By Carla Williams
Many Christians sustain a separation between themselves and missionaries. Those who serve cross-culturally tend to get put on a pedestal and we “normal” Christians watch them in awe as we trudge through our everyday lives. While missionaries certainly face some different situations, they are basically just forgiven Christ-followers who are being obedient and faithful in the circumstances God has given them.
While not all Christians will move their families to a foreign country, we’re all called to live a life worthy of the Lord and to please Him in every way. (Col. 1:10)
We’ve identified seven key practices that each Team Expansion missionary enlists in their effort to serve God’s Kingdom. Using them will drastically transform your own ministry – even at home!
- Pray Like Crazy
One of the most crucial benefits of a believer’s life is that you’re not doing this on your own strength. You get to use God’s impressive armory every single day. Never underestimate the transformational power of your prayers. As you pray, your heart is changed and you find new courage. As you pray, barriers are destroyed and the Gospel moves forward. As you pray, God leans in to listen and then He acts! Don’t attempt any kind of ministry without a total and complete commitment to prayer.
- Get Training
So many people want to be sharing their faith, but they feel like they’d stumble over the words. Or they want to serve the hurting, but they’re not sure how to help without doing more damage. Or they care about being a light in their workplace, but they just have no idea how that works.
Listen to something amazing: you can learn how to do those things! There are resources based on real experience, wisdom, research, and Scripture. Whether it’s buying a few highly recommended books or attending some studies or workshops, there are answers for almost all of your hesitations.
Missionaries experience a boatload of training – before they leave the field and while they’re there. The simple reason is that they want to thrive in the ministry they’ve been given. You can thrive, too!
- Build a Support Network
While you might not have to go church-to-church or present your personal ministry plan in front of small groups to raise your own salary like most missionaries, you could really benefit from creating a support team around you. You need people who will pray with and for you. You need people who will hold you accountable. You need people who will speak into your situations when you need an outside perspective.
Intentionally find these people who will walk through life with you. Approach them directly and let them into your life, even the messy parts. Choose this network carefully, prayerfully, and then commit to listening when they speak – especially when they’re not saying what you want to hear.
- Set a Budget (And then be Accountable)
Every month, each Team Expansion missionary sends out a financial report to every single supporter on their team. It’s humbling and a little awkward, but it’s vital. It removes the element of selfishness. It says, “Here is what I did with the gifts I was given.”
You probably don’t receive a salary from a network of sacrificial Christians, but you’re kidding yourself if you think the money you have is yours to do whatever you please. God has entrusted you with every cent you possess, whether you inherited millions or you’re desperately living paycheck to paycheck.
If you can hold loosely to the money in your possession, while also being extremely diligent to use it wisely and intentionally, you’ll discover a certain freedom. Maybe you aren’t going to send a monthly accounting to every person in your address list, but you can live as if you were.
- Serve on a Team
Do you know what happens to many missionaries who try to serve all alone? Burn out. Loss of passion. Loss of vision. Corruption. Discouragement. Apathy. Anger. Disillusionment. Resentment. Failure.
It’s easy to see why – when you’re serving alone, the only voice you hear is your own. And if you listen to your own voice long enough, it inevitably leads you astray.
Do you know what happens to missionaries who serve with a team? They give and receive encouragement. They learn responsible conflict. They manage to listen to and balance other perspectives. They sharpen their own gifts while equipping others to sharpen theirs. They share. They co-carry. They thrive.
Of course, in the missions world and in yours, there will be exceptions, but the overall reality is that you’re not designed to serve God on your own. You need a team. Find Christians who are committed to living that worthy life, and live it with them.
- Learn the Language
Chances are, you aren’t going to need to learn an obscure dialect of a tribal village to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (But you might!) But you could benefit from an intentional study of the people you are here to serve.
In missions, we talk about sharing the Gospel in a specific people group’s “heart language.” This is true in your everyday relationships as well. Even if you’re only goal is to love your own family in a way that leads them to an intimate relationship with Christ, you need to know how to speak to them individually.
Learning language involves listening. It requires practice. It demands humility and patience. It insists on valuing other people more than you value your own comfort. It requires vulnerability and risk. It’s really, really hard.
But it’s worth it to be able to tell someone you love, in a way that reaches their heart, that God loved them so much that He gave His one and only Son for them.
- Step Back Sometimes
Every few years, missionaries will come off their field and return to their home churches to report on how God is moving in those places where they serve. It’s an opportunity to evaluate what they’ve done, are doing, and want to do in the future. It’s a chance to appreciate what they’ve received, get the rest and perspective they need, and find the faith and strength to step back into action.
You also need those moments. You need to back away sometimes and see where God was moving. Discover your vulnerabilities. Regroup and move forward. It could involve a weekly Sabbath reflection, intentional meeting with a mentor, or periodic family retreat. Just be deliberate about stepping back and considering your life with great prayer and wisdom. Then adjust what needs to be changed. Protect what’s growing weak. Take a deep breath, and jump back in.
