Missions

Recently I have been reading through several great books on mission work: Peace Child by Don Richardson and Catch the Vision 2000 by Bill and Amy Stearns.  (Another loosely related book I read was The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Louis Wilken.  Among other things, it discussed the spread of Christianity and the proselytizing of people groups during the reign of the Roman Empire.)  No, I'm not hearkening to a call of full-time mission work, but I found the material in all three books fascinating.  The global population falls in to two groups: born-again believers and the unregenerate.  Even further, people who call themselves born-again believers fall in to two groups.  In regard to missions, there are the sent ones, the missionaries themselves, and there are the senders, the support base for the missionaries.  If I had to consider myself in one of the groups, I would emphatically state I am a sender.  This is due to the bi-weekly giving of my tithe to several mission organizations: Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth and Commission to Every Nation in Kerrville.  The friend I smoke with on Tuesdays informed me of a young lady in the church he pastors who is leaving in May for a mission trip to India.  As a result, I am donating to the financial needs of the trip.  Acting as a sender for missionaries doesn't stop with the fulfillment of financial needs, for that is only the beginning.  Supporting missionaries involve much time devoted to prayer, Bible reading, and to corresponding with the missionary.  Correspondence is crucial to combat loneliness, the feeling they are isolated, and to encourage that their efforts are not futile or in vain.  There is so much more that could be written, but for further information I strongly encourage my readers to read the books mentioned above.  If you are a born-again believer in Jesus, I implore you to prayerfully seek God's Will for your life.  Are you called as a sent one or as a sender?  If you're a sender, ask God to light your heart on fire for evangelism here at home.  If you're a sent one, diligently seek out where God is leading you.

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