83. MISSIONARIES
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And He said unto them, Go ye into all the World, and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mk.16:15).
1. The safest place in the World for you is in the center of God's will out on the mission field preaching the Gospel in all the World to every creature!
2. Those who don't make missionaries at home, won't make missionaries on the field!
3. If you can't make it work at home you'll never make it work on the field! You'd better have already learned it & become a missionary in the Home field living by faith there, or you'll never make a missionary or live by faith on a foreign field.
4. A missionary is God's man in God's place doing God's work in God's way for God's glory.
5. My idea of being a missionary is a marriage!--To live with them, love them, be one of them & never leave them. That's what Jesus did!
6. The secret of the success of every truly fruitful missionary: A genuine endeavour of identification with the people, a true loving sample of God's love, & a clear presentation of His message in some way that they can understand.
7. Look before you leap & weigh the consequences & don't leap before you look. Haste may make waste of all you've worked so hard for.
8. Reach the major areas first, before considering branching out into the surrounding nearby minor areas.
9. If you can't win souls where you are, you're certainly not going to be able to win them in some other country under even more difficult conditions.
10. You're not going to the make a missionary unless you love them enough to die for them.
11. For blessings, souls & inspiration, try the foreign field in a needy nation!
12. If you can't be a missionary, then support one.
13. If you can't do anything else, support a missionary!
14. If you can't be a missionary on the home field, then you'll never be a missionary on the foreign field.
15. As any missionary can tell you, most of the troubles on the mission field come not from without, but from within.
16. Nothing is too good for missionaries! Nothing is too much! You're God's cream of the crop, at the top of His list!
17. Just transporting you across the ocean is not going to make a missionary of you.
18. I have always been leery of missionaries who didn't even like the people to whom they ministered.
19. We need to learn all we can about a people, as well as become one of them.
20. The famous missionary who pioneered India began with only two phrases in the native tongue: "I love you" & "God loves you!"--And with these he started a mighty wave of Christian faith in that formerly benighted land!
21. I am convinced that what Jesus said is still true, regardless of nationality, country, colour or creed: "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me." (Jn.12:32)
22. You'll be a lot safer on the mission field where you belong than on some damn refuge farm where you don't belong!
23. The best refuge is on the mission field!
24. Get out & lose your life for the Lord on the mission field!
25. Don't forget that there are rich people on a pitiful mission field too, & there are only certain kinds of people that can reach them.
26. Once a missionary has done well, & learned the language, customs, methods of the people in a certain field, he pretty much ought to stick there.
27. Church missionaries have wasted God's time & the World's time & deprived billions of salvation by getting bogged down in some jungle trying to convert some Indian chief or a handful of headhunters.
28. God help us to do what the Lord said & "Go into all the World & preach the Gospel to every creature". But help us to go to the parts of the World where most of the people are--the cities! Then the citizens of the land can go & preach it to their natives in their own local language!
29. We could be real missionaries to the churches--& maybe even get a little help & support for our missionaries on the field.
30. The most Gospel-neglected class are the rich & intellectuals, because many missionaries are afraid of them.
31. Safety first has no place in God's missionary program. We are called upon to live dangerously.
32. Be sure you pray desperately & find God's will for yourself before you go anywhere!--Only God knows the best place for you.
33. The biggest problem on the mission field isn't missionaries fighting the outside enemy or persecution from other religions, it is the missionaries fighting each other!--Arguing, quarrelling, despitefully using each other & jealous of each other. It's sad, isn't it, how the Devil's strategy is so clever, yet so simple.
34. Sometimes when you think, "Why do I have to go into that horrible worldly dirty atmosphere with all those evil creatures," remember that that must have been exactly what Jesus thought when He had to come to this Earth to save you!
35. There is no excuse for any missionary going home because of lack of support & insufficient funds, because God has promised if you'll obey Him & serve Him & work, He'll feed you! He'll "supply all your need according to His riches in glory!" There is no excuse for your not having enough money! There's no excuse for your not having enough to eat! There's no excuse for your having no place to lay your head! There is no excuse for you being unable to minister for lack of funds, because if you would quit playing around & just funning around & foolishness & get out there & get busy & get to work in some way, somehow, in some of these supporters or even one of them, God has promised that He will support you!
36. For missionaries trying to raise support, there's a great temptation to compromise, not only at home but also on the field for security, support, influence, protection, provision & all the rest.
37. Blobs really work on the mission field where you have as many different kinds of ministries & supporters represented as possible & you can cooperate together & work together & do a better job as a co-op.--As long as they don't get too big & you get busier taking care of yourself than you do your work!
38. It is something to be a missionary. The morning stars sang together & all the sons of God shouted for joy when they saw the field which the first missionary was to fill. The great & loving God, before Whom the angels veil their faces, had an only Son, & He was sent to Earth as a Missionary Physician. It is something to be a follower, however feeble, in the wake of the Great Teacher & only Model Missionary that ever appeared among men, & now that He is the Head over all things, King of Kings, & Lord of lords, what commission is equal to that which a missionary holds from Him? For my own part, I never cease to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office!--David Livingstone
(See also No.C,7, 13, 68, 144, 151, 160, 164, 171, 173, 176, 177, 178, 182, 187, 201, 202, 208, 209, 211, 242, 315C, 335A, 381, 556, 659, 726, 806, 905, 922, 925, 927, 931, 936, 951,953-3, 971, 1027, 1046, 1054, 1055, 1056,1057, 1080, 1087, 1088, 1096, 1097, 1115, 1202, 1214, 1265, 1417, 1418, 1510.)
39. PSA.2:8 Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession.
40. PSA.96:10a Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth.
41. ISA.52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth Salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
42. MAT.24:14 And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for witness unto all nations; and then shall the End come.
43. MAR.13:10 And the Gospel must first be published among all nations.
44. MAR.16:15 And He said unto them, Go ye into all the World, and preach the Gospel to every creature.
45. LUK.9:2-5 And He sent them to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And He said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
46. ROM.10:15 How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family