What Do Christian Missionaries Do?

What is the life of a Christian missionary like? What do they do on missions?

Missionaries

Every Christian should be on mission for Christ. Just as Jesus gave the disciples, and I believe He gives all of us, an imperative command, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20). Jesus doesn’t say, wait till they come to you, rather you go to them, so in a sense, we are all Christian missionaries. We may not be able to go into all the world, but we can go into the neighborhood, or wherever else we happen to be. A Christian and a missionary (also, a Christian), have the same goals. To seek those who are lost so that they might place their trust in Christ.

Missionary Training

Missionaries just don’t hop on a jet or boat and head off to some foreign land that they’ve never seen before, heard anything about, and where they can’t speak the language. The missionary needs to learn the language, but also the culture, the customs, their history, their traditions, and how their society works. It takes a lot of training before a missionary can enter the mission field. They also need funding. Unless they receive support for their missionary trip, there will be no trip; therefore it may take some time to raise the needed funds so that they can pay for all of their expenses. They may have to raise the funds themselves and this could take some time. The evangelists are those who come to Christ in the nation where the missionary is working. They have a lot more knowledge about their nation, the language, and their people, so they have a much greater advantage.

What do they Do?

Missionaries do a lot of what the Apostle Paul did. They travel long distances and face hunger, cold, heat, perils at sea, dangers at night and some face stoning’s, beatings, imprisonment, and even death, just as Paul did. That type of persecution is still going on. It is a call to suffering and a denying of one’s self. Jesus, in warning His disciples, also a warning the missionaries; “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles” (Matt 10:16-18). I find it interesting when we receive prayer requests from missionaries, they never pray for adequate water, food, shelter or for protection from persecution; they most often pray that they might lead as many to saving faith in Christ as possible. Missionaries in foreign countries face great risks…but there will be great rewards awaiting these saints heaven that are willing to go into places where few fear to tread. Most missionaries have strong faith, and that’s important, because they’ll need it, however time and experience have proved to them that they can trust God. When they see things work out in amazing ways, they learn to fully trust in and fully depend on God.

Apostle Paul, the Missionary

The Apostle Paul may have been the greatest missionary of all time, bringing the gospel to different nations (within the Roman Empire), that were idolatrous, and even into Asia-Minor and well into the Roman Empire. Paul must have suffered a lot during these missionary trips and not just from being flogged, beaten, or imprisoned, but even with all of that, Paul never once asked the church to pray for his being free from persecution, rather he would often write, pray “for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Eph 6:19), and he also asked them to “pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison” (Col 4:3). Even while in chains, Paul said, “I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph 6:20). Paul had a captive audience as they rotated different Roman guards who were chained to him until the next round of guards replaced them. He never complained about the chains, the prison, or the food, but only that he would be faithful in proclaiming the gospel. For Paul, he didn’t have any other choice as he wrote, “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1st Cor 9:16)!

Conclusion

Perhaps the greatest missionary field today would be the U.S, Canada, and Australia, because they are drifting away from God. There are other nations that continue to be fertile ground for the gospel but some countries have become closed to missionaries. Other nations, like Russia, are restricting evangelism. The noose seems to be tightening on the freedom to witness for Jesus Christ. As the world continues to grow more violent, the only hope for the world is trying to be muted. That’s why missionaries do what they do; to take the whole gospel to the whole world so that God may use them as a means to save some.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.