THE MESSENGER | SUMMER 2018
MISSIONARIES IN THE LOCAL CHURCH A PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE
A
t a recent missions meeting, a nationally known leader asked pastors to give missionaries ample time in their church services for their presentations. He explained that sometimes missionaries are given a paltry few minutes in a church service. I immediately thought of this from the pastoral side of things, but I was very sympathetic to the missionaries, as many pastors are. Yet there are several difficulties that mission-minded pastors face in this regard. It does not serve the missionary well if the church congregation resents him because they brought a guest to hear the pastor. It should not be so, but that is the way it often is…and the pastor hears about it. Another reason pastors face the dilemma is by having a plethora of missionaries. The congregation may get “missionary weary.” Now, I confess that I do not fully understand that because I love these foreign service laborers, but the actual truth is that the church family, even the most mission-minded church family, can get burnt out by too many missionaries. The fact is that most churches want their senior pastor to preach on Sunday morning. They expect it; they want it; and if that is not the case (at least most of the time), they resent it if it does not happen. So what is a way that is good for the church, gives the missionary the most
exposure to the congregation, and avoids the issues mentioned above? Here is a practical solution that accommodates all concerned. (I like win-win solutions!)
to the whole church family! Virtually all the age brackets are visited, giving the missionaries the broadest coverage available to them. It also keeps them busily connecting with the church family for the whole day. After a day of such broadbased interactions, the people know the missionaries, and the missionaries feel bonded with the people.
One can schedule the missionary for the teen Sunday school class. This gives him/ her contact with the young people and gives the missionary a great opportunity to focus on surrender to service for the most In my forty-five years of pastoral eligible age bracket in the church! I like experience with missionaries, a whole to also encourage a question-and-answer Lord’s Day is time that often results in minimally necessary a vibrant exchange for “After a day of such broadfor a church to teens on understanding based interactions, the people “connect” with the will of God. know the missionaries, and the a missionary and missionaries feel bonded with his family. If a Then schedule the missionary “blows in missionary to be in the people.” for a singular service children’s church in and blows out just as the morning worship quickly,” my churches (through the years) service. This gives the missionary contact did not even remember them six weeks with the little people of the church and later! The “connection factor,” therefore, allows seeds to be planted for missionary is integrally necessary for the effective understanding. Often the most prayer missionary visit. That is why I suggest as support to be raised by a missionary is in this class, where a child makes them a many connection points as possible during prayer project for years to come! the day. Then, by having the missionary couple or single meet with the missions committee in the hour before the evening service for intimate questioning and personal contact, they meet with the very people who make the recommendations to the church family about financial support. These are crucial contacts for the missionary with the people who “keep missions hot” for their local church family. Finally, scheduling the missionaries for the evening service, where they give a full presentation to the whole church family (including an audio-visual presentation and a challenging message from the Word of God), rounds out a full day. This allows the missionaries great coverage
This suggestion allows for adaptation to any church in various ways, but it gives some ideas for a pastor to adapt to his own people to make missions as effectual as possible for a very special and memorable Lord’s Day with some of the greatest servants on earth. ABOUT THE AUTHOR A native of Canton, Ohio, Dr. David Stertzbach pastors Bethel Baptist Church of Tucson, Arizona, and is also on the board of Baptist World Mission. He and his wife Diane have been married for 46 years and have three sons and seven grandchildren.
HIGHLIGHTS
FROM THE HIGHWAYS & HEDGES
I
taly has drawn an “Italian Band” from Calvary Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama, twice now. Our team name, taken from Acts 10:1, certainly reflects the musical emphasis of our purpose in going, but it also describes the makeup of our team as a simple band of brothers and sisters in Christ desiring to expand our missions horizon. Italian missionaries and their churches need exposure to godly music that sending churches can potentially supply. They also need purposeful visits by the “regular guys” in the pews back home. Italian Band II sought to meet both of these needs during a recent trip to Pisa, Italy, where the Joey Tacon family is planting a church. The following reflections from that trip are what our team members walked away with from ministering with the Tacons during our ten-day excursion.
The Italian Band BY DIRK CRAWFORD
myself of the daily clutter, and draw closer to God and the missionaries as well.” “I can’t speak for the missionary directly, but I can imagine that it [a missions trip] helps them not feel alone in the battle. They struggle every day with the language and living life in a place outside their comfort. It has to be encouraging to know that people care enough to come alongside in a practical way.”
would encourage others to do. Such a trip provides a connection with the missionary family and those they minister to, as well as a greater awareness of their prayer needs. My time there again renewed my desire for my life to count in a greater way for the cause of Christ.”
“I recall a statement that Joey made while discussing the struggle to get people to come to the church in Pisa. Rather than bemoan the difficulty, he said ‘they won’t “Traveling to the mission field with a come here, but I can go to them.’ He was group of people who have a common goal constantly attentive to the opportunity to of glorifying the Lord will change your share the Gospel with anyone that would outlook on missions, on God and on people listen—two young refugees on the train in general. Beyond the formal ministry ride back from Florence, a young lady aspect of the trip, I found that spending just watching the sunset at the beach, time with the Tacons as a family was a an elderly Italian gentleman coming blessing in itself. How often we visit with out of a caffé bar. As I reflect back on those in our church family who live nearby these, and other chance encounters, it is “This was my first missions trip. I found it and forget that our missionaries are just like an encouragement (and convicting) to very interesting to see how the missionaries us and crave that recognize that this handled their ministry, some of the fellowship.” is exactly how we challenges they had and what their needs all should be— are. It helps in knowing how to pray for “Visiting always prepared them and how to encourage them. The missionaries on and looking for trip also helped me redirect some of my their fields and the opportunity focus spiritually. We get so caught up seeing them to ‘plant another in the day-to-day living; this short term ‘in action’ is seed.’” missions trip allowed me to slow down, rid something I
NEW MISSIONARIES
M
any people today malign the so-called “millennial” generation for being immature and selfabsorbed. My heart is very encouraged by the “millennials” whom the Lord has led to Baptist World Mission—they are shattering that stereotype by their selfsacrificing attitude and actions as they follow the Lord to the challenging mission fields of our world. Two recent examples of this missionary spirit are found in our recent appointees, whom I am excited to introduce to you!
BY DR. DAVID CANEDY
desire to plant churches in the interior of Puerto Rico. Javier was especially burdened after Hurricane Maria to reach souls for Christ while Puerto Rican hearts were tender from all the destruction. His sending church is First Baptist Church of Levittown, Puerto Rico. Javier and Lizzanette have a daughter named Lizzanette Marie. We are excited to have this couple on board with us.
Joe and Lindsay Risinger are burdened for the West Nile Region of Javier and Lizzanette Uganda. They believe it is God’s will to go to this Pizarro were appointed to Baptist region, plant churches World Mission at our and raise up many young spring board meeting people to serve in these in April. Javier and churches as they are Lizzanette are United saved, baptized and States citizens in become disciples. The Risingers come to us from a previous Puerto Rico; they
board; therefore, they are well on their way with deputation. Their sending church is Lighthouse Baptist Church in South Bend, Indiana. Joe and Lindsay have a little boy, Joe III, and another little one who will join their family in July. Others of our deputation missionaries display this same Christ-like spirit of dedication and sacrifice as the Pizarros and Risingers. I am delighted to encourage you to invite our deputation missionaries to your church to share their testimonies and vision for the mission field. Your hearts will be challenged and encouraged! Our prayer is that the Lord will use their lives, testimonies and message to lead a new generation to follow Christ into His service. Let’s commend them for their sacrifice by speeding them to the mission field!
MISSION MATTERS Confused about the Call of God? (Part 2) BY DR. BUD STEADMAN
A
s noted in a previous edition of the Messenger, there are some Christians today who are confused about the legitimacy of the call of God relating to full-time, vocational ministry. The Word of God has not left us in darkness on this issue, however, but gives clarity to the theological concept of the call, as well as modeling it for us in the lives of the original two missionaries sent from the church at Antioch. The book of Acts is the first volume of church history. It records the story of the church from its explosive beginning on the day of Pentecost to the imprisonment at Rome of its greatest missionary, the Apostle Paul. During the three decades that the book covers, the church expanded from a small group of Jewish believers gathered in Jerusalem to multiplied thousands in congregations throughout the Gentile world. Acts describes how the Spirit of God superintended, controlled and empowered the expansion of the church. The growth of the church was facilitated practically by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That proclamation had two primary outlets—public preaching (as exemplified by Peter on Pentecost in Acts 2) and personal witnessing (as exemplified by the apostles in Acts 5). The final command of the risen Lord was for Christians to take the
message into all the world. Some of the persecuted Christians obeyed and the church at Antioch was founded. From Antioch, the first Christian missionaries were sent forth following a full-time vocational, missionary call. The same commission from Christ is valid for us today, and that commission still necessitates the sending of missionaries. Local churches send missionaries. But those who qualify to be sent are not just any members—before being sent, they must be called by God vocationally to the work of missions. What does it mean to receive a call? We intuitively understand the concept of a call, as illustrated by our use of the telephone—a call is communication from one person to another. To discover the meaning of a vocational missionary call, which is our focus in this series of articles, we must understand that it is in fact just that—God calling to His selected servant. It is God’s Spirit, communicating by His Word, with man’s spirit. Those of us who are saved understand what is meant when we speak of God calling men to salvation—the gospel call is a call to salvation. The call of God to a particular ministry is a similar call to men and women, old and young, to full-time, vocational ministry in taking the Gospel into all the world.
ORIENTATION
T
he Lord blessed BWM recently with a great week of Orientation at Camp Joy in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The teaching sessions and the preaching made for a very blessed week of encouragement. This time of preparation for deputation and field ministry was invaluable to BWM’s seven recently appointed missionaries: Mark and Ashley Ackeret (Ecuador), Jimmy Pierre (Haiti), Javier and Lizzanette Pizarro (Puerto Rico), and Joe and Lindsay Risinger (Uganda). The missionaries, as well as the BWM administrators and staff, all came away refreshed in the Lord and enjoyed the biggest spring snowstorm at Camp Joy since BWM began holding Orientation there!
How do we theologically justify such a statement? In four instances in the New Testament, the Greek word kaleo, translated “called,” is used in a vocational sense: twice when Paul describes himself as called by God to be an apostle (Romans 1:1 and 1 Corinthians 1:1), once when the Holy Spirit calls Paul and Barnabas to missionary service (Acts 13:2), and once when Paul and his fellow workers are called by God to take the Gospel to Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10). While recognizing that the office of apostle does not exist today in the church, care should be taken to note that the term kaleo is used of Barnabas and others on Paul’s team who were not apostles. Is God interested today in calling individuals and couples from our churches to the gospel ministry? Absolutely! The calling of God upon individuals from a congregation is one of the testimonies of God’s blessing upon a church as it seeks to carry out His work. As previously mentioned, Paul and Barnabas were the first full-time vocational missionaries called and sent by the church at Antioch. To help us understand how God works in the matter of preparing His servants and calling them, in the next two Messenger articles we will be exploring their model presented in the Book of Acts.
ITINERARIES Steve Anderson
Pat Delaney
Bud Steadman
July 10-August 15
July 18-August 6
July 2-6
Administrative Trip Scotland, England, Ireland
Administrative Trip Okinawa / Japan
Camp Joy Whitewater, WI
September 19-23
July 9-31
Meadowlake Baptist Church Mobile, AL
Mike Martin
Administrative Trip Germany, BWM European Fellowship
September 30
June 27-July 3
August 7
First Baptist Church Land O’Lakes, FL
Administrative Trip French Guiana
July 8
Dave Canedy
Bethel Baptist Church Georgetown, IL
July 1
August 19
Hillcrest Baptist Church Elmira, NY
Thompson Road Baptist Church Indianapolis, IN
July 5-17
September 26
Administrative Trip Quebec, Canada
Woodcrest Baptist Church Fridley, MN
July 22
September 30
Grace Bible Church Dracut, MA
Calvary Baptist Church Winona, MN
Slavic Baptist Mission (Crosspointe Baptist Church) Indianapolis, IN
August 19 Tri-City Baptist Church Westminster, CO
September 3-19 Administrative Trip Philippines, Korea
September 30 Crooked Creek Baptist Church Athens, GA
Schedule an administrator or director at your church! BWM administrators and directors offer a wonderful blend of passionate preaching and current field experiences. Please contact the mission if you would like to schedule any of these men for your next conference. Call (256) 353-2221.
READY TO GO! These missionaries have almost reached 100% support and are nearly READY TO GO! They are preparing to go to the field.
FOLLOW BWM
Neal and Melinda Ludwig (Ghana) 85% Joe and Lindsay Risinger (Uganda) 82%
This publication is available at baptistworldmission.org. Canada Office PO Box 51 Milton ON L9T 2Y3 Phone (905) 876-9936 bwmission@bellnet.ca
Phone (256) 353-2221 office@baptistworldmission.org PO Box 2149 Decatur, AL 35602 Nonprofit Organization US Postage PAID Permit# 259