Step 2: Body Boost: Getting On-the-Job Experience at Home
by Steve HokeJust as you need to grow in your commitment to Christ, you need to grow in your commitment to the Body of Christ. Individual Christians become a part of a larger Christian family when they accept Jesus Christ as Lord. The Bible never describes Christians as being whole unless they’re in fellowship with one another. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 tell us that we are part of one another. We are all parts of the Body of Christ. We’re connected and linked together.
You want to be seriously involved in a church - worshiping, fellowshiping, learning, and serving with a local church wherever you are. If you’re a college student who became a Christian after you left home for school, this may mean relating to two church bases. You’ll need a church-away-from-home as well as participating in your hometown church.
Those preparing for missionary service need to be involved in many ways: they need to be with other Christians on the campus, in the marketplace, on the job, in the training school, and on the field. They need to be in contact with a mission sending body. They need to be serving in a local church.
You may teach a Sunday school class. You could be part of an evangelism team. You could (should) serve in a home/cell church group. You could be a summer intern in church. You need to be a fully functioning Body member who is ministering with his or her spiritual gift.
Ministry is mutual. You must build into the church and make a contribution with your life before you can ever expect to receive from that church. From the local church come not only the people, but also the intercession, counsel, encouragement, and finances that make the worldwide mission enterprise possible.
Share your new commitment with your family and local church. Start with your parents and family and the pastoral team. Share with your shepherds any decisions or commitments you’ve made about missions. Ask for advice and help. Ask them to give you the spiritual guidance every Christian needs.
Too many young mission zealots neglect their family in the critical early steps of mission enthusiasm. Seek the advice of parents and family members as you begin your exploration. Ask for their specific prayer support. Since they are your most natural supporters, don’t neglect nurturing the relationship and communication until you come asking for money. Involve them as active participants early in the process.
Ask: “If you were me, how would you prepare for cross-cultural service?” Let the pastor know that you’re genuinely seeking input and that you are available and teachable. You desire to be prepared within the church for effective ministry. Seek wise counsel from other mature Christians in the church as well. In every church are countless creative ways to develop your skills in serving, leading, helping, teaching, witnessing, and discipling. Take part in a number of different tasks within your local congregation that will help you discover your gifts, use them, and sharpen your understanding of what God wants you to do. And remember - you learn to serve by serving. Some of your first roles may best be servant jobs.
Find a fruitful senior saint who can serve as a practical spiritual guide or mentor. Ask leaders in your church and your community if there is a special person or couple who can mentor you and pray with you. This will involve much more than just counseling. Seek a mature person whose kingdom values and lifestyle are evident, and who would be willing to spend regular time with you as a kind of spiritual director. Some churches have a procedure for taking pastoral or missionary candidates “under care” while they’re in training for ministry.
Offer to join (or start) the mission committee of your church. Many issues will be clarified in your own mind as you join others in your church as they seek to obey God’s foreign policy for the church. Discussion and study of church mission policy and giving will enlarge your own understanding and enlighten your personal giving. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about things that are new to you or that might appear out of sync with what God is teaching you about missions. You may be able to play a helpful role in increasing the energy and effectiveness of your church’s involvement in missions.
Increasingly, local churches are assuming greater responsibility in the training of their missionary candidates. This usually involves an intentional “internship” or “apprenticeship” in which specific character qualities and ministry skills are nurtured. The church recognizes such people as having been called to the Christian ministry and seeks to support them through their training period and into their future career. It is also during such a trial period that a church decides whether or not to confirm and stand behind your future ministry.
If your church does not have a strong missions training program, share a copy of this workbook with the leaders. Share what you’ve learned about yourself through it. Even if your local church is in the dark about the whole process of how to help a person get overseas, you still need their prayers and counsel.
Develop accountable relationships. Two dynamics are critical to your spiritual maturation. First, you need to have strong personal relationships in order to have effective ongoing ministry. Our culture’s extreme stress on individualism has left Western Christianity weak in relationships. Mentoring relationships for growth should include a relational network that embraces mentors, peers, and younger Christians in order to ensure development and a healthy perspective on life and ministry.
Second, you need mentoring relationships for accountability. You should also seek lateral or “peer mentoring” relationships with friends and colleagues with whom you can enter mutually supportive relationships for encouragement and protection. It is precisely the qualities of relaxed, open, and relevant relationships with peers that enable you to stimulate, interact with, and hold one another accountable at a more personal level. A circle of accountability is the safeguard for finishing well. (For more on mentoring, see Finding Personal Mentors).
Demonstrate your own commitment in financial stewardship. Show the same kind of commitment you may later want others to show for your ministry. Missions will become more real to you as you invest yourself practically in prayer, financial support, and encouragement for someone in whose shoes you may someday walk. When you are on support yourself, your experience in supporting others will enhance your own ministry to your donors. And the challenge of investing wisely will stimulate you to learn more than you might otherwise.
Much cross-cultural experience can be tapped in the local church. Western Christians travel internationally at an increasing rate. Hook up with some of these travelers and ask them to share their experiences with you. It will help both you and them to deepen your understanding of cross-cultural issues and ministry. Also, talk with missionaries. Invite international students into your home; study with them; hang out with them.
Don’t overlook the value of the training you will receive from your job experience. There are important lessons to be learned and values to be developed from any job, no matter how menial.
Missionaries must be people who can become self-sufficient. The next generation of missionaries will have to use their skills to generate income in order to stay on the field. They must be imaginative and find ways to do routine tasks more effectively.
Look at every job as a learning opportunity. Approach it with an open mind and the simple belief that God has placed you in it for a purpose and expects you to do your very best. Learn about taking directions from others. Learn about working on a team. Take initiative. Innovate. Start new ministries.
Develop responsibility in the “earning a living” part of your training. Western young people are not considered “adult” until they have actually gone out and supported themselves. Too often our society, including our schools, treats young adults as if they were not yet ready to accept major responsibility. Don’t fall into this trap.
You develop responsibility by proving yourself over time in the various roles you fill. Appreciate what other people say about responsibility and missions. But use every opportunity to sharpen your professional skills while gaining work experience in the marketplace.
As you pray and plan, listen for God’s voice and feel God’s touch. Try to discover His path for you. As the church helps you, they too will catch a vision. They’ll be stretched to seek for more!
You and your church need to plan seriously how the congregation and its leaders will relate to you as a potential missionary. How can they help in your preparation and training? What might be their long-term commitment to you? What is your long-term commitment to them?
For further resources to explore, check out the next two articles.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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