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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

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