fellowship, evangelism, ministry, and missions.
Exit. Many times in the book of Acts, Paul had to exit before he was ready because of persecution. In Ephesus, he stayed around three years, until after the church there was healthy and multiplying. So we begin our work with exit in mind, and we continually evaluate as we go so we recognize the time to leave: "Our goal is to complete the missionary task in each people group or place and then to exit, with the new churches from the people group or place as our partners in the ongoing task of global evangelism," as the director of our training explained to us.
We are eager to begin this task! For now, we have been delayed because of unexpected visa requirements. The Mozambican Embassy received all the documents they initially said they needed; however, they called us yesterday and said there is one more document required. Thankfully, this document can be e-mailed to them. But once they receive it, they told us it will take them ten business days to process the visas.
Please pray for speedy visa processing, and pray for us to be patient and trust the Lord as we wait. For now, we will focus on the part of the missionary task that might very well be the most crucial as we prepare to enter: prayer!
"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." Colossians 1:9-12
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| Our Mapping Ceremony at the end of our training |
What does it mean to be a missionary? The word missionary does not appear in the Bible, but if we hold the Bible as our ultimate authority in all things (which we do), then we must use it as our standard for faith and practice, including how we understand and practice missions.
The whole Bible cries for the earth to know the Lord and proclaim his glory (as in Psalm 96:3), but the New Testament book of Acts gives the account of how the first disciples of Christ spread the gospel (good news) about Jesus. They were "sent-out ones" (Mark 3:14), and as missionaries, we follow in their footsteps by preaching the gospel to those who have not heard in order to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) and help them form healthy churches that will multiply as they take on this task for themselves.
So throughout our orientation, or training, we studied the book of Acts as a blueprint for the missionary task. This task has five steps: entry, evangelism, discipleship/leadership development, healthy church formation, and exit.
Entry. As missionaries, we enter a new place and a new culture, and how we do this sets the stage for everything that follows. Entry takes much prayer, thought, and discernment. We know that God is already working in the places we're going, and we want to find out how and where so we can join Him.
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| Practicing trying new food and drink as we prepare to enter a new culture |
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| "Different isn't always bad, it's just different!" |
Evangelism. Sharing the gospel is the heart of the missionary task. We do not go to sell our brand of religion to people. We go to tell people about the God who created them, who loves them, who wants them to know and worship him. As Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3, while we are responsible to preach, God is the one who transforms hearts; he is responsible for the outcome of our sowing.
 |
| Visiting a Richmond ethnic restaurant during one of our evangelism practice days |
Discipleship/Leadership Development. Our goal is not to start a church on our own and pastor it. Churches cannot multiply locally unless they have local leaders who can train other local leaders (2 Timothy 2:2). So as we disciple new believers, through prayer and the discernment of the Holy Spirit, we identify those who have a desire to learn and lead, and we train them, as Paul did with men like Timothy and Epaphroditus. We do so with the goal of exit in mind.
Healthy Church Formation. We learned the Biblical characteristics of healthy churches so that as we evangelize and train leaders, we can teach them these characteristics in the hope that the churches they form will be healthy. These characteristics include worship, Biblical preaching and teaching, prayer, giving, fellowship, evangelism, ministry, and missions.
Exit. Many times in the book of Acts, Paul had to exit before he was ready because of persecution. In Ephesus, he stayed around three years, until after the church there was healthy and multiplying. So we begin our work with exit in mind, and we continually evaluate as we go so we recognize the time to leave: "Our goal is to complete the missionary task in each people group or place and then to exit, with the new churches from the people group or place as our partners in the ongoing task of global evangelism," as the director of our training explained to us.
We are eager to begin this task! For now, we have been delayed because of unexpected visa requirements. The Mozambican Embassy received all the documents they initially said they needed; however, they called us yesterday and said there is one more document required. Thankfully, this document can be e-mailed to them. But once they receive it, they told us it will take them ten business days to process the visas.
Please pray for speedy visa processing, and pray for us to be patient and trust the Lord as we wait. For now, we will focus on the part of the missionary task that might very well be the most crucial as we prepare to enter: prayer!
"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." Colossians 1:9-12
Praying for your visas to be processed quickly.
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