Dealing with Obstacles
12 October 2009
8 Comments
Over the years I’ve met countless people who sensed a calling on their life for missions but for one reason or another found themselves “unqualified” to serve by an organization. Many deal with obstacles of their own making…their past lifestyle, divorce, financial issues. But others deal with obstacles outside of their control….health issues, divorce, financial issues. Last week a commenter asked “What do I do? I feel called and yet my daughter has health issues and an organization won’t allow us to go overseas.” I don’t have all of the answers, but here are a few ideas…
- Be the call! For some the call to missions is a calling to a location…they’re minding their own business and then suddenly they hear…”Go to India!” What I’ve learned though is that for most of us the call came before a location. I think the calling is more of a lifestyle adjustment….I want to live my life in such a way that I create opportunities for the nations to engage God. This means that whether I’m in Frankfurt, Kentucky or Frankfurt Germany I’m fully engaged in making disciples of the nations.
- Be an Expat! Does your company work internationally? Are their jobs in your field internationally? This is an amazing option that more and more intentional Christians are pursuing. You get to do an actual job and it provides you with a truly authentic set of relationships in a different culture.
- Be the expert! Lead your church to be on mission. What if you took on a people group or a city in a different country? What if you contacted a missionary there and asked what segment of society were they not reaching yet….and then you took it on….from the US? You can be the expert even though you live somewhere else. Study the people, lead and send short-term teams there….get people from your church to get jobs there….to study language there. You would be amazed at how much you can accomplish this way. (By the way if you’re interested in this one…let me know I have just the city for you!)
- Be at the Universities! Do you know that every year emerging leaders from all over the world study on US University campuses? Leaders from politics, military, health-care, education and business spend 4-7 years in the US…and they largely go unreached by the church. Make it your goal to know these students, serve them, welcome them, invest in them and share with them. The results of reaching these types of leaders can be profound.
These are great ideas! I really like them particularly the university idea! Thanks!
Grady, good post and excellent direction for those who can’t literally “go”. We can all “go” in some way, even if not in the physical sense.
“truly authentic set of relationships in a different culture”…could you elaborate on this one? I’m curious what you mean by it.
C Holland…
“truly authentic set of relationships in a different culture”
I think one of things those of us in full-time ministry, regardless of location, struggle with is relationships. If I’m a full-time missionary in a country…who do I connect with along natural lines? Very few people. Work can lead to relationships that are created authentically, not me targeting them with the gospel. Hobbies and mutual interests also serve this purpose as do volunteering with a public organization. It helps us to connect with people in ways that make sense and seem more authentic. Did I elaborate or complicate???
Grady,
Thanks for the post. Good stuff! I would add that there are opportunities with people from other countries and cultures including low-income rent districts in most cities whether they are rural or urban. Also, professionals in some fields (such as high-tech) have significant concentrations of non-U.S. workers. Just last week I had my hair cut by a lady from Morocco while a Chinese lady waited for the next client. This is in a city of 100,000 that has number 1 & 2 concentrations as Hispanics and Islami Muslims respectively.
BTW - the lady cutting my hair shared that she goes home for extended visits 2x per year, while her mom comes here 1x per year. If people are transformed by Christ in the U.S. there is a very good chance that the gospel will be presented contextually to family and friends in the home country.
Finally, yes to the “truly authentic set of relationships in a different culture.” Good question and helpful clarification.
Thanks again for the post!
almost
Also, nice pic. Is this real or photoshopped? At first glance it was just a round rock, but when looking at the items providing perspective, I am going to guess that it would take at least 2 or 3 guys to push that out of the way
Almost…
Excellent point. My landlord has two daughters living in DC…both professionals…they come home twice a year and the dad goes there 2x a year.
My old landlord has three kids in Canada working as professionals.
I meet people almost daily who have close family living in the US or Canada. What if we developed ways to enter into their lives there? What if we served to help them adjust…get kids registered for school….learn English. God is bringing the nations to us…to our doorsteps….but it does require that we leave the campus.
Grady, thanks for the clarification. It’s what I thought you meant, and I agree wholeheartedly.
What if you live in a country where there just isn’t much multicultural things going on (like Taiwan or most Asian countries where people are very homogeneous) and you’re called to reach out to people group that is like a minority within a minority (and no way of getting to them too)? I feel called to Muslims but in Taiwan there are very few of them, in fact most people here are Buddhist and stuff but I don’t know how to reach out to those types (and I am ill equipped for it too) so I want to go somewhere mostly multicultural that has a higher Muslim population (Europe) or Middle East, but I am finding that organizations have very high standards in regards to missions and I am having difficulty getting taken seriously by them. Plus I need more training which organizations can provide but they aren’t letting me in on them and won’t say why.
Any advise here?
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