We’ve all heard stories from missionaries or missionary sending agencies regarding the overall monthly goals churches and agencies require of missionaries per month. You have to have this many conversions, and this many baptisms, and this many members, with this many attendees, with these 43 other things you should be doing on the side in your “spare time!” Thankfully I think many churches and missions organizations are pulling away from this mentality, because, let’s face it, the gospel is veiled to those who are perishing (2 Cor. 4:3). The work of evangelizing the lost here in the States is incredibly difficult without even mentioning how hard it can be in a completely foreign land.
Patience, which is of course one of the Fruit of the Spirit, can be unbelievably challenging to missionaries if their efforts are yielding very slow results. After all, people want to hear of the glorious exploits of missionaries and how they rescued a whole village or country from darkness into the light…almost like an Indiana Jones movie. The reality is, missions is not very often, if ever, glamorous. It is immensely hard, tiresome, and often discouraging work. In fact, I have dear friends who lived and did missions ministry in a foreign country who didn’t see their first convert until they were there 9 years. All the while they were developing relationships and waiting on the Lord. Speaking truth in love even when it was very difficult. Now after 12 years they’re seeing more fruit blossoming. But this was and is an exercise in patience.
Prayer: Pray this passage of Scripture for Your Missionary today, “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near (Jms 5:7-8).”
