So You Want to Be a Missionary?

 Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 What is a Missionary?

Chapter 2 Blind to Other’s Needs

Chapter 3 The Call of God

Chapter 5 Crisis in the Call

Chapter 6 The Center of His Will

Chapter 7 Where is Your Mission Field?

Chapter 8 The Fear Factor

Chapter 9

Chapter 10 Preparation for Promotion

Chapter 11 Drain on the Spiritual Life

Chapter 12 Brokenness

Chapter 13 Purity and the Potter’s Wheel

Chapter 14 God’s Kingdom

Chapter 15 Missionary Empowerment

Chapter 16 Accept No Substitutes

Chapter 17 God’s Direction

Chapter 18 Faith in the Word

Chapter 19 Love is No Option

Chapter 20 The Lord Directs Our Steps

Resource Materials And Bibliography Of Works Cited

Dedication

Several people have had a great impact on my life in the last 25 years. These include my pastor and mentor of 20+ years, Dr. Leo Hall; Dr. Verda Thompson whose vision for Christian education is unsurpassed; Dr. John Chacha who got me started in mission; Dr. Bill Basansky who worked with me on the field in my early walk in mission; Dr. Bertist Rouse (deceased) who planted a greater love for unreached people in my heart; last but not least my wife who is ever cheering me on. They stretched me, they challenged me, they pushed me, and they encouraged me. May each of you be blessed one-thousand fold for what you are and have been in my life.

Forward

I have known Dr. Roger Price for 16 years, as a Brother in the Lord, a co-laborer in ministry, a friend, and a man of great faith.

In this book, the reader will see that God uses ordinary people to accomplish the extraordinary. Dr. Price takes the reader through hearing and answering the call of God. Then going further the reader will discover that the pathway to answering the call and fulfilling God’s purpose has challenges, obstacles, and seasons. If you will allow God to take control, He will lead and guide you each step of the way.

As the author writes, he uses Scriptural proof and authority. He brings out the hindrances that slow believers down or even prevent a believer from fulfilling their purpose. This book talks about Missions, both short and long term, cultural differences, and the Spiritual drain these things have attached to them.

I could go on, but instead I’ll recommend that you read the book. You will discover, as Dr. Price has, that with a passion, a purpose, a need, and the Word of God, all things are possible.

Verda Thompson, PhD.

Introduction

I was minding my own business, 49 years of age, happy at what I was doing, when God broke in on my life and turned it upside down (right side up actually). It was not the first time, but it certainly was a significant time. I had been doing marketing for a regional supermarket chain for nearly 25 years. I had a good job, loved the work and the people I worked with and for, but something happened. I think it might be like the eaglet feels when the soft down that pads the nest is pulled from it high on that inaccessible mountain cliff (where the Lord had been hiding me), having no where to go but down and the sticks that formed the foundation of the nest sticking me every day. I was frustrated and did not know why. I began to pray, Lord, I have to be in the center of Your will.

I had been serving as a part-time associate pastor for probably 5-6 years, when out of the blue, an opportunity came to make a mission trip. I did not know what was coming, but I was about ready for anything besides those sticks of the nest sticking me. It was not the people or the job, for I had the same opportunities and faced the same problems I had for years. But something was wrong and I did not know what it was. So when the chance for a trip came, I was ready to go.

We had been in Kenya only 4 days when the call came that my first wife had passed away. That was a shock, for she had not been sick with anything that was diagnosable. But the Lord knew what was going on, and He said, Everything is okay, so I received it that way. That day I was to speak at the second session for the Maturity Conference at Happy Church in Nakuru, Kenya. Since this happened, my pastor was going to take over for me. As we worshipped the Lord, He began to speak to me about sharing with the people. Then when the 1st session was done, the team leader told the people what had happened and he called me up and the team to pray for me. After he finished praying, I told him that I was supposed to speak that day. He asked if I was sure and I replied yes. The topic of my message that day was, How Big is Your God? The emphasis was that God can carry us through anything, and He did. We came home and buried my wife and then another opportunity came to go to another nation – Ukraine. I had no idea that this would be a launch into missions, but then, I had been praying for God’s best and He knew best.

While in Ukraine, the Lord dealt with my heart about a new Bible College to be started there and they needed a Bible-trained person to administrate and teach in it. I accepted the Lord’s offer as to what He wanted me to do. I had been praying about being in the center of His will, so it was an easy decision. I did not think about it, but simply answered, Yes. I announced to the ones who would be starting the school that I would administrate and teach in it if they wanted me to.

The Lord works out all things for us when we submit to Him. He knew what He was doing and moving people to my advantage and favor. He took care of finances, my children, a house I had that was not paid for, everything. It is amazing, but true, that the Lord will take care of the details and do what is necessary and expedient when we are willing to obey. Are there others who could have done a better job of administrating that school? Probably, but they may not have been available. At any rate, the Lord is faithful to do what we ask when we are obedient and we ask in His will.

In the mean time, there was this situation of me being single. God had to do some work in me and the woman He had for me. I found that I could not handle being single, and when questioning the Lord, He drew me to Rosemary. I did not want just any woman, but one He saw fit to bring to me. She had worked in the corporate office where I worked for 14 years, but I barely knew her. When I questioned the Lord about who He had for me, I was immediately drawn to her. I shared who I was and what I did (which she mostly knew anyway), and told her if she could not handle that to let me know immediately. She said she knew. Isn’t that just like the Lord? He knows what we need and she has been a blessing to me for the 12 years we have been married.

Ukraine was an experience. We had to use public transportation for everything, or walk. I lost almost 45 pounds by the diet we ate and the walking I did. It was not that the food was bad or lacking. The food was different and it was beneficial for me to do all that walking. Not only that, I learned a lot about people while there. I found that not everyone is what they say they are (Duh!). And I found that some are much more than they ever let on. It was a wonderful time of ministry to those 18-35 year old Ukrainian young people whom the Lord was calling to ministry. Of the 50 we started with, some 35 graduated with their Bachelor degree and a couple of years later I got to have a meal with most of the graduates. Of the ones there, the vast majority were in ministry of some kind.

After a year there, and Rosemary finding out that she could not handle living on the field, I returned home with the Lord’s permission. Then in 1997, the Lord began sending me to many nations to plant Bible Colleges. That has included some 63 Bible Colleges to date. That is not something I did, but what God allowed me to do because of my interest in Bible Education and the furtherance of the vision of my pastor.

I have found that God is willing to give me what I want when it is for His purposes and to bring glory to Him. James says:

You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [1 John 3:15.] [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures (Ja.4: 2-3-AMP).

I had asked, not for my benefit but for His Kingdom, and He allowed me to get involved in mission which I am still in today. The following chapters are things that the Lord has shown me that are beneficial to being a missionary. He took me places where I had to have what I am sharing with you. He did not call me because of who I am, but because I was available. Perhaps the following will help you in your search for the place He wants you. I pray it is so.

Chapter 1 – What Is A Missionary?

Chapter 1 What is a Missionary?

It seems that in the course of my life, God has taken me through some things as a missionary, that to communicate would be beneficial to ones who might be led down a similar, though somewhat varied path. I realize that some of you reading this book have already been to the places of which I speak, while others have not and until recently never dreamed of it. I am writing some of these things and trust that the Lord will fill in what I miss, to help you become all that He wants you to be in the way of a missionary, especially in the areas of my experience and what He has shown me.

Missionary is actually not a word in the Bible, at least in the King James Version. The idea of missionary is related to the word apostle. The apostle was one who was sent out with a message. The Strong’s Dictionary lists it as New Testament #652 - apostolos (ap-os’-tol-os); from New Testament #649; a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ [apostle] (with miraculous powers). The King James Version translates it as apostle, messenger, he that is sent. (Of course we understand that he has nothing to do here with gender, but humans.)

The definition of a missionary is, at least in my little dictionary: 1. one who is sent to preach religion, esp. in a foreign country; 2. One who does social work among the poor. Since the Latin word it comes from is mittere or missrum, meaning to send, we will deal with the sending aspect in this chapter.

God has been a sender since He called Abram. Though He did not send him for a missionary purpose, He did intend to bring about His missionary purpose through this one man, his family, and then the nation. God sent His only begotten Son through a virgin girl of this nation, as a missionary to bring the message of redemption to us. He did so in human form, for that is the only way the message would be acceptable and also have the power to produce the effect He wanted.

God sent Jonah to a heathen nation, and though Jonah was very reluctant, the preached message brought the largest revival we see recorded in the ancient world. Jeremiah was sent to nations as a prophet (Jeremiah 1: 5). Not only was he called for a purpose, but we must not miss that he was called from sometime before he was ever formed in the womb. That means that God had him (and you) in mind when He connected the right egg and sperm to produce him (and you). In the multitude of possibilities you could have been, God watched over what was happening so YOU would be the one coming out in a few months. You are not a mistake and God knows exactly what is in you. He was there, superintending the fertilization process, so as to prepare you with attributes and gifts that only He can put in a human so that His bidding might be done. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that you can rely upon. Though you may not see how God could use you as a missionary, if that is the calling, it will work out.

Since you are not a mistake, it must follow that there is a purpose for you. Only God can make known His purpose to you. That will be your discovery, and we will address that later in our scheme of things. We can see every human’s purpose generally, with God’s Word plainly telling us He is not willing that any perish, but all come to repentance. He intends each of us to be a carrier of the Good News, each going to those He sends us to. There are many things God wants for us as well as from us, but all of it boils down to this: to know Him and make Him known. That is the crux of life. That is the crossroads of our plan and His. What do I do? Do I take my way, or His? There is really no question as to what we should do, but we still all have to deal with who we are, our aspirations, hopes, dreams, as well as what our spouse/family thinks.

It just could be that that is the hardest thing to deal with. Jesus told us that we would have to separate ourselves from some of our family in order to follow Him and do what He has chosen (Luke 9: 60-61; Matthew 19: 27-29). Some other things we might have to separate from are so insignificant in comparison to His plan that they beg the question. Too, these plans and ideas we have may be good in themselves, but are probably not worth pursuing if we really want the perfect will of God for our lives.

To choose His plan is to take a road not generally sought out. Too many want what they want, rather than what God wants. It is to turn our back to much that is pleasurable for a season, and would even evolve to good for us according to the world’s standard. Yet in order to have the best, God will have to be sought after and hunted out of the mass of ideas and thoughts that come to us as to what we are to do in life. After all, the enemy of the best is only the good, a near miss if you catch my drift. Not all the thoughts we will have about what to do with our lives will be wrong in and of themselves, but they simply will not fit the perfect will of God spoken of in Scripture (Romans 12: 2). That perfect will does not just suddenly fall into our laps. We must seek after it with all our being (Jeremiah 29: 13).

The Vulgate Bible explains it best I think, in that the will of God, which believers are experimentally to prove, is said to have three characteristics to recommend it: It is good, as it demands only what is essentially and unchangeably good (Romans 7: 10); it is well-pleasing (acceptable), in contrast with all that is arbitrary, as demanding only what God has eternal complacency in (Micah 6: 8; Jeremiah 9: 24); and it is perfect, as it requires nothing else than the perfection of God’s reasonable creature, who, in proportion as he attains to it, reflects God’s own perfection. Others have said that there is only one will as far as God is concerned, the perfect will which we will find good and acceptable for our lives. At any rate, the will of God for us is perfect, but we will have to experimentally prove it to know for sure what it is. That is, we will have to pray, seek the face of God, and hear His voice to know for sure of what He wants. We may even have to experiment with some things to find out for sure that they are not it.

Have you been seeking God concerning to your future? Have you been lying awake dreaming (visioning) of what God might use you to do? Have you yearned to know the future or your activities in relation to His plan? Here are some key things to begin to do to push forward toward His revealing, at least the beginning of what He wants.

1. Begin to pray (in your own words), Father, I want to be in the center of Your will. Help me to find it as You want and in Your timing.

2. Begin to fast on a regular schedule. I suggest no more than a couple of meals a week if you are not acquainted with fasting. If you are, you may want to go to a regular schedule of Monday and Tuesday, with supper Sunday night the last meal till Tuesday night. You pick the duration and the timing.

3. Begin to put aside time for Him alone, to hear His voice, not only in that still, small frame, but also from His Word. This is not just prayer, but time listening to Him.

You may already be doing the above. But if not, it is critical for you to hear from Him about what He wants and to become prepared in a better fashion than you are now for the ride of your life that is coming.

My prayer for you…

That you may be filled with the deep and clear knowledge of His will for your life. I ask our Father that your knowledge of Christ will be full of spiritual insight of the ways and purposes of God. I pray that you will have full understanding and discernment of spiritual things. I pray that by receiving these, you will conduct yourself into the purposes of God in a manner that is worthy of the Lord, being pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in the good work He gives you. I pray also that you will grow steadily by the increase of revelation you receive of God. I pray you will be strengthened with all His mighty power that is diffused into every part of your being, that glory which causes you to be able to endure with patience in any trial, exuding the joy that only He can give. I pray that as Jesus was the exact likeness of God the Father, that we will both become the perfected, visible representation of Jesus as the Father desires us to be. Since He is our Head, I pray that we will continue to stay in the faith, grounded and settled, not moved by any