“As Christians, our mandates from the Lord have not changed since the last ‘Amen’ of Revelation was penned.”
The world today looks kind of bleak doesn’t it? Rising costs, inflation, political instability, and worse are threatened each day from news anchors and YouTube pundits alike. In times like these we tend to manifest one of the following innate desires. Either we choose to circle the wagons and become navel gazing protectors of our small plots of the world or we become so aware of the greater conflict that we fail to guard our section of the wall. This is true of our nations, our families, and our churches.
As a missionary, it’s easy to get the second group on board with the mission. Unfortunately, because of their lack of care in their immediate vicinity, those who fall into that category often do not have the resources to be of any help. The first group often have a good supply of resources to share but choose to withhold it in favor of taking care of their own. That’s a noble and scriptural cause, to be sure. He who fails to take care of his family is worse than an unbeliever. Yet, their incessant inward focus is almost always a dead end. The fruit of their labor rots in the storehouse.
I bring this up to say that missionaries know that our support is one of the first things to be dropped when it’s time to get lean. We understand. We know that keeping the lights on is a huge task and when congregations tighten the belt there isn’t much that can be done. Those of us who are tent-makers / bi-vocational know this even more than that. The small amounts of support we do receive are even more quickly withdrawn because we have other sources of income. It’s the nature of the calling to be sure.
This article is not about money, per se. It’s about attention. Where are we turning our eyes? What holds our focus? There a million things that vie for our time and it can get overwhelming really fast. As Christians, our mandates from the Lord have not changed since the last “Amen” of Revelation was penned. We are to be fruitful and multiply on the face of the Earth. We are to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to trust in Christ alone for our hope and salvation. We are to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every creature in every nation, tongue, and tribe. We are to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. Our mandates have never been more clear and more achievable than they are today.
So, naturally, the sinfulness of man and the schemes of the enemies of Christ get in the way. The world is being turned upside down in an attempt to stop the ever growing march of the Kingdom. Some are finally paying attention to the degradation of society and are fighting back. Some have chosen to ignore it entirely and simply focus on their church, town, family, etc. Yet both groups, with good intentions no less, have forgotten one of the key mandates passed down to us in Holy Scripture: The Gospel must be preached in all the world.
It’s good to fight sexual deviancy and the spread of woke ideology in our schools. It’s good to fight against theological liberalism and woke pharisees in our churches. It’s good to fight for Godly families and communities. All of that is good. Yet, many are doing that and leaving the ones on the frontiers out to dry. Those of us who serve overseas are doing all of that plus struggling to learn a foreign language and culture. This isn’t a “woe is us, it’s so hard to be a missionary, whaaa whaa whaaa” post. If anything, all I’m asking is, “Please don’t forget us.”
In the middle of your fight with Wokeism don’t forget those of us fighting Buddhism. In the trenches of the Culture War don’t forget those of us fighting the same war on another continent. While you’re defending your cities don’t forget those of us storming the enemy city.
We pray for you often because it’s difficult to see our earthly homes fall apart. All we ask is that you return the favor in kind. Pray for us, support us, remember us.
This was a short post that came from the heart. I hope you found it helpful, travelers. If you want to support SRM, click the Donate Now button at the upper right hand corner. All donations are tax deductible. If you haven’t already done so, please consider signing up for the free monthly newsletter called “The Caravan”. It’s a great way to stay up to date with what’s happening on the Silk Road and how you can be praying.
That’s all for now. God bless you!
Kenneth See
SRM Founder