Eight Steps To Missions

This short article discusses eight steps to missions that should be considered by anyone contemplating going to the mission field. What is not discussed is a call to missions or a surrender to the mission field. The root issue is obedience to our Lord. If the Lord has sent you, then you are to go.

The next eight steps will serve as a guide in getting to the mission field.

1. The first step is commitment and availability. These are expressed in the principles by which we serve at AMI. You are to be committed to Christ for all that to which He is committed in you — exclusively — at all times, and in all circumstances. This commitment is not to be to the will of God, but to the God whose will it is. This commitment is not to the work of God, but to the God whose work it is. By being committed to God and not His will or work, He then expresses His will to you and accomplishes His work through you. Of course, this is not possible without availability. You must be available to God twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with all you have and all you are. Nothing more. Nothing less. He can then work with what He has given you and accomplish His purpose through you.
2. Second, you should investigate what missionaries do. What is the daily life of a missionary like? What chores, duties, and responsibilities must be fulfilled? What is it like living in a different culture? What changes to your lifestyle will have to be made? Are you willing to make those changes? The best way to do this is to talk with every missionary you can at every opportunity you have. Spend time with missionaries. Ask them all your questions, no matter how apparently trivial. They will be glad to share their experiences with you.
3. Get involved now where you are. Remember, every Christian is to be in full time service of the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of occupation. He can use you right now at work, at school, at the home, anywhere. There are several things that you can do right now to be involved. First is intercessory prayer, especially for specific missionaries by name for specific needs in their work and lives. Specificity in intercession is very important and gets answers to prayer quicker than "God bless our missionaries around the world. Amen." Second, correspond with the missionaries your church supports. Stay up with how their work is progressing. Write letters of encouragement to them. Let them know that you are praying for them by name and their families by name. This has great impact with them. Third, give. This is how missionaries are sent by the church. They must have support from churches to live on while doing the work on a foreign field. Get involved in faith promise giving. This will help your missionaries and it will strengthen your faith. Also, giving is more than money in the offering. Give of your time to projects in your local church. Give of your things. In other words, all that you are and all that you have is available to God. So, be a giver. The third principle of AMI is to accept the privilege of sacrificial giving, because all we possess is Christ’s; we are to be faithful stewards. The fourth principle illustrates one reason giving is important. We are debtors to all men everywhere, young and old alike, rich or poor, who have not yet heard that Jesus Christ died and rose again to save them. As debtors we give. In obedience we give. Out of love we give.
4. Evaluate your spiritual gifts for service. Every born again Christian has been gifted by the Holy Ghost for service with one or more gifts. Every Christian! You must prayerfully evaluate what those gifts are in your life. Start by asking those who know you best — parents, relatives, close friends, your pastor or Sunday School teacher. When you ask, be sure that the person you ask is mature spiritually and living a life seeking God’s face and yielded to the Lord. God will give wisdom and perception to detect the specific gifts in your life. Your life experiences help to form the proficiency in these gifts. Your talents and abilities have developed through what you have done thus far in life. All these are taken into consideration.
5. Seek good and Godly counsel from those closest to the Lord. Counsel must be sought from those who live the life of a close walk with God. Care must be exercised not to seek counsel from those who talk often and much about their walk with God or are quick to let people know how Godly they are. The life lived, the walk walked, tells the story. Do not allow yourself to be sent to a mission field only because some pastor or spiritual leader thinks you belong on a specific field. You must always remain obedient to the Lord. The Lord Himself will tell you where and when He wants you. If you do not hear from God, do NOT go based upon some other man’s recommendation. If you have not heard from God, immediately investigate the reason for such broken fellowship. Any pastor that tells you that God only tells pastors where to send missionaries must be avoided. Too many lives have become shipwrecked by such carnal pride and arrogance. God will provide you with wise counsel and will Himself let you know personally His will and desires for you if you seek His face, and His face alone. When in doubt, wait on the Lord and He will guide. He always said He would. He always has. He is faithful and never fails.
6. Prepare. "Study to show thyself approved." This begins with a personal daily time in God’s Word. The objective is not to read your Bible through in one year, or six months, etc. The objective in daily Bible study is to feed the soul and commune with God. Bible study and prayer make it a two way conversation. The soul is fed, His will discerned. This must not be absent but must be present from the beginning and continue the rest of your life. The strength for each day must be drawn from Him. Else, we strive in the power of the flesh and are doomed to failure. Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing." Of course, with Him, He can do everything through you. Daily time in the Word produces growth in the Lord that is necessary and requisite for service to the Lord. Furthermore, before going to any mission field, foreign or domestic, a proper and thorough Bible education must be obtained through formal study in a Bible college or institute. You dare not seek to teach others until you have been thoroughly trained yourself. Many a cult has been started by the untrained and ignorant who go out of a strong desire and zeal. Unenlightened enthusiasm perpetuates ignorance.
7. Pray for opportunities and open doors now. The apostle Paul had doors opened and closed to him. As the first missionary, he demonstrates a pattern that God follows. After being sent by God, God opens and closes doors along the way. He can open and close doors at home as well. It is all part of preparation and training for the foreign field. If you are not willing to go through open doors now, what makes you think you will be willing later? Pray for opportunities to be used by God right now where you are.
8. As you proceed, at all times maintain a proper focus — "Looking unto Jesus." Learn to live by faith. Seek only and always to do those things that are pleasing to our Lord. He is the one to please, not man. He is the one to fear, not man. It is to Him we shall give account, not man. (This does not negate the missionary’s responsibility to his sending and supporting churches.) At all times and in all circumstances, give God the glory and praise due His name, with thanksgiving, letting your requests be made known unto Him.

     One last note specifically on missionary aviation for those who are considering becoming a pilot and going to the mission field as a missionary pilot. The first fact to be established is that you are a missionary first, a pilot second. Ask yourself the question, "If I become unable to fly for any reason, will I stay on the mission field?" If that answer is no, you must seriously reconsider your ambition. If the answer is no, it may be due to a false sense of excitement and thrill associated with bush flying. In that case, go to Alaska or Canada and fly commercial flights. The overriding desire of your heart must be to serve the Lord as a missionary first who just happens to be able to fly. The aircraft is a tool, just like a bus is a tool in churches in the United States. It is a tool just like a truck, van, donkey, or whatever is a tool overseas. The key word in the phrase missionary pilot is missionary. If that is your primary desire, and God is sending you as a missionary, and you are able and have the desire to fly, and where you are going on the field needs aircraft support, then you are a missionary pilot candidate.