Missions, The Church Connected, and Generosity
As Elise gets closer to graduation (November, 2016), we are starting to prepare as missionaries to teach future missionary mechanics at Moody Aviation in Spokane, WA. A great organization called Proclaim Aviation has accepted us as full-time missionaries. This is a an opportunity for me (Mike) to gain aviation experience while we raise support to serve alongside SAMAIR in Peru.
As a first blog post, I want to share a little bit about why I believe cross-cultural missionaries are necessary today and how God has much to teach His church through generosity.
We have just begun sharing our stories with people. To reach full support, it will take friends, family, and strangers. We are realizing that it will take many introductions to like minded Christians to reach full support and while that may be daunting, this is a part of the missionary ministry. Missionaries are a conduit of Christ's love from church to local church. This could be cross cultural, and it could be same culture. We get to share with the Church an opportunity to be a part of God's Kingdom expanding in the Church around the world. That means meeting with people who don't yet know about God's work and connecting them to it. This is exactly what Paul did in 2 Corinthians 9.
Its amazing how the Church does not know or hear about its brothers and sisters around the globe. There are millions of people who don't know that the church exists outside of their own country. Nik Ripken in his book, The Insanity of God, talks about visiting a church leader gathering in China. A young Chinese man asked him there, "Do the people in other countries also know about Jesus - or is He still known only in China (p. 242)?" What a revelation to the people there, to hear that Jesus is known in the hearts and lives of people all over the globe.
Even still, there are 2 billion people in the world today who have no knowledge of the gospel. See the video below for statistics from Frontiers Mission.
It is through missionaries that the universal Church of God is connected. Whether it is local church members going across town to meet with other local church members, or a Korean missionary traveling to the USA to encourage a different church, when you meet with other believers, you are connecting the Church together. That is why cross cultural missionaries are ok. Christian believers belong to an altogether different - read, heavenly, - culture (2 Corinthians 5). Although we have so much trouble with this in America - parting with our culture - when we accept Christ, He transforms us (Romans 12:1-2) to represent Him in the world. We are called to be ambassadors of this new culture.
Our primary objective: to proclaim/administer the message of reconciliation to the world for the glory of God until He comes.
Know that Partnership in Missions is not just giving money to missionaries. We acknowledge and declare that " the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. (Psalm 24:1)" God blesses His whole Church through giving and receiving, sowing and reaping (2 Cor 9:6-11). Both giver and receiver experience times of need and times of plenty. In times of need, God provides to meet your need. In times of plenty, God provides to meet the needs of others.
There is also a spiritual aspect to giving and receiving material goods. The spiritual gifts received in material generosity are unmatched. There is a spiritual reward through material investment. The relationships established thus as one experiences unparalleled generosity and cheerfulness in generosity are themselves rooted in the love of God. With outstanding generosity, we take material goods off of the throne of our hearts, and place God on that throne. We then trust Him for resources, and as the stewards of His resources, we honor Him with the resources in our care. We remember that caution in Luke
How He loves us and wants us to grow in this area. I'll conclude with 2 Cor 9:12-14. As you read, will you think about how God has blessed you, and how you might be a conduit of that blessing to the Church around you. You are a Missionary.
"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
