Shouldering the Burdens of Missionaries

Christians should be very familiar with the account of the giving of the Great Commission. In our mind's eye, we imagine the disciples gathered around Christ on the green hilltop glittering with dew and a clear blue sky above them. “Go therefore,” we imagine Jesus saying, “and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” 

Now, about 2,000 years later, the grace of God has enabled the church to continue the holy work of making disciples in every nation. One of the ministries at the forefront of this work is Global Outreach International. 

“We are a missions agency working to spread the gospel of Jesus to every part of the world,” said John Darnell, CEO of Global Outreach. “We want to we want to see the good news go to every nation, so we have 258 missionaries working in 43 countries around the world.” 

Global Outreach is unique in that many of the staff were once active missionaries in the field. 

“We believe the church is the sender,” said Darnell. “If you read Scripture, there was no sending agency except the church. So we at Global Outreach found that many of us who have been missionaries on the field understand the uniqueness that comes with moving a family around the world serving cross-culturally. We have a unique experience that we can bring alongside the local church who has been investing in and raising up believers – as we see in the New Testament – to send out to make disciples.” 

Too often we Christians in the pews forget that missionaries are not super-human. They are like us, followers of Christ, indwelled by the Spirit, and constantly reliant on God for every ounce of strength it takes to carry out the Great Commission. 

“When we look at the New Testament and we look at Paul and there's a tremor that comes in our voice when we say his name,” said Darnell, “and certainly he deserves a lot of respect – but unfortunately we can do that with missionaries. I remember being a missionary coming back to the states and people would say ‘Thank you for what you're doing’, almost as if I was a faultless example of a Christian to put on a pedestal. But this is not true. My wife and I had marriage struggles like any family, we had problems with our kids, we had conflicts with our coworkers, and we weren't the best example of Jesus all the time. We're real human people who get lonely. And loneliness I would say is a great opportunity for the Devil to come in and speak lies into your life, but remember that prayer is where the real work happens.” 

Throughout the New Testament, we see examples of the church sending and supporting missionaries, most often through monetary means. And while the physical needs of these evangelists are important to meet, there is an even more powerful way for the church to support them: prayer. 

“I know a lot of times at our office as we're dealing with whatever missionary issue comes up that one of our co-workers reminds us to pray about it,” said Darnell, “because prayer is where the real work happens. And so as you think about these missionaries let the Holy Spirit lead you – who you're going to pray for, what you're going to pray, and let God use that as a testimony to what He's going to do. Because it is encouraging to know somebody's praying for you.”

To learn more about Global Outreach International, visit www.globaloutreach.org.