Thank God for Missionaries!

absolutely!

 

rbell, you're doin' a great job! Thanks for the support!

Even though we are not on the field yet, this year we will be starting deputation, my husband and I consider ourselves missionaries. We just haven't gotten all the way to our ultimate destination yet. My husband has already been dumped on a little by a couple men in our church because he doesn't fit into their preconceived notion of what a missionary is. We are thinking of going and being support for a missionary already on the field - but we'd be doing missionary work just like others, only not in the position of head pastor of the church. It amazes me what some people think missionaries do all day! I mean, they have to eat and sleep sometimes!

And I know none here ever would, but please don't begrudge the missionary buying his wife a new dress, or his children a good pair of shoes, or taking his family out to eat sometimes! We give our pastors a salary (most of us do) and we do not get upset when he does these things. It is the same with a missionary on the field.


I have always loved our missionaries. Even as a kid the missionaries were my favorite people to hear from. My third grade teacher - Pearl Heath - went on several missions trips to Kenya....and she'd bring slides back and show us in class. I just loved it! I think, when she was younger she had been a full-time missionary to Kenya....but I don't have real clear memory on that. In fact, I think she really created a love for missions back then which has stuck with me ever since. She was my favorite teacher.

So many times it was the missionaries who made a big impact on me growing up. And yet, often, we only saw them once or twice that I can remember - we moved around alot so I did not get to know any of them real well. The vast majority of missionaries who influenced me I never saw again. Says alot about how you can make a huge impact on someone and never know it until Heaven.

 

I thank God for every missionary who is doing God's work the way He wants it done in the place where God has sent him/her!

May God richly bless them in an abundant way, protect and encourage them.

Thankfully I'm a member of a very missions-minded church that has sent out and/or sponsored many people to various mission fields throughout the world. In fact, our pastor is right now just returning from one of his many mission trips to India, Thailand, and (especially) Laos--a Communist nation where Christians are severely persecuted.

God bless all of our missionaries!

 

I have been absolutely HORRORfied and amazed these last few days to see posts that slam missions. I would never had guessed that people that call themselves Christian would be against the last command our Lord left us with... "Go into all the world."
It tells me that Satan has blinded this world to the real job of reaching others...
You can tell it is the last days, when Satan can convince people that missions is unnecessary. He is pulling out every trick in his bag, and it seems to be working here on BB.

When people would rather stay within their congregations than reach the world, Satan wins.

Thank you every missionary that is spreading the Gospel.
This is one Pastor that never wants to leave the USA, but I will do everything in my power to support you guys and gals.

Thank you for your service.
Heaven will be much sweeter because of you.

 

It is no sacrifice to do what we do, it is an honor.

Frustrating at times that people just do not understand the call, the cause or the cross of missions. The call- from God. The cause- the lost. The cross- ours to take up for Christ.

 

The title says it all. I know that it's not said enough but you truly are in my prayers. I know that when I was on the mission field I missed my family and knowing that they where praying for me as well as supporting me did help. I would do it again if God said to go. :godisgood:

 

Thank you RBell, and each of you others who have posted here. This is a very refreshing thread. We missionaries are human. We can get discouraged and lonely and long for the homeland. Sometimes a word of encouragement is very needed.

Fortunately, I suppose, I did not see the negative posts on the BB concerning missionaries. I might have proven my humanity by answering in the flesh! :smilewinkgrin:

 

Give me a church without missions as a driving force and I will give you a church that is lifeless.

When Oswald J. Smith of the People's Church fame in Toronto, was turned down by every missionary society for health reasons, he dedicated his life to serving missionaries through his pastoral mission. His church eventually provided for over 100 missionaries and this church continued to grow in the Lord and in numbers over the years.

One missionary I know of inspired more young people to enter ministry than all the preachers I have known down through the years....Jim Elliot.

God bless those who sacrifice their lives in the service of the Lord. The world is changing; the field is changing; the mission remains the same; God honouring.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Would that we had more Oswald Smiths and more Jim Elliots, Brother Jim. Thanks for the encouraging word.

 

I well remember the chap who thought he had nothing to offer as a missionary. He was a carpenter. I reminded him that our Lord started out as a carpenter. This chap ended up going to South America, at his own expense, and became a carpenter for the missionaries. He remained there for more than 20 years. He built mission school buildings, homes and other physical chores that gave the "missionaries" time to spend in propagating the Word. As Milton wrote: "He also serves, who only stands and waits..."

I also remember a chap who went around the world on a shoestring,,,as his book says. He never had a regular wage, but he had a burden, and God honoured that.

This was the sacrifice of old, and I believe it remains true of missionaries to-day. They are under a constant lens of behaviour to-day, unlike we who claim Christ at home. We can error and go unnoticed; they can't, and God bless them.

Over the last 50 years, we have not sent out Christmas cards, but used the same money we would have spent to provide a Christmas gift for "our" missionary friends. A little touch of home when they needed it most. We wrap our gifts with newspaper and tie them with string. The wrapping paper money went to these servants of the Lord.

When they retired from the field, the first thing they did was visit with us. We learned first-hand how much these little things motivated them so far from home. I bless the Lord that He laid His hand on this old fool's heart, and that these folks were encouraged to serve.

IN the words of Jim Elliot, just a short time before he was killed on the mission field: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." The heart-throb of missions.

Cheers, and God bless,

Jim

 

What you related was very touching and convicting Jim .

BTW , ( what isn't incidental ? ) I am a huge admirer of Jim's wife Elizabeth Elliot . Do you know much about her brother Thomas Howard ?

 

I am not familiar with Betty's brother, but quite familiar with all she has done both on the field and at home, in print and in practice. She is a marvellous witness to the Lord. I might also mention Nate Saint's sister, who also served in that very area her brother was killed. They learned the language and taught the gospel to some of the very men who took those lives. What a marvellous story.

Have you ever heard of Douglas C. Percy? He served in Africa and was brought home near death. He recovered and went to teach at Toronto Bible College. He was a great influence upon students and missions. He was also a great writer of fictional missionary stories based on facts. I have always been thankful for my early contact with him and his wife. They are the ones who opened my heart to missions. He is the one who instructed me: "Whatever you are in life, be available."

Take care, and God bless,

Jim

 

Ever since I can remember, I have had a desire to be a foreign missionary. God bless them all

 

well amen, joyce! Perhaps it is God who has given you this desire because He wants you to go!

 

Hi, Joyce.

Though you've not been able to come to the mission field yourself, it is the prayers and thoughts of folk like you who keep us going out here. God bless you!

John R. Himes
Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan :wavey: