Are missionaries an American custom?

[Pastor_Bob]

Originally posted by Jim1999:
We may desire to serve somewhere, but I have never seen a written direction from God to go to a specific place.......Show me!

With no disrespect intended, I would like to offer these for consideration.

Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh , that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. (KJV)

Acts 8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert .
27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, (KJV)

Acts 16:9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them . (KJV)

 

[Thankful]

The answer to the question asked in this thread is "NO". It is not just an American custom. As pointed out, missionaries were before America.

Southern Baptist have "home missionaries"...Ones that stay in America and minister to Americans.

I have always be supportive of those missionaries here at home.

For the most part we have several associational missionaries in each state.

I don't have any statistics, but other countries do send missionaries to America.

Sometimes well meaning people do tend to not understand the culture...for example, the missionaries that went to Hawaii and thought that the native people should wear wool garments as they did in New England and in England.

If we would be very truthful, most of us feel about our country, just like Jim feels about his.

I don't see how he is being mean or cruel when he says that the Canadians can take care of themselves. I think we as Americans think that we can take care of ourselves.

In fact Billy Graham just completed a mission trip to Oklahoma, USA.

How can we be missionary minded if we cannot tolerate differences of opinion?

Jim, you have written some very inspiring and uplifting posts on this Board and I appreciate you very much.

 

[Ernie Brazee]

Originally posted by Jim1999:


I have never seen a document from God sending anyone anywhere. You may have a desire to serve in a specific field, and you may have a burden to minister in a given field, but there is no edict from God Himself. This is a distortion of God's commission to preach the word.

.Cheers,

Jim

Acts 13:1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.


Is this in your Bible Jim?

 

[Haruo]

Originally posted by Squire Robertsson:
Jonathan Goforth of China and Korea was a Canadian. If, I am not mis-remembering his nationality.

John Carroll Davison was a Canadian Methodist missionary in Japan in the early days of the Meiji era. I've spent a lot of energy and time in the past couple of years trying to find his hymn-poem "Ring, O Ring, Ye Chimes of Glory" (#158 in the 1954 Sambika hymnal), which was sung in Japanese at my parents' memorial service in Tokyo in 1968.

Haruo

 

[Squire Robertsson]

Thankful, as far as I am concerned there is more than enough work to be done in the harvest field. If God puts a Canadian in the pulpit across the street from me, God bless him. Already in Metro Sacramento there is a Russian Fundemental Baptist church across the street from an older English speaking one.

 

[Jim1999]

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them...
________________________________________________

The last ones in the modern era, who claimed to hear an actual voice from heaven, wrote the Book of Mormon and Science and Health with Keys to the Scriptures.

Those quoting scriptures in this instance are missing the boat. No one claims a direct voice from God. We desire to serve, doors of opportunity open, and we go. My question was, Can anyone show me a document..one that says, George, go to Washington, D.C. and open a church......

Sorry, and I believe those verses quoted, but I have not heard any voices.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[DHK]

Originally posted by Jim1999:
Sorry, and I believe those verses quoted, but I have not heard any voices.

But just the same, I have not heard any voices commanding us to stay home, only Scripture that commands us to go.
DHK

 

[Squire Robertsson]

Then Brother James, I should have stayed in Wisconsin instead of obeying what I took and still take as the Lord's call in my life to return home to California.

 

[Jim1999]

still, no one is answering my question. Show me the document that says, say ,Go to California...I have never received either a voice or document in all my life.

Why do we complete application forms, provide references, etc.? Why don't we just tell the church or people, God sent us?

Cheers,

Jim

 

[DHK]

Originally posted by Jim1999:
still, no one is answering my question. Show me the document that says, say ,Go to California...I have never received either a voice or document in all my life.

Why do we complete application forms, provide references, etc.? Why don't we just tell the church or people, God sent us?

Cheers,

Jim

It is called availability.

Isa.6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
DHK

 

[Squire Robertsson]

Mostly because, we initially mistook your question and thus wasted space answering a question you didn't ask. Now that you have clarified your question, please have the good grace to wait for an answer (if any).

I for one do not have one. Why, because the question as stated is unanswerable. And why unanswerable, because we are dealing with a matter of anthropomorphic figures of speech. How does one describe the work of God in one's life without resorting to such usages?

In my case, God used a verse in Mark to call me home.

 

[Audrey]

God no longer speaks audibly to believers, but uses His word, and circumstances He has arranged to call us to a certain place.

An interesting story that a friend told me when he graduated from Bible college.

Before he was saved, he was an insurance salesman in California. One day, he went to a school to help them renew their policy, and one of the children he saw in the hall asked him "Are you a preacher?"

A few months later, he was saved, and felt God calling him to Bible college, and so he went. When he was about to graduate, he felt God wanted him to start a church in California, but he didn't know where. He then went to his pastor and said, "Bro. Hyles, I feel God wants me to start a church in California, but I don't know where."

So Bro. Hyles and my friend and his wife prayed, and looked over a map of California. His pastor then pointed to a town on the map, and said, "Todd, I want you to pray about going to this town."

It was the same town where the child had asked him if he was a preacher.. He is now pastoring a church there, and God is blessing him.

Not an audible call, but a call nonetheless.

 

[ByGrace3]

We didn't receive an audible call to go to Canada, but much like Audzy's friend, we were pointed in that direction by our pastor. He had read a magazine article that mentioned Vancouver, and he gave that article to Wes and asked him to pray about it. As my husband learned more about Vancouver, the more we both felt burdened for that area. Then he printed out maps of the city and its suburbs, and all the time he was praying for God to show us where to go, a particular suburb always seemed to catch his attention. When we visited there in Jan. 2002, that suburb was the first thing we saw as we drove into the city, but we didn't realize that at the time. God also used a verse referenced in another missionary's testimony to challenge Wes's heart about doing more than the ordinary for God, to do something that would require total dependence on God.

I didn't really want to go to Canada at first; I wanted to go back to SC where I was raised. I wanted my husband to pastor an established church. But I finally realized that what I wanted was not the important factor, it was what God wanted that mattered. So I began to pray for God to change my desires. As soon as I submitted to God's will, He began to change my mind about Canada. Now, I am completely content to go there and live for the rest of my life. This was God's doing, not my own.

There was no one event that said "Go to Canada." It was a series of events, suggestions, prayer, and searching that lead us to the conclusion that it was God's will for us to go to Canada. We are both confident that we're in God's will.

Susan

 

[PJ]

Thanks for sharing stories of your callings, friends. Same as our recollection of the day and time we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we remember and cherish our other awesome callings.

Though I've never felt called to be a foreign missionary, I've taught mission education in our church for 12 years. Sharing the gospel at home and sharing the gospel abroad are of equal importance, I think.

God will use a willing vessel. It's the willingness factor that often binds us.

God bless ... PJ

 

[Pastor Larry]

Originally posted by Jim1999:
still, no one is answering my question. Show me the document that says, say ,Go to California...I have never received either a voice or document in all my life.

Why do we complete application forms, provide references, etc.? Why don't we just tell the church or people, God sent us?

Cheers,

Jim

To me the most obvious answer is that God works through desires and opportunities. He does not give audible direction and our impressions are not infallible. A "call" to California is based on someone who is willing to serve God in ministry and has a desire to go to CA. Of course, the desire to serve in CA might be limited by the lack of opportunity to serve there. The two must come together. I think we make this real hard when it is pretty simple. Of course, some people are just unwilling to serve and that is a whole different problem.

 

[Jim1999]

Susan, I gather then that you and husband intend to become Canadian citizens if you are planning to stay here and labour. That is a different ball of wax, in my mind.

When I came from England, I became a citizen of this country. It was not easy, but it was proper.

Cheers, and God's speed in the work.

Jim

 

[Jim1999]

Brother Larry, that is the answer I was looking for, and everyone wanted to quote scripture, of which, I am quite familiar. The desire to go, and to serve.

Now I can say, that I believe there is a quiet, inaudible voice that says "Go" and go we must. Opportunity and open doors then lead the way. Indeed, the mission is the world, and as Christians, we are in essence citizens of the world. And, herein the great commission comes into effect.

I would like to be clear on one point. I am not anti-any country, but Canadians and Brits get a little sensitive when another country trys to impress their ways upon us. Just accept us as we are, and we will acept you as you are. I think that was my point.

Cheers, and thank you,

Jim

 

[ByGrace3]

Originally posted by Jim1999:
Susan, I gather then that you and husband intend to become Canadian citizens if you are planning to stay here and labour. That is a different ball of wax, in my mind.

We most definitely intend to become Canadian citizens, Jim! And we'll be building a Canadian church, not an American church that just happens to be in Canada. We want to plant a church, then stay there to pastor and train others to "go into all the world" including Canada and the US. We plan to grow old and die in Canada.

When I came from England, I became a citizen of this country. It was not easy, but it was proper.

I had a suspicion you might be English, by some of the wording you use sometimes. How long have you been in Canada, and what caused you to go there?

Cheers, and God's speed in the work

Thank you, Jim! Your "God's speed" means a lot to me, as I've seen how passionate you are about Canada.

Blessings~~

Susan

 

[Jim1999]

Hello Susan,
I came over in 1948, having done my studies in London and serving in the British Baptist Union. In Canada, I served a small church, but when the Korean War broke out, I became an Army Chaplain. After service, I returned to England for a short stay and then came back to resume seminary and university studies.

I came to Canada because there were more opportunities here than in post-war England. I guess, if truth be known, I had caught enough bombs in London during the war, and Canada opened her doors to British immigrants. It wasn't until the late 60's we had to take out citizenship. There was a plitical change and in order to vote we needed that piece of paper. Prior to that, we had a natural right to remain here as a British citizen. I don't regret that at all, and I have been a loyal citizen ever since.

My children were born here, but they have dual citizenship. One daughter lives in Florida and is married to an American. She has dual citizenship. So you see, I do have American connections.

Vancouver is somewhat like England weatherwise. Victoria is very English in weather and in its people. You will enjoy BC. It is very costly to live there, but we all adjust to those things. Canadians are basically friendly to all, and you will be received well........despite the obvious rebellion to things spiritual.

I am retired now, but still active in a different role amongst churches. I had served churches in Saskatchewan and Alberta under the Baptist Union, and then joined the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. Wee have more than 500 churches across Canada.

Cheers, then, and God bless,

Jim

 

[Gwyneth]

Q.

Are missionaries an American custom?

A. NO it stems from

The desire to go, and to serve.

and seeing and meeting a need.
Cofion `orau,
Gwyneth