Ask a Missionary - Catch The Fire

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Costa Rica. And some churches there—for the first time in their histories—sending out their own missionaries. Imagine sixty of your missionary trainees going to the uttermost parts of the earth. These missionary stories, and thousands of others like them, won’t make the headline news, at least not until we, in heaven, share all God has done in us and through us. Yet right now the world is being changed by thousands and thousands of missionaries—and you could become one of them, with your own crosscultural ministry as gripping as those of the missionaries you’ll meet in each chapter. Jesus invites each of us to participate in his global mission. He invites us to join him—somewhere, in some way—in making disciples among the unreached. So let’s jump into the next chapter to begin exploring ways God may lead us in his great mission story. 4 | Ask a Missionary
Guidance Discovering God’s Plan 2 It WAS SUNDOWN IN HARBIN, THE SMOky CAPITAl of Heilongjiang Province in far northern China. Waiting in the evening drizzle for the last train, the only thing that moved was the cold shiver down my spine. Back at the hotel, my short-term exploration team was settling in for their nightly dinner together. * We were in China to explore the possibility of working there as Christian missionaries. But that afternoon I had taken a sightseeing tour across the city. A Mandarin-speaking guide and I wandered through the Russian-style Church of St. Sophia. And in one of my more brave moments, I tasted a street vendor’s soup, which the guide had declared to be “donkey-dumpling stew.” A bit unsettling, but tasty. Suddenly realizing I had no idea when the last evening train departed, I rushed back to the station. As I fidgeted on the bench alongside the tracks, certain I’d missed the train, one of those undeniable God moments happened. You know, a “chance meeting” when you clearly recognize that the Creator of the universe just stamped a divine “Yes!” on your prayer list—right next to the question, “God, do you want me to be a missionary?” * Each chapter in this book begins with a fictionalized version of a true story, edited by Bill Stearns. The names, location, and some details are altered, since much of God’s work today occurs in areas where proclaiming the gospel is illegal or dangerous. GUIDANCE: Discovering God's Plan | 5
Page 1 and 2: Ask a Missionary Time-Tested Answer
Page 3 and 4: This book is a great resource for m
Page 7 and 8: Authentic Publishing A Ministry of
Page 9 and 10: Things Nobody Told Me 110 Yes. No.
Page 11 and 12: John McVay John McVay served as a m
Page 13 and 14: Imagine Your Own Gripping Story 1 W
Page 15: Toward Your Own Story Most Christia
Page 19 and 20: You’ll bring the bikes to the sch
Page 21 and 22: market, the post office, the park.
Page 23 and 24: A: Look for an inner conviction, fo
Page 25 and 26: eceived concrete and definite direc
Page 27 and 28: A: Ask God to use you and watch him
Page 29 and 30: This topic is one of the themes dis
Page 31 and 32: A: Discouragement is a part of life
Page 33 and 34: ack home. I’ve got a life and a f
Page 35 and 36: I was a mechanical engineer, and my
Page 37 and 38: Answer from Paul, who has served as
Page 39 and 40: going!” It may be that as you hav
Page 41 and 42: there? What kinds of office politic
Page 43 and 44: joy, and the tug of our hearts—as
Page 45 and 46: seek God’s will with a determinat
Page 47 and 48: A: Yes. Strategically select your s
Page 49 and 50: go and help. These extended, opport
Page 51 and 52: passed by a number of opportunities
Page 53 and 54: How do I believe God typically guid
Page 55 and 56: Agencies Researching the Options 3
Page 57 and 58: Jim, obviously nervous, simply said
Page 59 and 60: your own financial support. However
Page 61 and 62: for its missionaries’ safety, hea
Page 63 and 64: • Teamwork. The New Testament con
Page 65 and 66: A: Because they find help in other
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A: Because their church serves as a
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served as a minister within this de
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A Thorough Exam In some ways, joini
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Does the mission have plans to move
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Does the agency make disciples or j
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3. You have more opportunities to a
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When to Begin? Which agency you joi
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So ask the Holy Spirit to guide you
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Add other exploratory questions you
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well. Sometimes he goes after famil
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a bright room decorated with dozens
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Q: What perspective should I take t
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Study”). It will give you a syste
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A: Fast can end up being slow. A de
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Our ministry, wherever we are, shou
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A: In the middle of your university
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Avenues of Training Learning should
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A: Get experience in your church, a
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How much training should you get in
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A: Volunteer, integrate faith into
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second language is useful. Or a deg
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If you will work in a sensitive cou
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purpose behind your studies. The ti
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A: God’s plan for us in missions
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If you’re a native English speake
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language we’ll be working in. (Al
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there will be all kinds of new mann
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series of books on different cultur
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A: I wish I had learned about spiri
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in the amazing to-do list of Philip
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If I don’t want advanced training
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Funding Figuring It Out 5 THE COld
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Bill sat back at his greasy desk an
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A: Let God grow your faith. Ultimat
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A: Avoid sales pressure as well as
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• God owns all, yet he is the mos
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church priorities. Now when I see l
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first, ask God what he intends for
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We see three groups of people here:
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Bristol, England, by faith in the p
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on how much time you invest in buil
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A: Yes. Trust God for all your fina
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A: Work part-time and study part-ti
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(because their degrees are not in d
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When we decided to go overseas, we
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A: Start early contributing each mo
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Over a challenging three years, the
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From Philippians 4:10-20, what can
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have been ruined because of him.”
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the tribal chief became followers o
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A: Both singleness and marriage hav
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A: Single missionaries have more fl
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although I wanted to get married, I
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A: Yes, but work toward a common vi
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family, just as married couples hav
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I decided to go on the mission fiel
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A: If it’s God’s plan, he will
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Your family’s mission story may b
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A: Yes. Consider these benefits of
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Answer from David Smith, director o
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education was either from home scho
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Q: Can I become a missionary if my
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How would I deal with loneliness an
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The Challenge Moving Forward 7 Dr.
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missionary friend Phil almost choke
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qualities for cross-cultural missio
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Acknowledgments The editor, John Mc
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Notes Chapter 2: Guidance 1. Excerp
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Resources for Further Study These m
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around the world, new resources, an
Page 207 and 208:
Friend Raising: Building a Missiona
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People Raising: A Practical Guide t
Page 211 and 212:
Encountering Islam Keith Swartley,
Page 213 and 214:
Mukappa.org Links to resources, spi
Page 215 and 216:
Resources for Women in Missions Par
Page 217 and 218:
The Definitive Prayer Handbook for
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Ask a Missionary - Catch The Fire

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