discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University
discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University
discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University
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245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 144<br />
144 Developing Tomorrow’s Missionaries<br />
Pastors and laypersons who mentor aspiring missionaries at the local<br />
church level can help them prepare in five areas:<br />
1. Personal relationship to God<br />
2. Churchmanship (living one’s spiritual life as part of a community of believers)<br />
3. Global awareness<br />
4. Knowledge of the current status of <strong>missions</strong> efforts (this will likely include<br />
going on several short-term mission trips)<br />
5. Development of God-given skills and talents<br />
Processing the Call<br />
When she was still a university student, Kimberly Jayne Rushing wrote<br />
that people generally pass through a succession of stages as they seek to clarify a<br />
call to ministry. Those stages are:<br />
1. A metaphysical encounter with God which establishes a sense of calling.<br />
As has been noted, the encounter in which God calls someone may<br />
happen in a variety of contexts. It may happen in as dramatic a setting<br />
as Moses’ burning bush experience in Exodus 3 or it may come through<br />
something like the gentle whisper which Elijah heard (1 Kings 19:12).<br />
However it happens, it will be a genuine encounter with God.<br />
2. A time of reflection or doubting of the calling.<br />
While some people never have any doubt about their call, others go<br />
through times of wondering if they were mistaken. Even when people<br />
begin to doubt the authenticity of their call, this need not be seen as a<br />
spiritual problem. God patiently dealt with Moses when he was reticent<br />
and with Gideon who twice asked for a confirmation of his call (Judges<br />
6:36-39).<br />
3. An affirmation of the call through the Body of Christ.<br />
Good ecclesiology demands that an individual call be validated by<br />
the community of faith. Though Paul was sure God had called him to<br />
the Gentiles, he did not go to them until the Antioch church confirmed<br />
his call and sent him.<br />
4. A willingness to obey that puts no conditions on what God may ask or<br />
where one is willing to go. 14<br />
No Place I Would Not Go<br />
There’s nothing I would not do; there’s no place I would not go for<br />
the sake of Christ. 15<br />
—written by Esther Carson Winans, missionary to Peru,<br />
on her application for missionary service