Preparation For Mission - Practical Steps
by Jack Voelkel1) Remember that the Lord wants to teach you what it means to hear His voice and help you grow in faith, grace, obedience, and holiness (2 Peter 3:18; Romans 8:29). Don't be surprised when you encounter experiences of difficulty, personal conflict, and even anxiety. All these are training opportunities for the Lord to teach you what it means to depend on Him.
2) As part of the above, be faithful in your daily time of Bible reading and prayer. If you are not doing it already, begin to include intercession for non-Christian friends and needy areas of the world. Since you have been in Mongolia and Zimbabwe, these would be good places to include. An excellent resource is Operation World. As you read about these countries, ask the Lord to put places or areas of ministry on your heart. Look at the daily newspaper through "mission eyes." Soon you will find that certain areas will claim greater attention. Do research on them and pray more frequently for them.
3) Take advantage of exposure to mission opportunities through conferences, correspondence with missionaries, and contact with mission agencies. I would recommend that you take in the Urbana Student Missionary Convention at the end of the year. This will be an unparallel opportunity to think about missions for a whole week, get to know other young people interested in the same vision, and have the opportunity to interact with representatives of literally hundreds of mission agencies. If you plan to attend, specifically ask the Lord to speak to you during those days.
4) Read widely. My favorite genre of literature is biographies. Try to find Ruth Tucker's From Jerusalem to Iran Jaya, a collection of short biographies of missionaries all down through history. If you want to particularly focus on the contribution women have made in missions, read her Guardians of the Great Commission. You will be encouraged and inspired.
5) Include intentional ministry opportunities in your schedule. In addition to faithful participation in worship in a local congregation, include experiences of sharing the Gospel and helping new Christians grow in their walk with the Lord.
6) Seriously consider formal Bible training, either full time or by correspondence. I strongly recommend the Perspectives course, which is offered though the U.S. Center for World Mission It will give you a systematic presentation of the Biblical theology of mission and what's going on in cross-cultural ministry today.
You asked about my own preparation. Since I knew that God was calling me to be a missionary, I took an arts degree (History) and then a theology degree. The mission I was interested in encouraged me to have experience in my own language and culture before going to Latin America. Thus, I responded to an invitation from my denomination to found a congregation in a new community in Canada, where we served for 4 years. Then, 2 years as an assistant in a large church in Toronto. These 6 years gave me an opportunity to explore my spiritual gifts in hands-on ministry. This is by no means a normative pattern, but it was very helpful for my wife and me. May the Lord guide you in finding His will for you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Blessings!
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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