Read: Romans 15:17-33
Before Jesus ascended back to the Father, he commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey all that he commanded (Matt 28:18-20). That is the mission of the Church: To make disciples; to proclaim the gospel to the end of the earth and be the means by which Christ calls his sheep into his fold (John 10:16).
Since the beginning of the Church, men and women have been sent out by local congregations to do just that.
These missionaries, whether they are sent to the next town over or to a nation on the opposite side of the world, are devoted to Christ’s mission. The task isn’t an easy one, especially for the international missionary.
Even if we’re talking about an unmarried Christian, missions is a big ask. They must be willing to uproot their life and move to the country they want to evangelize. That alone takes a good deal of money and effort on both the part of the potential missionary and his or her sending church. Plane tickets, lodging, passports, the necessary visas, and copious amounts of research on the target country and people group.
That’s without mentioning the continued support that the missionary will need in the field. If the hopeful missionary is going to a people that do not speak their language, that missionary must then devote themselves to learning the language whether that is before they go or in country. For the gospel to be properly proclaimed it must be spoken in an understandable way.
If the target people group is in a country that is hostile to Christianity, that requires even more effort and time and planning. How can the missionary even get into the country? How can they evangelize boldly, but in a way where that minimizes their risk of angering the local population, imprisonment, or worse? And if, Lord willing, they begin to see fruit in their gospel work, how can they do church and fellowship?
These concerns just scratch the surface of the missionary task and its difficulties. If it’s a married couple, or a family with children, the difficulties and concerns multiply.
All this to say that missionary work, particularly long-term missionary work, is difficult and comes with many inherent risks. For this reason, it should not pursued flippantly.
The missionary is asked to potentially experience hunger, hardship, loneliness, rejection, long years of patient waiting, and, of course, danger upon danger. So, why would anyone be a missionary? Because they have the heart of their Savior who, when he went out proclaiming the gospel, had compassion on the people seeing the poor state of their souls (Matt. 9:36).
Missionaries go because they know that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Not many are called to such a life. But for those who are, they are not alone. For the rest of us, who may be called to make disciples in our own homes, our places of work, or in our own backyards, we have a part to play as well.
As Paul shares with the Romans about his ministry and future plans, he hoped that the Roman church would help him. There’s much to be said about the physical support that missionaries need, but for now we’ll just focus on Paul’s need for prayer.
He asks for the Roman church’s prayer, referring to it as them “striving together” with him. Though they were not physically with Paul and helping him in the field, through their prayers Paul says that they would be struggling with him. They would be helping him bear the burden of the task at hand by asking God to grant Paul success and eventually bring him to them on his way to Spain.
Likewise, our missionaries today need our prayers. Every single one of them, and particularly those who are in hostile lands and among hostile people.
As you have your regular times of prayer throughout the week, strive together with the missionaries around the world by praying and specifically and intentionally for them and the spread of the gospel.
