Excerpts from the Book

"The Life and Calling of a Missionary"

By Rev. Gary Priem

 

INDEX:

 


CHAPTER 1 - MY INTRODUCTION TO MISSIONS

 

Having graduated from RBTC in 1992, I was expecting to pastor somewhere in the US in the near future. This was my thinking and also was the only plan that was in my mind. It was very interesting to me however, that as I thought about starting a church some where, that I would get a very uncomfortable feeling in the “pit of my stomach”. I did not associate that “feeling” as a leading from the Lord that I would not be a pastor in the US, so I continued my line of reasoning and thinking about starting a church until I was just about to graduate from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, OK.

When I was in the final days of training in a “pastoral class” the Lord spoke to me, in my spirit, it was by an audible voice. He said these words (and I have never forgotten them since that day); “You are not going to Pastor a church like you think you are when you graduate from Rhema.” When the Lord spoke to me in this manner it completely caught me off guard and I bowed my head to ask what I was going to do. Although he did not answer my question then and there, as I continued to pray and seek his face the answer came to me concerning missions. I had never in my life previously considered missions, neither had I a desire to go to any mission field and certainly did not feel qualified to go and be a missionary for the Lord.

A missionary venture or opportunity opened for Rhema students to go on a 12 day missionary trip to Russia, so I prayed about going on this trip. The Lord definitely wanted me to go on this trip for His own purpose and reasons.

He stirred by heart about going and I thought this must be his will, to go on a short missionary trip. My wife and I did not have the money and had no idea where we would get the money to go, so I committed the trip to the lord and told him that if he wanted me to go He would have to take care of the finances. I also ask the man who was inviting the student body at Rhema to come on this missions' trip about me personally ministering the Word of God. He looked at me and said, “Oh no, we have seasoned pastors who are already scheduled to minister there.” I again ask the Lord about going because it was going to be over $3,000 dollars for each individual to go on this trip. Even though I did not know what the Lord was going to do, or how he was going to do it I was obedient to continue in faith trusting completely in him.

The Lord assured me that I was to go on this trip and trust him. The next week I had thoughts about the meeting with the minister who had given the invitation to go to Russia. Each time I would think about our conversation, even while I was at work, the Holy Spirit would assure me by the witness of His Holy Spirit that I was to go.

Just to give you some background information about our finances, we both had been working part time jobs in Oklahoma just to make financial ends meet. We had tried to sell our house before we had left Florida to come to Oklahoma, but it just would not sell. When I had done everything that I could possibly do, I just trusted the Lord for the trip to Russia in 1992. He miraculously sold our house in Florida, and had the money in our hands in 10 days!

I went To Russia with other families and Christians, all going for their own reasons and purposes for the trip. While we were there, there was to be a 3 day conference held in Minsk, Russia and each speaker was selected for their part in the conference. Being a student and just coming to the meeting at the very last moment, I was not approached to prepare for the meeting .

Several days before the 3 day conference was to start we were in a Pentecostal church, listening to a former graduate from Rhema. He was definitely an evangelist and very fiery. I was sitting on the front row of what appeared to be something like a theater of some sort, when the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. He said “pay attention,” when he said those words I began to watch more attentively to what both he and the interpreter were saying and how they were delivering the message. I noticed that if he would go too long, then the interpreter would not be able to follow and if he was too short in his sentences then it would sound very choppy and very disjointed. I had no idea why the Lord spoke to me this way.

On the second day of the conference in Minsk the 3rd speaker was up and had been speaking for about 45 minutes. They only had 3 speakers scheduled that morning and the coordinator of the trip, Dave was probably some what concerned about not filling all the time with speakers. Dave came up to me as I was in the back of the church helping out with ushering and said that there might be an opportunity to speak. He then ask me, “Do you have anything from the Lord?”, and without thinking or even having a second though about ministering in front of “seasoned pastors and ministers” I said yes I do. He affirmed that he would get the interpreter and return so I could give the scriptures to her. I had no idea whatsoever what the Lord wanted to do, but I did know that he was the one that wanted to speak and if he did, then he would give me the message. I bowed by heart and head to hear what he might say to me. He spoke softly to my heart and said, “Speak to them on Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever.” I was overjoyed and challenged in a moment of time. Why did I say that I would preach to this people, did I really have anything to offer them? Never the less, Jesus had prepared me and this was my first moment as a missionary in another country. I began to think, what about the scriptures? Where would I find all the scriptures that I needed for this message? The Lord led me to all of them by his Spirit and when the interpreter came I gave her what she needed.

I spoke about 30-45 minutes with this young interpreter much to my amazement and also to the pastors who were listening; we ministered together as though we had been working for 20 years! They even ask me when I finished, “So, you have been using an interpreter before?” No, I said and their mouths dropped open in astonishment. I had begun to see God’s marvelous grace as a missionary for the first time!

The Choice

I truly believe that if we as the Christians and members of the Body of Christ would position ourselves in the “will of God,” we would be happier, healthier and more content than any other place that we could possibly imagine. This is true of any member of the body of Christ, no matter what your affiliation is or where you attend to worship the Lord.

True contentment is not in having things, money, position or even family with you. It is knowing that you are in the perfect will of God, doing what he has called you to do. This does not mean that at times your flesh will not want to “kick and scream” or will not want to give up on occasion but it means that the real you; a spirit man or woman will find contentment and peace in your heart. We will talk more about this later on.

My wife and I continued to pray about this mission field and believed as we continued to pray that it was the will of God for our lives. Even so, it was not an easy decision for us as we had never been on any mission field and Tulsa, Oklahoma was our first big move away from our own state. We moved with all of our belongings that we did not sell; traveling in a car and a moving van across the 5 states to reach our destination! It was an experience that none of my family will ever forget. When we reached Tulsa, Oklahoma we started looking for a place to live as well as jobs to pay the expected bills and tuition that would be needed to attended Rhema Bible Training Center and live in Oklahoma.

The strangest things were asked to us, at least that is what we though! Everywhere we would go looking for a place to rent, they would ask us, “Where do you work?” Our response would always be we are looking for jobs having just arrived in the area. They would just sort of look at us and shake there heads in unbelief. Then the same answer would come, we will call if something opens up. Then as we continued to look for a job in the first 4 or 5 days, they would ask where do you live or what is your address?

Sometimes, as people that are following the plan of God for their lives, we look a bit peculiar at times, especially to others who are what the world calls “normal people.” We all need to understand that we are not “normal people,” but are called a “peculiar people, a Holy nation. We are people that God has called for his own purpose and will to follow Him wherever he leads us and whatever He calls us to do for his own purposes and glory!

I believe that life offers us many choices as well as does our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However with our choices concerning the Lord, each decision will lead to the next step that God has planned for our lives. If we choose to disobey what the Lord has for us in what we will call the small steps, we will never enter the “path ways” that are before us that lead us to the “God ordained call, ministry” and will of God for each of our lives.

I believe, as does my wife, that if we had never gone to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, we would never have gone to Kenya. We had to take the necessary steps away from our place of comfort to a new place without family, friends, or things that were familiar to us. That was truly Oklahoma, and it was very challenging for all of our family members who went with us.

I believe that the number one qualification is that we must be willing and obedient! If there isn’t a willing heart and an obedient spirit, then we will never follow Christ to where he may be leading us. Isaiah 1:19 says “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:”

When the Lord spoke to my wife and I about coming to the mission field of Kenya, it was not an easy decision for my wife. We had recently had our first two grandchildren and she wanted to spend time with them because as she says, “I had waited a long time for them.” Though I love my grandchildren and my children very much, I love the Lord Jesus Christ for what he has done in my life and in my marriage. Without him, there would be no peace, joy and marriage as He saved our marriage when He saved our lives!

For those of you who are called to be a missionary and have not yet ventured unto the unknown lands before you, I would recommend if you have problems with your spouse and you absolutely know in your heart that you are called but your spouse is reluctant to go or they will go but their going is not from the heart and they are not with you in singleness of vision; then I recommend that you speak to the Lord! It sounds simple enough but it will take true faith on your part as the ‘one who is called’. You must then trust the Lord to speak to them and make things right in their heart. This is what I did and the Lord spoke some things to my wife Janet and then she ‘became willing and obedient’. She and some of you, because of your sacrifices to the call of God, will definitely eat the ‘Good of the Land.’

I also believe that each of you or those who are called should possess by the Spirit of Jesus an ‘Inward Gift’. This gift, whatever Jesus has put within you will be for the body and work of the Kingdom of God. If you are to build churches then you should possess a working knowledge of building churches or structures with your hands as well as the grace to work among the people where the Lord is calling you. If you are working in dispensaries or clinics you should have as a necessity the required skills to work with medicine and with people.

If you are called to preach or teach the ‘Word of God’ then you should have received some ministerial training and have had some ministerial experience as well as gifting to minister that word wherever and to whomever you are called to minister it to.

Although Paul himself did not feel worthy to be called an Apostle or sent one, he recognized the Grace that came with the calling for his life. He also says that Christ’s grace did not prove vain, but that he labored more than others, yet not himself but the grace of God within himself.

Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 12:4, “that there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all.” Vs. 11 goes on to say; “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

Each one of us has a vital part to play in the effective working of the body of Christ! We must not hide the talent that we have been given by the Lord himself and freely allow our gift to cause increase in the body of Christ as we allow it to flow out of our lives in an effort to build of the church of God in love.

So often we see the gifts of men being perverted to bring about self gain, position, or recognition in the local church or body. This was never the heart of Jesus; but rather to bring truth, revelation, blessing and strength to His church with each gift and gifting.

We have been competing with each other so long that we have forgotten what we have been placed in the body for and for the larger picture of the work of the whole body of Christ.

If you and I are going to represent Jesus as an Apostle or missionary on a foreign field then we should have a spiritual gift, a ministry to others and some effects that have been given to us by the Holy Spirit. These will not be for our benefit but for the body of Christ where we are sent as we have said.

If we are going to be successful in the work of the Lord, especially in ministering of the word of God, then we must be prepared to bring a good word that we know and also reveal with our lives. Many times ministers, preach a good word, but they are only preachers of the Word of God and not doers of it. We must endeavor to be doers of the Word of God because our lives will be read of others by what we are living not just by what we are preaching or teaching.

There has been much harm on the mission field where ‘false doctrine’ or erroneous doctrine has been preached because the ministers have not studied to show themselves a workman who is approved of God. The inward gift of teaching or preaching will make room for you on the mission field as God has called you and is calling you. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” This is one of those scriptures that should be hidden in your heart as God has made it real to you. This scripture was made alive to me many years ago even before I came to the mission field. Other scriptures will also become alive and very meaningful to you as well. Hide them in your heart and they will serve you well.

I believe that each one of us that are called to minister on the mission field, wherever the Lord would choose to call us, should truly study and allow the Lord’s Spirit to reveal His living Word to each of us. It must become more than an occasional interest if we are going to allow the knowledge of it to change lives through our ministry.

- To be continued -

 

 

 

All Written Content Copyrighted© 2009 Missions to the World


CHAPTER 2 - WHAT IS A MISSIONARY?

According to the Word of God, a missionary is an Apostle or "sent one". Jesus was an apostle as we will later see in the scriptures. He was sent by the Father on a particular mission to a particular people; those who were on the earth, you and me.

A missionary is a man or woman called by the Lord Himself to go to a particular people, country, tribe, ethnic group or nation. A true missionary is not called of self or men. Men may or may not recognize the calling on the life of a man who is called to be a missionary, but they must be called by the Lord himself as he is the one who will equip the person for the mission field.

The Lord does not seem to mind what kind of education that you have, what kind of background that you come from, what you look like or what your financial status is. This alone will shock some of you because you have thought that only certain people you have 'selected in your mind’ are chosen for the mission field. The Word of God says that “many are called but few are chosen” or choice. This does not mean that they are in any way perfect, but they are the Lord’s choice for His own reasons and purposes.

Missionaries are called to accomplish various tasks on the mission field; such as starting churches, bible schools, clinics, hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages, training centers, and various other things that the Lord might want done on a particular land unto a particular people.

The one thing that Jesus emphasized was that we were to go and “teach and preach to all nations, baptize them, and make disciples.” Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you”. And in Mark 16:15-16, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” This is what most theologians believe is what has been called the “Great Commission”.

I believe before we can be truly effective, we must do the works of our Father in heaven and preach the gospel to the poor. Jesus said that he came not to do his own work but that of the Father. Should not missionaries do the work of the Father and preach the Good news of the Gospel of Christ. Jesus himself said in John 14:12 that “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father;”

In the books of Acts we see the Holy Spirit empowering men to do the Work of Christ and sending them out to the mission field. The Word of God says in Acts Chapter 13:1-3, “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. 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. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

I want you to notice that the Spirit of God said “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” It was not man who called Barnabas and Saul, but the Holy Spirit who called them or Christ Himself! It was the brethren that recognized what the Holy Spirit had said and acknowledged the calling that they were called unto. Praise the Lord!

It is important to note that man does not call, but recognizes the calling. If a missionary is called to a place or people, there will be a gifting within for that people by the Lord Jesus Christ. If there isn’t any gifting or anointing then there is no calling! This may sound strange or even harsh but the fact of the matter is that with every calling there is a gifting, a grace and an anointing to minister on behalf of what Christ has for the body of Christ.

Once again let us go back to the Word of God for our reference. In Acts Chapter 9:15, we find the Lord speaking to Ananias “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel”. Jesus said that Saul, who was to become Paul, was a “chosen vessel”. God hand picked Saul, gave him a new name, and said that he was to bear, or speak His name, before the Gentiles, kings and children of Israel. This is exactly what Paul did as he went out teaching and preaching the Gospel of Christ.

In that same chapter we see by Paul’s own testimony that Jesus said unto him on the road to Damascus; “But arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things which I will appear to you”. In verse 18 Jesus explains what Paul is to do; “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me.”


CHAPTER 3 - THE MISSIONARY'S APPEARANCE

I don’t think anyone can look at a man or woman or even a child and determine if he or she is called by the Lord to be a missionary. They are ordinary people as we have said before called by Jesus to work in the mission vineyard. To themselves, they even appear as someone called a normal Christian. They don’t even seem much different than those around them in the local church but as they are being prepared there is something that God begins to do in the midst of their heart and life that brings a separation unto Himself. They still struggle with personal fleshly problems, self esteem and confidence, thinking surely God would not dare to use them for anything of real importance. Still the call is there even when we do not realize it.

One thought that we must keep in mind as Christians and potential missionaries is that though we are seemingly ordinary people, we are not serving and ministering to an ordinary or normal god, but He is the King of Kings and Lord of all the Lords and He is supernatural!

One of the clues that may help the reader understand more about the man or women who is called to be a missionary is that they will sense the anointing in a greater measure in their lives even before the mission field in whatever God has called them to do in the local church. When God is preparing a vessel, no matter where He is going to use this vessel He will prepare them as much as He can for the work of the ministry. This includes the anointing, words of knowledge and wisdom, gifts of the Holy Spirit and especially a hunger for the Word of God.

It has rightly been said that you don’t have to call yourself anything or give yourself a title. Those who hear and see the gift will themselves speak what they hear about your gifting and spiritual talent.

It is wonderful when those in fellowship with you recognize the Lord’s calling, but if they don’t then still you as a missionary must be faithful to what the Lord Jesus is calling them to do. Others may see you as a good person, zealous for the Lord, faithful to the work of God and many other possible adjectives. Some of them may see you as a possible candidate for the pastoral gift or some other gift. This is probably normal, as men do not call or see what God has put in the heart of his people for the works that He has personally called them to do.

When God is guiding the Christian in the pew, to step out into a ministry such as the mission field there will be times of uncertainty to be sure. Because you are given so much advice as to what “people think”, it can be confusing. This is when you must be spending quality time in the presence of the Lord and in His Word. When the Lord speaks to you, you must hide the ‘Rhema Words’ in your heart and not forget them. If necessary, you must write them down because in some seasons they will be the ‘lamp unto your feet’ that God has spoken to you that will be your guide in what seems to be dark places.

In conclusion concerning the appearance, I would say this to you pastors who hesitate to let your assistant pastor, superintendent, deacon, your worship leader or your elder who has served you for years go... Sew them in good faith! What do I mean by this? God sewed His son Jesus for a multitude of sons. It was not easy to give His Son to unrighteous men, but it was necessary to receive the fruit of the seed of Christ’s life. If you want the Lords’ blessing, then you too will have to sew into the earth those whom you hold dear to you. They may even come back to you a fine work in the Lord.


CHAPTER 4 - QUALIFICATIONS OF A MISSIONARY