Pray and Wait

Greetings,

About two years ago, I went on a missions trip to Cambodia together with a team from my high school. Ultimately, it was a really great experience for me to go out and reach out to the children at the FGA Cambodian Child Care Centre. But what I'd like to share with you is what led up to the trip–a real blessing from God.

When I first heard of the missions trip I was very eager to go, but after hearing the amount of money that I needed to spend for the trip I was pretty disappointed because I didn’t really have that kind of money to spend on it.

One night, I was at prayer meeting and I asked God to make a way for me to go and to show me a sign that it was His will for me to go, but I didn’t get any answer nor did I get any sign. So I left it as it was.

A few days later, I decided to start saving money so that I could go for this missions trip. I managed to get enough money of my own for the trip. After getting the funds for the trip, the teacher who was in charge called me and asked if I was still eager to go for the trip and I told him that I was. And to my utter surprise, he replied me saying that there is a parent who is very willing to sponsor me to go on the trip because God had impressed upon that parent's heart to pay for me. I was extremely grateful and I went on to go for the missions trip.

What I learned from this is that constant praying works and when God doesn’t answer you immediately, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t hear your prayers. Who knows? He probably has much more in stored for you! You just need to wait for His perfect timing.

I hope this encourages you one way or another. :)


- Gabe

Inspiration From God’s Soldiers in Missions

The Bible has clearly revealed God’s heart for the lost and we are all familiar with Christ’s command in Matthew 28: 19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Since then, many have responded to Christ’s challenge to reach the lost. Missionaries throughout church history have served and are inspired by the Great Commission. Below are words of inspiration from God’s soldiers in missions:

* “The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed” — Hudson Taylor
* “I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light” — John Falconer
* “God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him” — Hudson Taylor
* Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God” — William Carey
* “If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honour, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?” — David Livingstone
* “Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us.” — Keith Wright
* “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” — C.T. Studd
* “We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first.” — Oswald Smith
* “If God calls you to be a missionary, don’t stoop to be a king” — Jordan Grooms
* “The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity.” — Mike Stachura
* “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 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
* “Go, send, or disobey.” — John Piper

May God inspire you to heed His call to missions.

THE CHURCH BEING MISSIONAL

Missional – What does that mean?

A proper understanding of missional begins with recovering a missionary understanding of God. By His very nature, God (the Son, Jesus) is a “Sent One” who takes the initiative to redeem His creation. This doctrine, known as (the mission of God), is causing many to relook at missions and the church.

Jesus told His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (Jhn 20: 21). It is important to note that a missional community patterns itself after the work of God, in the Incarnation – God had sent His Son. Thus, to be missional means to be sent into the world instead of expecting people to come to us. This posture differentiates a missional church from an attractional church.

Jesus told us to go into all the world and be His ambassadors, but many churches today have inadvertently changed the “go and be” command to a “come and see” appeal. – Meigs

Because we are the “sent” people of God, the church is the instrument of God’s mission in the world. We are to be establishing His Kingdom here on earth. As things stand, many people see it the other way around. They believe missions is an instrument of the Church, a means by which the church is grown. Many churches have mission statements or talk about the importance of missions, but a missional church is different. It sees the mission as both its originating impulse and its organising principle. Thus, a missional church is not content with missions being a church-based work or programme. Rather, it applies to the whole life of every believer. Every disciple is to be an agent of the kingdom of God, and every disciple is to carry the mission of God into every sphere of life.

We are all missionaries sent out – whether near or far – into an unredeemed culture. As the people of a missionary God, we ought to engage the world the same way He does. When the church is in missions, it is the true church.


(Adapted from ‘Defining Missional’, an article by Alan Hirsch on 12/12/08)