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April 2004
This is God Calling...
By Ken Thames
How do you know God wants you to be a missionary?
How do you know where to go if you respond?
How do you prepare yourself for this service?
If you sense a calling, how do you know it’s really God calling?
I found the answers to these questions through the following process.
I was exposed to missions as an 11-year-old boy. My parents were Plymouth Brethren missionaries who moved to Ensenada, Mexico where I lived until I left for college. Several years later I went to Mexicali, Mexico for three and a half years of mission work. Since then I have returned to Mexico many times, visiting various works or leading youth Vacation Bible School teams.
For years I encouraged youth and adults alike to be available to God for service in other countries. Just this past summer, at North Carolina Yearly Meeting sessions, I talked with a young adult, challenging him to offer his life to God first, before considering other career options. And I suggested to another friend that God might be using job uncertainties to lead him and his wife to the mission field. I assured them both that wherever God led them, He would provide for them.
At the same Yearly Meeting sessions something important also happened for me. During the Quaker organization report time, Ben Richmond briefly mentioned the need for church planters in Belize to complement the work of Mike and Kay Cain. My wife, Pat, and I had read of this concern in Quaker Life several times, but were not particularly drawn to it. But when Ben mentioned the need this time, I had the strong sense God was calling this to my attention. As we left the meeting, I turned to Pat and asked, “Do you want to go to Belize?” She said, “Sure.” We immediately began to ask questions, applied, interviewed and were appointed to service in Belize, beginning in January 2005.
Clearly, as the saying goes, God was telling me to put my money where my mouth was! I was past 50 and had settled into my pastorate to stay for a while. I loved the people, our home, the area and what God was doing here. But God had other plans.
So how did I discern God’s call? How did I know God wanted us to go to Belize? Was there a tickly feeling in my gut, or did warmth permeate my being? How did I know it was God calling?
Following Ben’s remarks, I prayed and considered my response to those needs. God led me to several verses of Scripture, in a sort of progression. I read Matthew 9:35-38, the story of Jesus walking throughout the towns and villages, teaching, preaching, healing and meeting needs. He saw the harassed and helpless crowds, like sheep without a shepherd, and said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” In this passage God showed me the need of the people.
I read Romans 10:13-15, in which the apostle Paul shows another progression.“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” In order for people to be saved, they must believe in Jesus Christ; in order for them to believe, they must hear the gospel; in order for them to hear the gospel, someone must preach it; in order for someone to preach it, he or she must be sent. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? In this passage God showed me the process necessary to meet the need of the people.
Then I read Isaiah 6:1-8, the narration of Isaiah’s confrontation with the
call of God. Isaiah saw the Lord, saw his own sin, experienced God’s
cleansing, heard the call and answered matter-of-factly. “Then I heard the
voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I
said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” God gave Isaiah the message and sent him on his
way. In this passage, God showed me the response necessary to meet the need
of the people.
So, how did I know God wanted us in Belize? First, I heard the need of the people. They need to be saved and to be gathered into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved and obeyed as Teacher and Lord.
Secondly, I read the Biblical process that needs to happen for these people to be saved. Preachers are sent and preach the gospel. Individuals hear the gospel, believe and are saved. And I learned the process necessary to represent FUM in Belize: appropriate training and experience, application, interview, cross-cultural training and field visit.
Thirdly, I simply responded to God, “Here I am. Send me.” In my case, I did not see stars, did not feel permeating warmth and did not have an ooey-gooey feeling in my stomach. I just heard the need, learned the process and responded to God.
When Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples, did He expect them to wait until they felt something? Or did He simply want them to go? When Jesus told His disciples they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth, did He really mean they would witness only if they felt called to this ministry, or did He simply expect them to witness?
The mission call, after all, is not an objective feeling. It is a subjective fact. God tells us people around the world need to be saved. The only way that happens is for them to hear the gospel. And the only way they will hear the gospel is for someone to go tell it.
Another important aspect of God’s call is confirmation by those around you. In my case, Pat and I have shared the process together. We both were called and we each have responded to that call, but God has confirmed my call through many individuals, and has confirmed her call through some of the same people, plus others.
When God brings a particular ministry to your mind, you must share your interest with people you meet every day. Are they excited with you as you respond to God’s call? Do friends, family and church members tell you that you have a gift in ministry? Do they agree that your life honors the Lord? If so, then follow God wherever He leads. He will guide you. He will provide for you. He will bring people to salvation through your response to His call. Then you will know it’s really God calling!
Ken Thames, and his wife, Pat, currently pastor meetings in Virginia. They
have been appointed by FUM as church planters in Belize, leaving sometime
this fall.
(sidebar of the article:)
The following queries can help you determine if God is calling you into
missions:
What does God’s Word say about unbelievers?
Whose responsibility is it to share the gospel with unbelievers?
Do you know of any person who does not believe in Jesus Christ?
Do you have the training and experience to tell the gospel to that person?
If not, are you willing to get the necessary training and experience?
Do people around you confirm your gifts in ministry?
Do you trust God to provide for your every need, wherever He sends you?
Are you willing to ask God to use you in missions before you consider other
options?
Copyright (c) 2004 Friends United Meeting
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