Qualifications for Missionary Service

What are the Qualifications for Missionary Service? 

 Many people believe you just sign up and go to a foreign land and that's it. But little do they know there is just so much more to it. One must be sure in their calling to the mission field. God's method in reaching the world is through people, not just through the Bible.  It's pretty much all about timing. And God has a plan for the right person to be in the right place at the right time. There can be no doubt of your calling, especially with the devil afoot. You must believe with everything in you that God did the calling and sent you to the right place, so you can stand up to Satan and his attacks because believe me when he finds out that you are going to act on your calling, he comes running for you. You have moved up on his attack list.

A few questions to ask yourself about your divine calling:

1.  Do you know beyond a doubt that you are called and how was it demonstrated?*
2. In what way where you convicted of it and is it playing out in your life now?*
3. If the call is truly genuine, is this the right time for you or is further personal and professional growth needed?*

Questions concerning the evidence surrounding your call:

1. What is you level of Christian maturity? *
2. Is there ministry experience? If so, how successful has that been?*
3. Does your church and denomination back you or at least say they will?*
4. Have you declared a burden for a specific people group? If so, is there evidence of deepening knowledge and ministry among them in this country?*

Further questions would include:

1. What is your level of education and training?*
2. What do you know about missionary ministry and cultural problems that are to be faced?*
3. Is there sound evidence of spiritual and emotional stability? What about evidence of spiritual gifts and practical abilities?*
4. Do you have a sense of servant-hood and how are your interpersonal relationships? *
5. If you are unmarried, are you okay with going into the mission field unmarried?*
6. If married, how does your spouse feel about this calling? Are y'all both on the same level of commitment?*
7. If there are children, how many and what are their ages?*

People may not think, but many times when you enter the mission field with a teenager, they have a harder time adjusting. Due to the different culture, language, etc. Since they are transitioning into adulthood, this is a crucial time in their lives.

 Other things to consider would be how are you going to get there and will you be able to raise the funds? And another thing to look at is how have you done in the past with past ministries? The best way to judge future performance is with past performance.

To me there are other things to consider as well....

 Being a missionary is thought to be fun and easy. To be truthful, who would want to leave there families and venture out in the unknown? The only excitement I have found in the idea of going on a mission is pleasing  my God and helping children in other countries to come to know Him. My calling is to become a children's pastor missionary. I have spoken with many missionaries  and have found that many of them enjoy the adventure of it all, but they miss spending time with their families. Many of them are gone for many years at a time and some have come back home to bury their parents. I am frightened when I think about having to leave my family and go somewhere I have never been and being surrounded by people I have never met.

 Questions like, whats it going to be like there, am I going to get lost over there always fill my head, and many times I will just sit there and think about it all. Most of the time I get excited but sometimes not. I am sometimes faced with the I am not good enough's and I will never succeed. The only comfort I find is that even though I am not at home, my family will still love and miss me. And that my Jesus will always be with me, no matter how far away I am from my home. My Jesus will stay beside me no matter what and will protect me from what ever I face.

 For me, I can get depressed if I think long about the things I will have to do without. So overthinking is not a trait that I'm grateful for having, at this present moment. I have learned that if God plans it for me that trusting Him is all I can do. To me this "missionary thing" is a great deal bigger than most give it credit for. Picking up and leaving my family for an extended period of time to become a career missionary is a HUGE thing. I am worried that I will never meet or have a husband and family, one day. But forge ahead I must because in God's perfect timing these things shall be given to me, I just need to believe and have faith.

 I'm glad on one hand that I was single when I received the call because schooling would of been a lot more difficult to pursue if I would of had a boyfriend or fiance. But to all those out there that feel that they are called into mission work full-time, I say go for it! It's now or never! God is NEVER wrong. All of His promises do come to fruition. We have to have faith in our calling and continue in faith to pursue it. It's never a mistake and it should never be a burden. God's work is the most important work someone can be called to do.

**NOTE** These questions were taken from Introduction to Assemblies of God Missions (MIN261). Published by: Global University.

The Call To Ministry

 Everyone is called to ministry but some have a special calling. Like some of the Old Testament prophets, people today can receive visions, dreams, or even words from God, telling them of what He has called them to do. Some are called to be preachers, missionaries, or evangelists, but they all have something in common. They were all called by God.

 For example, at fifteen years old, I begin having a series of dreams. I was preaching to a large group of people in a small church in one and in a few others I was speaking with children who were in great need of a bath.  I had begin praying hoping I would learn the reason behind the dreams, but instead I was informed by God, that I was going to be a missionary. Now, I do wish for you to keep in mind that when I was ten, my mom was told by God that I would be in ministry and not to worry about me a bit. She and my Dad kept that to themselves as to not influence me at all. So a couple years have passed and I am running from God, I am uncertain as to why, but I was. I was doing pretty much anything to get out of having to be in ministry. Maybe it was fear, or me just worrying for no good reason.

 Having just graduated May of 2014 and just had my 17th birthday that July, my parents were worried about how I would be when I got a older. So they had cracked down on me, doing a thing they liked to call tomato-staking. Much like how when tomatoes grow, they need something stable to hold them up like a wooden stake in the ground used as a support, because they have become too top heavy and they will just fall over and break their steam, without the support. I was with my parents at all times. I hated every bit of it, though I would never let them know that. But now I can actually see the beauty in it. What a difference a couple years would make. Anyway, August of 2014 was a time of change for me.

 An evangelist visited our church. He was born in Africa and was called to evangelize in America. Pretty cool if you ask me. So the first day he was there, he calls for people in need of healing to come forward. And my mom has pain in her hip, so she goes forward and I followed hoping to show her moral support. But oh man, what happened to me when I went up there. After he got done speaking with my mom and praying over her, he looks at me and calls me to stand in front of him. I felt like a child in front of her father and I was about to get in big trouble. He asks my name and I tell him, then he asks me if we have met before, I say no.

 He precedes to tell me that I am called to be a missionary and four countries God has given him to say. Africa, India, Russia, and England. He asks if I already know this, but before I can say, my mother says yes she does. He asks why I haven't done what I am suppose to. All she can say is that I am running. With this he seemed truly upset and he tells me that I shouldn't be doing that and if I am worrying about school, I shouldn't because it will be completely taken care of. Then he began praying over me, while I am in tears.

I am now about to turn 19 this July and I have been serious about my calling and school ever since that day. I now know without a doubt that God called to be a missionary to children abroad. Money for my school books has been miraculously provided each time I am in need of it. I have found being called both an amazing yet terrifying thing. I am very excited to think that one day I will be overseas ministering to children and telling them all about God.

See when you are called, it isn't like you are just thrown to the wolves. No, God has a big plan. He knows where we are best placed in the world. He knows what we need, like my pastor says," He doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." No matter where God places you or sends you, He will always be there and He will always take care of us. Being called is so much more than going over here and telling someone about God. It is about giving up your own selfish ambitions and doing what God wishes for you to do.