15 Ways to Bless Your Missionaries

Hey guys I know it’s not Friday but I thought this might be helpful and encouraging. I stumbled on this the other day on Justin Taylor’s blog. This is what he wrote, enjoy:

Here are 15 post-office-free ideas to get you started, most of which you could do right now from your desk, written by an anonymous 30-year-old missionary:

1. Pray specific Scripture for them and their ministry, and then email it to them.

2. Call or email their parents—Christmas might be just as lonely for the ones at home as the ones away.

3. Purchase credits on Skype so they can stay in touch with family and friends.

4. Donate frequent flier miles to them.

5. Ask them if you can host an evening of prayer of them and the local people who work with them.

6. Purchase an iTunes gift card for them. You can send these through email or if you buy a physical card simply email them the code on the back.

7. Commit to pray for them on a specific day of the week for a year.

8. Write a song or poem or story for them. Email them the text and a recording of you reading or singing it.

9. Get friends and family together to create a holiday video greeting for them on YouTube or Vimeo. Include lots of people you know they miss. (If people are working in sensitive locations you may want to make this a “private video.”)

10. Make a year-end gift through their missions board or agency.

11. PayPal—the fastest and easiest way to send money.

12. Call their local florist (not everyone is in the jungle these days) and have flowers delivered, or their local Pizza Hut and have pizza delivered—with corn and shrimp as toppings!

13. Send them a gift card for a Bible Study platform like OliveTree or Logos.

14. Donate to a charity that means a lot to them.

15. Make a monthly commitment to support them financially.

Missions Happening in Russia

It's an absolute honor having Madison Gilbert write on Operation 10:14 for me! You can see her passion overflowing in her writing. I hope you enjoy, glory to God! Here it is: 

It was the second day of my first mission trip. My excitement was overwhelming and my nervousness over the top as we headed to an oncology ward  in a small town in Russia. This was my first chance to proclaim Christ over there and a homely Russian man who was dying of cancer asked me why I was there and what we were doing. My thoughts at that moment included: "This is why God sent me here! This is what we have been practicing! God will use me to save this man!" A fellow missionary and I greeted him, talked to him, and told him all about God and Jesus. He listened so intently! He asked several questions! I was so hopeful! Then, to my honest surprise, he turned away and said he wasn't interested. Trying to hide my disappointment, I (along with the other Christian fellow) thanked him for his time and asked if we could talk more or meet again. He said he just didn't want to talk to us anymore and didn't want to hear any more about Jesus.

Truthfully, I was devastated! I spent so much of that day trying to figure out what we said to turn him off from this news. I was disappointed that the events I pictured occurring (and those I had heard from other mission trips) did not come to fruition at all.

Disappointment is such a funny thing! In one sense it is discouraging and made me want to curl up in a ball and stop sharing about Christ, but in another, it encouraged me to seek God and ask Him to change this man's heart! The book of Joshua in the Bible gives us such a great truth that we must refer to in these circumstances: "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go" -Joshua 1:9

I still pray for Dmitri. I don't even know if he is still alive, but just in case, I pray. I pray because I know that I once was in his shoes and wanted nothing to do with Christ. I pray because God hears the prayers of his children and it delights His heart to hear my heart! But I also pray because it is the most powerful thing I can do for this man and for God's kingdom--and we can't take that lightly! 

"In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God's work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer" -Dick Eastman

I tell this incredibly disappointing story not because I want to scare you from ever doing a mission trip or talking to others about Christ's love, but because I want to portray how incredibly difficult talking about Christ can be! It is a serious task Christ gives us, one that sometimes brings rejection and heartache. If we are not daily praying for those (including ourselves) who are spending their time for the sake of Christ, we really should reconsider doing so!  

"The history of missions is the history of answered prayer" -Samuel Zwemer

Dmitri needed to hear what we were saying.  We told him about the most important life anyone has ever lived on Earth--news that has the potential to change and save lives forever. I know that he at least has (or had) the chance to make a decision about who would take the punishment for his sins and who he would live for. What is it that I really believe if I am unwilling to tell people words that would prevent them from going to Hell and being in the worst of misery for the rest of their lives? We tell others because we have the cure and can heal the sick/dead in spirit! This is a critical task that can be quite unpopular, but such a miracle all the while. We tell because we love others and because God tells us to!

Though this was my first exposure to going into the world to make disciples, I have been blessed by many other opportunities and stories that I still marvel at God for! It is hard work, but knowing that God is glorified in our obedience is a beautiful thing--no matter what the immediate results may be!

God's workings are marvelous and profound, and as I sit here thinking about all the lives changed in the small amount of time I have spent overseas, I see that God is not limited by time, money, or experience, but is glorified in our obedience to go or send others to go. For that, I am grateful!

"I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!" -Isobel Kuhn

The Incredible Patience of William Carey

The Incredible Patience of William Carey

          William Carey a young Pastor stood up in front of everyone at a meeting with other Baptists in the late 1700’s. He was fighting for the importance of global missions. This man had guts, he believed every word what Jesus said in The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

            “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” William did not see that The Christian Church was obeying this command to go to every country and proclaim the Gospel. God was calling him to missions outside the country of England!

            A short while later young William Carey was on a ship with his good friend, wife, three boys, and a child on the way heading to do long term missions in India. Think about that! Have you ever gone to another city, state, or country before to live for the very first time? He was going somewhere that had a whole different language and culture and had no idea what to expect. He did it all for a calling.

We all can really use this example in our lives, to trust God with everything from our family, work, school, you name it. Think of what God can do when we trust him in every aspect of our lives! I have to remind myself daily to trust our Creator.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” Psalm 3:5

William and his family landed in Calcutta, India on November 11, 1793. Not knowing the culture and language became very stressful and tough for the family. He struggled finding a job, illness, loneliness and regret set in on his family, life was tough and miserable! William wrote on his struggles. But he found hope, “Well, I have God, and His word is sure.” He hoped in God amongst his misery.   

William slowly began to learn the language there and soon was preaching in small groups of people. In the process of doing that he also began translating the Bible into Bengali. His family once again suffered. William’s son got Dysentery and quickly died, while William caught Malaria. His joy, love, trust, and hope did not stop for God!

God began to work! William and his family moved to another location close by to be under the protection of the Danes during the English control of India. God answered his prayer! William again began to translate the Bible into Bengali. It was now 1800, after seven years of missionary work he baptized the first believer that he led to Christ. In 1802 he finished translating the New Testament in Bengali.

This is what is most fascinating to me, that there were no converts for seven years! What I pick up from this story is that we will never understand God completely. Wherever you are at with God, takes patience. You could be asking yourself while you were reading this some of these questions. Why do bad things happen, didn’t God want him there? Why did God wait seven years to convert someone?

What I have gathered in God’s word and through my experience’s is that we do not understand God completely! We do understand some of God’s intents and motives. God will always do the best thing for us! We will not truly understand this concept, but once again God has a perfect intent and will.

I find helpful a piece of an article from therebelution.com that may help these questions:

    And so, though God is far from human — as far as ‘mortal’ and ‘immortal’ implies — we often treat God as we would another human. We expect to see Him, hear Him. We expect Him to make sense to us. When He does something which hurts us, we expect Him to explain Himself before we can continue in our relationship.

But when God puts pain in our lives He mostly doesn’t follow up with a prompt explanation. In fact, it may be years before we realize why He put us through that ordeal.

Yes, God is not human. In contrast, He is perfect. That means His power and His plan for our lives, His wisdom and His love for us, are perfect. That means that the ‘explanation’ for everything — good or bad — that happens in our lives is that it is part of His perfect plan.

    God used William Carey’s pain and trust for God’s glory. Later William Carey went onto teach in Calcutta, translate with his press crew 215 languages and dialects in India, and led another 700 people in India to our Creator. I look up to William Carey, he set a great example of what missions should look like… worship.

As you move on with your hour, day, weekend, week, month, year and life, listen to God. You know his voice, what’s your calling?

"Expect great things; attempt great things."

-William Carey

Operation 10:14

Operation 10:14

            Operation 10:14 is a project based off of Romans 10:14-15;

“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”

It is very important to make the Gospel known among every people group and nation. The ultimate goal is to praise God and have God be worshipped!

            This project raises awareness, promotes prayer for every nation and people group, and sends missionaries to unreached people groups to share the Gospel. Come along and support this project intentionally with prayer. There is power in prayer, and through prayer, God moves, works, and changes our hearts.

I encourage you to pick up a book called Operation World by Jason Mandryk or go to www.operationworld.org. This book is a definitive prayer guide for every nation. In this book, you can flip over to a country that has been on your heart. Each country has answers to prayer as well as prayer challenges. It is structured in a way that you can praise God for all He has done and also be praying for the things that are going on within the individual nation.

Another need is the sending of missionaries and faithful followers of Christ coming alongside organizations that help the Gospel be further known. This is usually accomplished through financial support. If no one is sending and praying, then no one is going. God may not be calling you to be on the mission field, but there is no excuse to not be praying and supporting those who receive the call to missions. God uses people who are praying and sending!

Before anything more is said, we must all approach The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) with a flexible and teachable mindset. As flawed human beings, we won’t ever have our lives perfectly in order, and we all make mistakes, but we trust in the Most High God. Don’t let the past prevent you from accomplishing this urgent commission! Rest in God’s forgiveness as you learn new things. Do this with a joyful and humble heart. Enjoy praying for the nations. Worship and praise God in all that He has done for you and is doing through you. God is moving, God is working; let’s trust Him and see what He does!

The next stage is going. Going to different countries and sharing the Gospel is so important. There needs to be financial and prayerful support. There’s a lot of time and effort put into this task, but it’s worth it! God does amazing things on mission trips. Missions is not always “fun”: it’s hard, it’s tough, it’s dangerous, but we serve the Most High God. If God wants us to be on the mission field, He will get us there. The God who protects you at home is the same God all over the world. He will hear our prayer. He will not leave us!

In conclusion, John Piper writes about the importance of missions from his book, Let the Nations Be Glad:

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”