FROM THE PASTOR'S PORCH: What is a missionary?

[Lynn D. Walker]

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH

FROM THE PASTOR'S PORCH: What is a missionary?

 

   My wife, Casey, just recently returned from her third missionary trip to
Africa.  She was invited to speak at Epworth Methodist Church's
“Something Worth While”  to share her experiences and talk about
foreign missions.    She also showed a DVD from her 2010 trip to
Africa that shows what missionaries DO.  They spend their own money
and money they can gather up from other people; then they go half way
around the world to try and meet the needs of people in a foreign
land.  And their needs are enormous; Spiritually, Emotionally, and
Physically. 

   These folks are poor beyond comprehension for most of us who live in the
USA.  They are in very short supply of just about everything that we
take for granted back here in the states.  Casey said that her first
trip to Africa made her feel actually guilty for having such
abundance when they had so little.  The people are hungry, so the
missionaries feed them.  The people are naked, so the missionaries
clothe them.  The people are sick, so the missionaries bring medicine
and heal them.  Malaria, which is practically nonexistent in the US,
is still the number one killer in Africa.  That is why the treated
mosquito nets are so important. 

  Emotionally, they have many of the same problems that we all cope with;  Fear,
anger, unforgiveness, hate.....Like some of you, they have a hard
time even understanding why a bunch of crazy white people come half
way around the world to try to help them.  They don't spend a lot of
time trying to help other folks because they do no have enough but to
barely survive for themselves.  Slowly but surely, they are learning
about helping others.

   Spiritually, the missionaries are telling them and showing them through their
actions about Jesus.  This is of course the number one objective of
all of this.  Just as in our own lives, if we have a personal
relationship with the Lord Jesus and we are strong Spiritually, the
Spiritual realm will take care of the Emotional and Physical realm.

   This pretty much covers what a missionary does, but that does not tell you
what a Missionary IS.  What a missionary does is just the effect of
who and what they are.  What is a Missionary?  John 20:21 says it
very clear,  “Jesus said to them again,......As the Father has sent
ME, I also send YOU”.  Plain and simple, a Missionary is someone
sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by god.  The great
controlling factor here is not the needs of the people, but the
command of Jesus which is found in Matthew 28:19 ~”Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations....”.  We have to be very careful
to always remember this because sometime, as Casey says, “we feel
like we are putting a band-aid on a compound fracture”.  Sometimes
our human sympathy for the needs of these people overwhelms the true
meaning of why we were sent into foreign missions. 

   The food we bring will eventually be gone.  The clothes will eventually
be gone, too.  The treated nets will eventually become ineffective
and the other medicine we bring will be gone as well.  BUT....there
is one thing that will NEVER be gone, and that is the Presence and
Love of God; brought and left behind by the Divine guidance of God
through childlike people who were “foolish”  enough to Trust
God's wisdom and obey His commandment to Go!!

   What is a Missionary?  Nothing more than an obedient servant of the Lord
Jesus.  If you have any questions or would like a free DVD copy of
the African Mission Trip, please call me or Casey at 405-320-0055 or
405-453-7141, or better still, come visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY
CHURCH, 4092 Norge Road, Chickasha, OK.  Have a Blessed day,  ~Pastor
Lynn