Don’t let fear or shyness stop you. Get out there and make some connections!
Silk Road Mission exists to identify, connect, and support Gospel Workers to the peoples of the Silk Road. It’s my ambition to see a new generation of missionaries raised up to take the name of Jesus Christ to places He has not been named. His name will one day be praised by every tribe and tongue. I want to be a part of what the Lord is doing and I hope you do too.
This post is the seventh of ten that will lay out the life cycle of missionary service. Whether you are simply exploring the idea or have already chosen an agency, these posts are meant to encourage and inform you. Let me know below if they helped in anyway!
We have previously outlined the first steps of Missionary Service. You can check those out by clicking on the link. Now that we’ve got all the required support it’s time to look to the field properly. This requires us to both ask advice of and network with current missionaries.
Asking for Advice
I understand that asking for advice is difficult for some people. Whether from an intense shyness or from pride this has to change for missionaries. There are always new things to learn. In fact, if you have made it this far in the journey it’s time to accept that the next few years will be nothing but that, You’ll be learning a new language, culture, and way of life. Welcome back to school.
Before you make it to the field, reach out to current gospel workers and ask for advice on their own mission journeys. If you have an idea of which mission agency you’ll be joining then this is a great time to reach out to members of that org to glean info from them about on the field reality, organizational structure, and cultural challenges. Contacting an agency and explaining what you wish to know will lead you in the right direction.
If your church supports missionaries already then ask the pastor if you can contact them. With the wonders of modern video calling and chat services it can be easy to set up a video interview. If you’re part of a small group then this could be an awesome opportunity to video call the missionary together and encourage them, ask them questions, pray for them, and pledge to support them.
Whether in a group or alone, you need to come to that call prepared. Write out ten questions you would LIKE to ask, five you NEED to ask, and one ultimate question that MUST be asked. Those sixteen questions will hopefully all be answered by many different missionaries before moving on to the next step. DON’T move on until all 16 have been answered at least once. Below are some sample questions to consider. Feel free to use them or use different ones:
Are you single or married? Do you have kids?
When did you know that you were supposed to go into mission work?
How long have you been on the field?
Why that country?
Are you an independent missionary or with an org? Why?
How have you kept your relationship with the Lord strong in a foreign culture?
Do you work on a team or alone?
How difficult has it been to learn the language?
What is your greatest challenge as a missionary?
How did you prepare to go? Are you theologically trained?
Are you a tent maker or are you supported by donors? Both?
Any foods that you particularly like or dislike in your new culture?
Have you dealt with sickness on the field? How did it go?
How do you stay safe?
How did you stay focused on your goals while preparing to go?
If you could only give one piece of advice to an aspiring missionary, what would it be?
Let me be clear, don’t bombard a missionary with all sixteen questions unless you’ve previously cleared it with them that that’s okay. Don’t waste their time. Be courteous and polite at all times. Finally, (this is mainly for those in closed countries or talking to missionaries in those countries) turn on your VPN before the call. Don’t compromise our frontline workers.
Networking
There is a magic phrase in missions. It starts with, “Do you know anyone that…” and can help open doors like no other. Networking is, for better or worse, an integral part of your ministry. Whether between two field offices of the same organization seeking to standardize their best practices or between a group of independents seeking to pool their resources to reach a village. Reaching out to other missionaries and working with them is essential to serving well.
Use this preparation time to network like crazy. In fact, my biggest regret from that time is not networking more. I wish I had reached out to more missionaries and learned their stories. I wish I had done more to grow a network. I’m doing that now but I could have been so much further along than I am now. If you’re joining a specific organization then I would ask their recruitment team if there is a conference you could attend where they have a significant presence. This is a great way to meet members of their team and also to connect with like minded believers. If you’re going independent then go to any mission conferences you can think of and get to it.
Then, once you make some connections and establish relationships, it’s time to employ that magic phrase above and see where it takes you. I’ll do a networking specific post in the future about how to do this well. In the meantime, it’s important to understand the type of people that are missionaries. They want to help others and they especially want to help other missionaries. On the flip side, they always need help too. So, if you can be someone that both provides help and needs help you’ll be primed for some awesome networking opportunities. Don’t let fear or shyness stop you. Get out there and make some connections!
With that, you now have plenty to do. That will be all for this post. I hope these steps have provided you with at least a nudge in the right direction. We’re steadily coming to the end of this series. Stay tuned for the last few steps in Becoming a Missionary!
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face to shine upon you. May He be gracious unto you and give you peace.
That’s all for now travelers!
Kenneth See
SRM Founder