Ryan Shaw is the lead facilitator for SVM2 internationally.

I trust that you are doing well as you get settled into the rigors of a new academic year and all that this entails. This is a very busy time of year. I want to challenge you to beware of the busy-ness that can insidiously sneak in and steal from our lives spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Don’t neglect your prayer closet and time daily studying the word of God faithfully. In this edition of the Abandoned Times we have two powerful articles to help steer us in God’s direction for our lives. The first surrounds understanding the “Call of God” and what this really means in regards to involvement in reaching the nations for Christ. The second helps us grasp strategically the areas of the world that are most needy and gives us Biblical admonition concerning why to focus our energies on these places in particular. Read these articles with an open heart and let God speak to you and possibly even re-direct your plans. I pray Colossians 1:9 over you, “…and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Paul Borthwick is a leading mission speaker and senior consultant for Development Associates International. He is also a leader in the SVM2 network.

"No aspect of the Christian mission is more puzzling than the problem of a call."

That's how J. Herbert Kane starts his book, Life and Work on the Mission Field.  He knows that nothing needs to be said about ministering in a cross-cultural situation until the issue of "the call" is settled in people's minds. Yet we still flounder around - What is the "call?" How do I know if I'm "called?"  Where do my desires fit in? If I'm "called," how do I know where I am called to?

          Some message bearer leaders have tried to deal with the problem of the call by discounting it.  Back in the early 1980’s, Keith Green’s pamphlet “Why You Should Go to the Mission Field” basically reaffirmed his belief that “we don't need a call; we need a kick in the pants!"

Others seem to imply that common sense knowledge is enough: “if the needs are greater overseas, then every one of us should be “planning to go” until God directly intervenes and calls us to stay home.  Still others take a "the Bible says it; that settles it" approach: “just read your Bible and God will show you.”  But this still leaves most of us confused when it comes to where we should go, what we should do, and what team we should join. 

(Author’s note: my experience has shown that people’s sense of call often falls into three categories.  People sense a call to a) a location or a people group (as in Paul’s desire to go to Spain or Hudson Taylor’s zeal for China); b) a task (for example: pioneer evangelism or health care or Bible translation or church planting movements); or c) a team (as illustrated by the couple who said, “We love Frontiers and we just want to go with them.”  These three directions for the call, however, should be the subject of a separate article.)

          Back to “The Call”: the problem with negating the concept of the call is that it overlooks the scriptures, for many disciples and message bearers were Indeed "called." On the other hand, the scriptures can be abused when we all want to be called in the same dramatic, miraculous way that Isaiah was (see Isaiah 6:1-8) or Jonah was (see Jonah 1-3).

          So where do we find the answers? Do we just imitate our understanding of message bearers of the past and try to feel called as they were? Where do the scriptures fit in? And how does our expanded base of knowledge about the world fit?

          For guidance, let's look to the book of Acts, the primary "message bearer" text of the scriptures.  In the accounts in the book of Acts, we have at least three types of "calls," and, by evaluating these calls, we can learn for ourselves the various ways that God may lead us out into cross-cultural ministry.

          CALL #1 - The Mysterious Call. In this example, the call comes directly (and even audibly) from God Himself. Peter received a direct dream (three times!) from God which commanded him to go to the Gentiles with the Gospel (see Acts 10).  Paul heard the Lords voice and became a Christian (Acts 9), and later he went to the Macedonians in response to a dream from God (16:9). These (like the call of Isaiah or Jonah referred to earlier) were mysterious, miraculous interventions by God.

          The problem with mysterious calls is that everyone wants one. When someone says, "God hasn't called me into missions," they often mean, "I have received no dream or revelation to go." But the error here is that these mysterious calls are exceptional, not normal. There are other, more common ways that God calls us into missions.

          CALL #2 - The Commissioned Call. This type of call occurs in Acts 13, when the church in Jerusalem specifically Identifies (through prayer and fasting) two individuals to go out as missionaries to Antioch. In this case, there is not so much mystery; instead, it is the Holy Spirit speaking through the church leadership. (If you can find a copy, read Michael Griffith’s book Who Really Sends the Missionary? based on this text.)

          How does this apply to today? Those interested in ministry get involved.  Church leaders and elders can affirm and identify spiritual gifts and leadership abilities.  And then – in the spirit of prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit, the leadership affirms and commissions the person or people ministering for cross-cultural outreach.  So, next time an elder or church leader tells you that you have cross-cultural gifts that could benefit the church of Jesus Christ, don't take these words lightly.  They may be God's words to you, designed to be part of God's call on your life.

          If we are to be serious about this commissioning type of call, we must be open to the advice of others. Perhaps we should go to the elders to ask them to pray for us as we seek God's direction with our lives. Perhaps we need to request the prayers of our pastors or even the missions committee regarding where God wants us.  If we do this, we can be assured that more people are listening to God with us and for us, and when we get sent out, we’ll know that the church is behind us.

          CALL #3 - The "Common Sense" Call. In this case, the example of Acts shows us how God works through our minds, our knowledge, and our common sense. When Philip was put into the presence of the Ethiopian eunuch, he was told by the Holy Spirit to go up to the guy's chariot. Philip did not pray, "Now Lord, what should I do?" No, he did the obvious; he "opened his mouth and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him" (Acts 8:26-40).

          When Paul and Barnabas were selected out, the church made some other decisions regarding sending Judas and Silas. Although there was a strong sense of the Holy Spirit's leading when they sent the first two, they sent the second two because "it seemed good to the apostles and the elders" (Acts 15:22).

          Imagine doing something because "it seemed good to us," yet the church leaders felt comfortable in doing so. Perhaps, as we build our own relationships with Christ and are assured of His Spirit's guidance, we too can make decisions because "it seemed good to us." Perhaps some of us will see needs and respond to them because our common sense tells us that we can meet these needs.  If God keeps putting Kurds in your path, use your common sense: God could be calling you to work with Kurds.  If your emails and reading are always exposing you to the spiritual hunger of the Muslim world, use your mind: this could be the  way in which God will direct you into cross-cultural service.

          So how does God call us? Maybe it will be a miraculous voice out of heaven. Maybe it will be a result of the counsel of others. Or it might just be God speaking through our common sense telling us, "This seems to be the right thing to do." It might actually come as a combination of all three. Not everyone hears the call in the same way, and we fall short when we overlook the various ways that God may call us into missions around the world. 

Derek Schujahn is the Global Mission Coordinator for Every Nation Ministries and a leader in the SVM2 Network.

It's everywhere you go. Like an incessant cell phone ringing deep from within your bag, it calls for you throughout the day. "Probably not my phone," you think. But the call is for you, and it will ring until you answer.

It has become increasingly difficult for me to read the news lately. I try to ignore the constant reports of war, poverty, and disease ravishing the rest of the world as I sit in my comfy chair of self- absorbed delusion.  I live in a small town. I eat good food, drink clean water, pay my taxes, and my two little boys play soccer every Saturday. Let the world burn. I'm safe and doing just fine in my slice of Americana.

So how do I respond to the news? How do I respond to genocide in Africa or war in Lebanon, while I'm concerned about gas prices at the corner?

As a good American Christian, I press shuffle on my iPod worship playlist and turn up the volume to drown out the cries of injustice and pain reverberating in my heart. Besides, we've got enough problems to worry about here in my own community, right?

Perhaps you are on the frontlines of the battle, preparing for a lifetime of service among a people group waiting to hear the Gospel. Perhaps you have already committed a good portion of your life to bring hope to the destitute and fight oppression wherever it is found.

Or perhaps you are a bit like me. Filled with a passion and desire to see something, anything done - but what? And how? And by whom?

While living in China this summer I walked past toddlers sleeping on city sidewalks, dying of hunger and neglect. And it is clear that there is no political, economic, military, or ideological answer to the Middle-East crises. Only the life-transforming power of Jesus can bring hope and peace to such a complex and ugly situation. Somebody must do something.

On the spiritual front, I am told that nearly 2 billion people in this world are shut off from the life-changing message of Jesus and have no hope of hearing unless someone goes to them. These are the "Forgotten" peoples. They are the Muslim, Animist, Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese, and Tribal people groups that, in general, make up the world's poorest, underdeveloped, disease-ridden, politically oppressed communities on earth. They represent about 10,000 people groups with no Bible in their language, no message bearer down the street, no church within a day's walk, and no chance to meet the Person who loved them and gave His life for them. 

It is clear from Scripture that "every nation, tribe, people, and language" will be represented in heaven (Revelation 7:9), and Jesus promised in Matthew 24:14 that "this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a witness to every nation (or people group) and then the end will come."

It is also evident that the Gospel is advancing among these people groups unlike any other time in history. More Muslims have come to know Christ in the last five years than in all of history combined, estimates of 25,000 per day in China are surrendering to Jesus, and the present day Church has more money, more available personnel, more training, more information, more ease of travel and communication and technology than ever before.

God has set the stage for every people group to be reached within this generation if only we would rise to the challenge and obey. Jesus has promised that the Great Commission will be completed. The question is not whether these "Forgotten" peoples will eventually hear the Gospel. Jesus has not forgotten them. The question is whether we will respond to the call in our generation. At present, only 5% of the Church's resources are focused on reaching 95% of the world's least reached people groups. We have a chance to re-allocate these resources in our generation and make a difference in history.

God, in His sovereignty, decided to bring us to the Kingdom for such a time as this. We have the privilege and obligation to live in such a way that would bring His glory to the ends of the earth. We are so close to the completion of this epic endeavor, and we have only to surrender ourselves to His purposes in this generation.

The cold truth is that the Great Commission will not be fulfilled in this generation, or any other, until a sufficient number of individual Christians consider it their personal obligation. This is reality. Nothing will change until you and I and others are sick of the present world situation and volunteer our lives to do something about it while we yet have breath.

Why should we bother with such an enormous task? Why shouldn't we just close our eyes and play church, paying more attention to tabloid news that the scary images of Muslim extremists? Because our Savior is worthy to receive the reward for His suffering, and He alone is the hope for our world.

So as I go through my day, I will pick up with trembling hands that haunting cell phone whose caller ID reads the Name of the One who enlisted me in His army years ago. His message to me is simple, "As the Father sent me, so now I send you" (John 20:21). Let us answer this call and join together in honoring the King with our lives until every tribe has heard the Good News.

GLOBAL PRAYER TEAM GUIDE




The Global Prayer Team Guide envisions and equips students to start a small group committed to ongoing, sacrificial intercession for the nations.









MOVEMENT MANUAL

The Movement Manual equips student leaders, who possess a passion for influencing their peers with mission vision, with ideas, examples, and steps to follow in developing a thriving student mission movement.







ABANDONED DEVOTION FACILITATION PACK

The Journey Deepens Retreat - October 20-22 in Atlanta, GA for more info go to www.TheJourneyDeepens.com

Are you committed to serving Jesus cross-culturally in the nations when you graduate? If so, join with hundreds of others in today's united student mission movement by clicking here.