It's Not What You Think (& a good news announcement)

Missionary life, at least much of it, isn't what you think it is. I have missionary friends who live off the grid--though the grid is constantly reaching out to more and more remote places--they are the exception. Granted, Kathy and I are odd missionaries (Note: most of the oddness is mine), but, in my observation, we share the trait I'm going to talk about with most of our missionary colleagues.

We don't eat bugs, not on purpose anyhow.

We live in houses and apartments that aren't that different than yours. We drive Toyotas and Fords. Where we live a Land Rover is a luxury vehicle, not a necessity. Most of us are pretty adept at using computers and cell-phones. We have to juggle bank-accounts, credit-card balances and insurance statements. In many ways, the things we deal with in a given day are not all that different than those that fill your day.

Right now, as I type this, I'm sitting in the lobby of a large hotel in a major city. I'd say half the

people who are here aren't on vacation. I just ran across a big group yesterday who are here for a gathering of HR managers. I'm here for our accrediting agency's conference. I attend yearly. In this group, we missionary types are a small minority. In fact in a meeting yesterday, I was quizzed about the concept, as if the source of one's income was a factor in the job one does. It's not, or it doesn't need to be. Again, it's not unlike what many of you deal with. You get questioned about things that don't really matter. Many of those around you "don't get it." 

I'm rambling on about this for two reasons:
1) Most of the potential (This is also true about already serving missionaries) missionaries in the 21st Century don't look like Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, or Mary Slessor. They likely look like the new intern at the office, the cashier at the big box store, or your co-worker who just retired last month. Read the biographies of great missionaries for inspiration. Don't use the heroes of the past to construct a job-description or a list of qualifications ford a missionary worthy of your, or your church's support.

The Great Commission is about making disciples. Missions is about placing disciple-makers in locations and situations where the job isn't done yet, and where resources are such that unless somebody goes there for that purpose it probably won't get done. Sometimes the task can be done by dedicated Christians who go to that needy place and support themselves in a career while helping others become mature Jesus-followers. Other times that just isn't going to work. The Great Commission isn't just about evangelizing. That is the first step; the process goes on through leading converts to walk in obedience and then equipping them to carry on the process to a new generation. Often that path is littered with language, cultural, economic, educational, geographic, and many other kinds of obstacles. A simplistic view of what a missionary candidate will be doing, or what a missionary is doing, will often lead to a wrong conclusion. Granted, some pseudo missionaries are just going through the motions, trying to appear busy. I would venture to say, however, that there are times when you don't look like you are doing what you are paid to do, when the fact is you are doing exactly what needs to be done so what you are supposed to do can be accomplished.

2) Knowing that much of missionary life is like much of your life--boringly mundane--helps answer the question: How do I pray for this missionary?

• Pray that he/she/they won't be consumed by the day-to-day.
• Pray that they will keep their eye on the goal.
• Pray that they will be encouraged by mini-victories and join them in rejoicing over them. Give thanks to God.
• Seldom do missionaries work alone. Pray that the accumulation of the team will lead to overall progress.

Let me get back to the hotel lobby, my attendance at this conference, and the "good news" I talked about in the heading of this post. I serve as part of a team in a 100+-year project. We are seeking to do Great Commission work in a remote area of the world. Hawaii and North America are off the map, thousands of miles to the east. Asia is to the left. Fewer than half a million people live in Micronesia. Colleagues of mine who are in heaven now evagelized here. Churches were founded and Bible translations produced. What hasn't yet happened is the establishment of a self-perpetuating group of leaders who can preserve the gains of the past and guide the people of these tiny islands into greater things in the future. Pacific Islands University, where I serve, is seeking to fill that gap. 

To do that our institution needs to be educationally credible and there needs to be a way for us to pay for higher education among people who have few resources. Being an accredited institution is a way to accomplish both of those. So for a year or more this missionary, me, has been leading a group of people to jump through all the hoops, dot all the "i"s, and cross all the "t's necessary to achieve the renewal of our accreditation. My time hasn't been spent killing lions or paddling canoes. No pith helmets were involved, but receiving our 10-year renewal, just yesterday, is an important part of continuing the Great Commission work in Micronesia. 

Thanks for the support and encouragement. As you rejoice with us in this step ahead, take time to tell me about the victories--mini or otherwise--in your life. I'd like to rejoice with you.  

One more thing: As you know from my previous post, Kathy is back in Guam, right now. She is the most faithful person I know in living every day with eternity in mind. Thanks, sweetheart.