Day 6 – Engaging the People

Luke 1:37: "For nothing is impossible with God." (NIV)

By now the local leaders have told you about their experiences in the mission field and have provided wisdom on how to avoid their past mistakes. You have also re-instilled the lessons you have learned while you were in your home country. You believe that you can now engage and lead the Lost back to God.

Except that the culture is more complex than what your training have anticipated.

Even with the best preparation, the mission field would always be full of surprise. New cuisine, new social norms and new language will provide a wonderful yet sometimes confusing experience as the theoretical part of your training collide with the practical application.

This is one of the experiences of John Mark Bas, a college student and one of the members of our short term mission to Macau.

John was amazed by the city of Macau. The city was very modern and exudes a sense of class. He also felt a spirit of progress and a culture of excellence and development, a striking contrast to the more laid back culture of the Filipinos.

Despite these differences, John enjoyed his stay. He learned that students like him can be used by God in ministry.

Finally, he learned that by sharing a common interest, in our case Taekwondo, missioners can build relationships with the group that they are trying to reach out while enjoying themselves at the same time.

Day 5 –Working with the local leaders

Proverbs 29:18: “When there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (NIV)

Finally, you have arrived in the land that God has sent you to reach. It has been an arduous journey from the world that you know to the new unfamiliar place.

Dizzying sights and unfamiliar customs greet you as you set your foot in their land. Even the air seems to have a strange presence, a saturation of the culture that you will meet.

It would be very hard for us to succeed in carrying out God's work in the area if not for the veterans that already established the Church.These long term missionaries are there in the frontline of the battle. Day and night they spread the Word of God without fail even while being beset by enemies in an unknown land. Their faith and support are a cherished resource in an area where your team have little or no connections. Your presence on the other hand is a welcoming relief to many of them as you bring news about their friends and love ones back home and provide skills and manpower to bolster the local church.

It would be wise for you to strategize with the local missionaries first just like Ces Sy, a campus missionary. The first thing that they did when they landed in South Korea is to connect with the local church leaders. The long term missionaries, through an associate pastor, briefed them on what to expect on this foreign land. He also told them what the current initiatives of their church are and how the members of the team could help them. With his experience and their talents, they were able to create a united front that helped reached out the educational institutions in this country.

Going the Distance

“Pray for great things, expect great things, work for great things, but above all pray.” – R.A. Torrey American evangelist

The plateau is a place of discouragement. After the arduous yet upward task of preparation, you find yourself in the grueling yet somewhat flat chore of the mid-phase. The stamina that you used to boost yourself during the early phase has left you and you wonder if you have what it takes to go the distance. Encouraging words and familiar places are but a distant memory and the end is still not in sight. Still the God who carried you here is with you. Trust in Him to carry you through.

Day 4 – supporting your fellow members

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (ESV)

No one succeeded in Ministry alone.

Paul went with Silas and Timothy on his missionary trips. Jesus also tutored the Twelve during His time here on Earth.

We missioners too, are supported by the multitude of people even though only a few of us set foot on our target nation. Some of these people provide the financial resources while others set the paperwork and the facilities to ensure your safe journey towards your destination. Finally, we have family and friends that support us emotionally and pray unceasingly to God for provisions.

We are fortunate to have these people with us, and others could be as fortunate when we share their support. These people could then, in turn, use their God-given strengths and talents to further His cause to the nations.

Let me tell you about Pastor Dan Harder, and how he supported his fellow missioner start his journey.

Pastor Dan Harder and his wife Icor were planning to raise money to go together during his short term mission to Kyrygyzstan. They were only able to raise funds that could support one person. The couple have excess funds but it is not enough to fully cover the needs of another person. The couple prayed for guidance on how to they could use the extra funds. Finally, they decided to have Pastor Dan go on to the missions and give the excess money to another young church leader who himself who has not yet.

Looking back, Pastor Dan realized that they reached their goal on bringing the gospel to the land-locked nation of Kyrygyzstan while equipping the next generation of missioners on their own spiritual journey.

Day 3 – Reaching out to the people for support

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”(NIV)

It takes a lot of faith for asking blessings from God and from the people who are the channels from this blessings. Shyness, lack of strong relationships and lack of confidence affects our actions for reaching out to the people that could support us. Then there is the temptation to simply ask one person to fully fund the support that you need for the trip.

Although daunting and inconvenient, we should understand that even raising funds is a part of the short term ministry. By providing people with a means to support you, you are actually enabling them to spread the gospel to the nations. Besides, God blesses people who supports His children. Who knows, your very means of reaching out to others might help lead these people to salvation.

This is the story of Red, a college student who trusted the Lord to go out of his comfort zone to reach out to people rather than go the easy way out.

Red’s goal was to answer God’s Great Commission, knowing that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. He intended to go to Kyrgyzstan but opportunity lead him to a Youth team that is headed to Vietnam.

He obtained his funds from his friends from school and family. His grandfather was willing to help him but he deferred even though he needs to raise at least 2000 US dollars for the trip. His mother asked him to have faith even though his grandfather can cover the expense. With this challenge and encouragement, he managed to reach out to people such as his discipline committee to raise the required funds. Slowly but surely, Red has fully raised the funds by the time that his grandfather asked him again about it.

With the money and encouragement from his supporters, Red became one of the most productive members of the mission to Vietnam. His skills in magic tricks entertained the Vietnamese people and

became a good icebreaker prior to fellowship and learning more about Jesus and how He came to save them. The mission trip left Red inspired to join other Short term missions in the future. Red learned a lot from this trip but this would have not been possible had he not take the first step and reached out for support.