The characteristic of obedience comes up over and over as we hear from people about what it takes to be a missionary today. And it is summed up so well in this thought from Elizabeth McElroy, Director of Personnel for HCJB World Radio, (www.hcjb.org). 

"There was a quote made by the great missionary, Hudson Taylor and it said, "God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him".
We live in a world with massive technological advancement, intellectual evolution and global impact on many fronts. Yet, with all of this at the surface, there is one underlying unchanging truth. God is looking for one simple thing; A Willingness to Follow Him, whether it be overseas or to our own family, friends or community. You see having an open heart to God will open doors into other hearts, other cultures and ultimately change our world. Living each day yielded to God, with eternity stamped on our eyeballs focuses our lives on others and Christ’s great commission, GO and DO. This leads to living a life of passionate devotion, settling for nothing less than reaching ONE MORE HEART FOR GOD. This truly is global missions, and YOU can be one of its greatest investors."

SO . . . are you investing in the Kingdom. Is your missions heart based in changing hearts for God? What drives this obedience to go?  

Missionaries used to go off on ships and come back only years later with their testimonies and stories. Today we are flying around the world, chatting with people at all hours of the day via the Internet and even calling anywhere in the world for free. A few days ago I talked to someone in Prague and Madrid all before I went to work and it didn't cost me anything since I did it with Skype.

In a world that looks at 2 years as a lifetime, the idea of long-term missionary service sounds weird. But in many situations it is the reality if we are going to have kingdom impact. 

Dr. Marshall Gillam, Executive Director of Lutheran Bible Translators (www.lbt.org), has this to say about staying power, "We hear (and I suspect there is some truth) the notion that missionaries of the current generation(s) are willing to commit themselves intensively to ministry - but will make several significant life-changes along the way and are less likely to take on an assignment for the long-haul.  While that is understandable on many levels, the issue for LBT is that the nature of Bible translation tends to be much more a long-term assignment.  For a variety of reasons (language learning, local relationships, etc.), LBT needs
missionaries who are willing to engage in the project with a long time horizon.  Short term assignments, even intensive short term assignments, don't fit the needs of Bible translation very well."

Is God calling you to STAY? 

Sometimes our hands can be doing all the right things but if our hearts are not in tune with God, we are without that purpose and meaning in our ministry. You say, "That could never happen!" But it does.

There are so many details involved in getting out into the missionary field, that many times the details become the goal. You've probably had that happen to you. 

Aaron Sandoval, E-strategist for Itero (www.itero.com), has this to say, "I think that the most critical characteristic that missionaries must have is complete surrender to God's will. Somebody can have all the right missiological elements: a sending agency, health insurance, support system, etc. However, I feel that truly effective ministers are those who are completely in tune with God's will, and are willing to go, not depending on any particular infrastructure, but on following God's lead. Ultimately, where He guides, He provides. That is the most critical characteristic for me."

Are you focused on the details or in tune with God's purposes for you? 

What is beyond flexible? How flexible can you be and still keep your sanity. Here at HCJB World Radio we call our Communications Team the "Taffy Team" because we are being pulled and stretched all the time to meet demands of a changing world. 

Roger Peterson CEO of STEM Int’l (www.stemintl.org) has this to say, "In the 20th Century, missionaries had to be flexible -- flexible in terms of how and where they lived, how and where they educated their children, how and when they traveled on the field, how and where and when they did their ministry. 20th Century missionaries could, should, and did make their plans -- but needed to remain flexible to the ever-shifting winds of the Holy Spirit and varying time- and relationship-norms of the host receiving culture.

But for the 21st Century missionary, flexibility no longer works. Today's missionary must have the plasticity and elasticity of a contortionist."

Are you ready to be stretched?

If you have already been out in missions, how have you been stretched? 

This word "calling" is a strange thing. Once you feel called to missions, this word becomes an important noun in your vocabulary - "My Calling."  

Have you felt a calling? If so how are you acting on it? Is it something you are revisiting and praying over? Did it happen years ago and you are wondering what God is doing?

Justin Long, a missionary in Southeast Asia and editor of Momentum Magazine (www.momentum-mag.org) has this to say about obedience to your call, "I would say obedience to the Lord's direction. Faithfulness is also an important quality - the ability to consistently follow, even apart from things we can see. As someone who has been in Southeast Asia for nearly 2 years now, I can attest that strength of character, flexibility, humility and a sense of humor are absolutely critical to survival. A sense of calling and focus will keep one on track over the years. It's difficult to pin down!"

Talk to others about your calling and pray to God that he gives you clarity and focus. Your calling will be a critical element of your effectiveness as you serve! 

Are you a "doer" or a "facilitator"???

There are missionaries of all shapes and sizes but many tend to be hands-on doers. After all if you are going to be shipped off to another country to launch a new work, you better be a doer.

But in the new century of missions there is a growing need for "facilitators" 

Ellen Livingood, president of  Catalyst Services (www.catalystservices.org), talks about this reality, "Missionaries need to be facilitators--in priorities, attitudes and skills.  Instead of going out "to win the world," their priority needs to be helping others to do it.  Success will not be how many people I won or churches I planted, but how successful the people were whom I mentored.  Their attitude needs to see the untapped potential of younger people and lay people who can be developed for high impact.  And they need to develop the skills of how to bring very different types of individuals and groups together in partnership and help them work together effectively in all types of connections."

So what is your PRIORITY?

What is your ATTITUDE?

What are your SKILLS? 

If you are considering missions, there are many things that you are doing to prepare, but have you thought about your resource library?

Before you go, make sure that you identify the key books and resources that you need for the work you are doing. Many of them are available in digital form or in audio or even podcasts. Obviously space is an issue, but resources can fit on Thumb Drives these days.

As your missions prof, your missions agency, friends, whoever and find out the key resources. Once you are in your new location it will be a bigger pain to get them.

One resource that is a huge help online is online access to Evangelical Missions Quarterly. It is a key magazine on how to do missions - very practical. You can purchase an online subscription at www.emqonline.com.  Another one that is free is www.worldpulseonline.com. You can also go to www.mislinks.org for hundreds of sites and resources.

Or just do a google search for Missionary Resources and you will be amazed at what you find.