This has been a pretty thought-provoking last and final semester here at R.I.C.E. I am happy that the next journey has already begun and I am extremely grateful for how much I have absorbed. For this reflection I will focus on three major points or themes. I have been lucky enough to get two different perspectives on the details about mission work from two great teachers. Both perspectives have helped to shape my experience and redirect my thinking for the subject. While there are many things to reflect on the points I would like to discuss are centered on a few points. 1) A greater gratefulness for the work of missionaries, 2) the delusion around African Americans involvement in early mission work, 3) the dyer need in the active continued presence on the missionary field.
Over the past few months while engaged in this missions class I have come to grasp the hard work and sacrifice done by the people involved in mission work. It’s amazing to see how these great missionaries traveled to the utter most parts of the world to take the message of Jesus to the lost. I found the tasks to b...
Reverend Josiah Strong's Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis inspired missionaries to travel to foreign nations.
I walked around unsteadily all day like a lost baby, far away from its pack. Surrounded by unfamiliar territory and uncomfortable weather, I tried to search for any signs of similarities with my previous country. I roamed around from place to place and moved along with the day, wanting to just get away and go back home. This was my first day in the United States of America.
In 1731, Zinzendorf’s zeal for missions was sparked while attending the coronation of King Christian VI in Copenhagen. Zinzendorf met a Christian slave from the West Indies, who urged for someone to go back to his homeland and witness to his fellow slaves. When he returned to Herrnhut, two men willingly volunteered for this task. Thus, in 1732, Zinzendorf sent his first two Moravian missionaries to the West In¬dies. Moreover, these were the first Protestant missionaries sent on a mission from the modern missionary era. Many people refer to William Carey as the “father of modern missions.” However, this title belongs to Zinzendorf, who was engaged in modern missions 60 years before Carey. In 1735, a missionary group went to Geor¬gia, and then Penn¬syl¬van¬ia. Zinzendorf took special care sending missionaries into almost every part of the known world. Within 20 years, he sent missionaries to Greenland, Lapland, Georgian, Surinam...
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
It was a beautiful, sunny day in South Florida. I was six years old, playing by the pool with my new puppy. I loved swimming in the pool almost every day after school. I also enjoyed going out on our boat after school or crossing the street and going to the beach. My father came home one evening with some interesting news. Now, I do not remember exactly how I felt about the news at that time, but it seemed like I did not mind that much. He had announced that we were going to move back to my birth country, Belgium. I had been living in Florida for five years and it was basically all I had known so I did not know what to expect. I had to live with my mom at first, and then my sister would join us after she graduated high school and my father finished settling things. I remember most of my earlier childhood by watching some old videos of me playing by the pool and dancing in the living room. It seemed like life could not get any better. However, I was excited and impatient to experience a new lifestyle. I realized that I could start a whole new life, make new friends and learn a new language. Belgium was not as sunny as South Florida but it has much better food and family oriented activities. Geographic mobility can have many positive effects on younger children, such as learning new languages, being more outgoing, and more family oriented; therefore, parents should not be afraid to move around and experience new cultures.
To most, missionary work consists of distributing food, medical clinics, spreading the gospel, and other various types of humanitarian work. I must admit, I also pitched my tent in this camp for many years. I had never sat down face to face and talk "ministry" with a missionary before, it wasn¹t until this interview that I really got a personal look into the heart of a real life missionary.
Christian ministry is, in its simplest form, how we share the wonderful news of the Gospel, the hope we have in Jesus, and the life that Christ grants us through the death and resurrection of his son. While all Christian leaders need a philosophy of ministry, this philosophy can and should look different depending on their calling, station in life, and personal experiences. The Foundational Realities and Tasks that I find most important for my life may not be found important by others, merely due to the fact my calling is unique to me alone; therefore, God will use this unique calling to shape the Realities and Tasks that I put into practice and how I put them into practice. As a Missions major TESOL minor, the Foundational Realities that I
Effa, Allan. "The Greening of Mission." International Bulletin Of Missionary Research 32, no. 4 (October 2008): 171. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed May 7, 2012).
As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2016 to 2018, I learned a myriad of lessons that will benefit me throughout my life. While serving as a Zone Leader, I developed a passion for helping and uplifting missionaries to reach their utmost potential. Until this point in my mission, I had worked solely with individuals who were struggling with disobedience. Little did I know, I was about to encounter an army of hostile individuals who needed my assistance.
To begin with, Matthew 28:18-19 states The Great Commision, which tells us where to go and what to do once we get there. A main goal for missionaries is to try to make “disciple-making” people within the people groups"Countries and Their Cultures." “African slaves can be quite difficult to share the gospel with which makes it hard for missionaries in St. Lucia because the main people group is African slaves. ("Missionary Interview"). After reading and understanding The Great Commission and my research about missions, it shows that God really does have a plan for us, Therefore, In order to become disciples for The Lord we must strengthen our relationship with Him. Many missionaries do not view missions as a job. They see missions as God’s calling for their lives .“After I became a missionary...
The purpose of life is found in our relationship with God and others during this lifetime. In addition, the work of the Body of Christ is to inspire people to live a life pleasing to God and become disciples. The primary way to initiate, develop, and maintain this work is through witnessing, compassion, and love, which is the biblical preceding work of the ministry. Therefore, this paper will show how bearing witness, showing love and compassion makes a difference in the twenty-first century. Jesus Christ is the central of love and compassion throughout God’s ministry. His initial love was shown when he sacrificed is his life for all humanity, (Jn. 3:16, EVS). The Body of Christ, then, is a body of believers with Jesus Christ as the head. The Body cannot live without the head. The head determines the direction and destiny of each believer’s life. It gives life, power, and the ability to function at its commands. More importantly, it shows believers how to love. An old saying once said, “Love is, what love does” indicating love cause people to sacrifice and bear one another cross. It is primarily the basis of one’s action concerning others.
Immersing people in a Christian environment allows individuals to strengthen their faith, be a part of God’s family, and receive the Holy Spirit. Growing up in a Christian home can have a huge impact on one’s entire life. We are able to practice significant values such as simply treating others with respect, forgiving those who have hurt us, and spreading the word of God. However, some of these values may not be practiced as much when an individual matures into an adolescent (Krum 27). At Alderbrook Community Church in Abbotsford, numerous individuals lose their religious belief as they encounter their teenage years. The church needs to involve their youth by producing more local and global missionary trips so that restoration of faith and purpose may re-enter their young minds.
While I was being asked to speak today and being given the topic of my talk I was reminded of an experience that I had as a young man preparing to serve a mission. I recalled a moment spent in the Priesthood Session of General Conference mere months before I was to attend the MTC in Provo, Utah. I knew that leading up to the time appointed for my mission that I had a lot to do to prepare to teach the gospel, to live as a missionary, and to be a witness for the Savior. I recalled the days leading up to the Conference and vowing in my heart and to Heavenly Father that I wasn’t going to let this Conference be “just another Conference”. I remember being taught that in order to truly gain the most out of the experience that I should prepare myself
Reflecting over my three years at College of the Ozarks, I cannot think of a class where I have learned more relevant information about the world than I have in Missions to the Middle East. After this class, I feel adequately equipped with a strong foundation to begin engaging Muslims for Jesus. The methods and tools we discussed each week have widened my view of the missions, God and the world in ways I have never experienced before. I took this class because I felt God placing a burden on my heart for a people group he was bringing to our country’s doorstep. In a culture where so many people’s hearts are hardened towards followers of Islam, it is critical that the Church realize Muslims are the prize, not the problem.