Because so many students have come to me with a very simple question, I have finally decided that it is time to put something down on paper that might help concerned students in the area of missions. And, not only students, but perhaps missionaries.
In Scripture, we see God fulfilling his purposes in the world through men. Usually he begins with one man-burning his divine objective into that man’s heart and mind, and giving him promises to guarantee the fulfillment of the objective. Rarely, however, does God begin and end with one man.
An interesting development has taken place on the missionary scene at some time during the past hundred years: the rise of the notion of a lifetime commitment associated with a particular geographical location.
Twenty-three years ago I had the task of drafting a service application form for the fledgling Missionary Aviation Fellowship. I gathered samples from a variety of boards and agencies. One had this question: “If appointed, do you intend to make missionary service your life work?”
Do students have anything to offer missions in the 1970s? Some missionaries wonder if this generation can be used in missionary service.
The pastoral care of missionaries is not something for which I can produce proof texts from Scripture, although we might reasonably assume that Paul and Barnabas gave loving care to John Mark and other fellow-workers as they traveled and toiled with them.
The critical discussion between religions has fallen on hard times. Due in large measure to what Francis Schaeffer calls “escape from reason,” men are coming to view religion as an exclusively non-cognitive activity, the doing of one’s “thing” which somehow infuses human life with transcendental significance.
In the Summer 1969 issue of Evangelical Missions Quarterly, P.T. Chandapilla (General Secretary, Union of Evangelical Students of India) told “How Jesus Trained the Twelve.” He broke down his study into eight principles of Jesus’ ministry. The following story describes how another national Christian leader puts these principles into practice in Malaysia.
The military coup d’ etat that vaulted General Ne Win and sixteen other army officers into Burma’s political saddle on March 2, 1962 marked an important milestone for the Christian church in that land. Anti-foreign feelings, already present in some measure, were strengthened and implemented by actions of the new government.
A milestone is a useful measuring device. It will show you how far you have come and where you are in the journey. Looking back may not be pleasant. Looking forward I trust will be profitable. We want to survey the seventies.
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