We, as followers of Christ, should naturally want to align ourselves with God’s overall plan for the world.  All of us should want to play a part in God’s great international vision for the world. Even if we are not called to go to other countries or people, we should support God’s work beyond our shores.

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Jeff’s work in China (and Hong Kong, where he will be based) should not only concern Jeff himself and those who are “mission minded”.  Each of us has a part to play as well. The work that Jeff is going to be involved in should, in fact, be seen as an extension of our work overseas. Ideally, missions work involved a total mobilisation of the whole church and is a partnership or joint venture between the one who is sent and those sending him.

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Personal Involvement

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As one author puts it, missions should be “a principal passion of the congregation" and not “a peripheral programme for the super-saintly”. All of us should be excited about Jeff’s venture on our behalf to reach out to the many unconverted in China. We should not watch passively from the side-line but instead get into the thick of the action. This can be achieved right where God has placed us presently.

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Personal involvement in his work - that’s what Jeff hopes for the members of PLMC. There are various ways by which we can be involved:

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Prayer

• Remember Jeff and his work in your prayers. Amongst others, pray that the Lord will guide and guard him (even as Jeff would be involved in a spiritual warfare - cf Ephesians 6:12); pray for Jeff's spiritual, physical and emotional well-being; pray that he will develop a deep love and concern for the people he will be ministering to and that he will be able to integrate and identify with them. Pray that the Lord will ensure that language and cultural differences would not hamper Jeff’s work for the Lord.

• Pray as you are led by the Spirit; the Master himself will teach you how to pray in order to help Jeff carry out his task.

• The vital importance of prayer cannot be over-emphasised.

 

Letters

• Write to Jeff to encourage him and to assure him that he is not alone and that we are backing him all the way. Offer him your friendship and support.

 

Visits

• If the opportunity arises, visit Jeff in Hong Kong or China.  You would not only be a very welcomed face to Jeff but would also be a channel through which Jeff can share his work and the joys, trials and hardship that come with it.

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Take an active interest

• In the months and years ahead, news about Jeff and his work will be filtering in. Share in all this and take an active interest in what is happening even as we remember that it is our work of extending God’s kingdom.

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Reason for Lack of Concern in Missions

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Perhaps nothing of what I have had to say thus far is novel to you. Yes, like me, you may know the importance of reaching out to the unsaved through missions. Yet, sad to say, many a times, this knowledge of ours remains as “head” knowledge which is neither transmitted to the heart nor translated into action.

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This has led me to ask myself, “Why am I lukewarm about missions?” I believe that the main cause of this stems from a heart which is lacking in love and compassion for people. Arguably, it is difficult to feel for the many faceless and nameless people in foreign lands who do not know Christ. I forget (alas, too easily) that if our Christian forefathers had felt the same way, the Gospel might never have reached South East Asia and we would all still be lost sheep in the wilderness.

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The solution to this may lie with personally experiencing God’s overwhelming love in our lives in a very real sense (which can be achieved if we desire to draw closer to Him day by day). We should allow love evidenced by the supreme act of sending Christ to the world to die on the cross for us infuse and fill us to the point that it overflows our hearts. What inevitably follows thereafter is a desire to channel this same love to others.

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Another reason for a tepid involvement in missions may well be a consequence from living a fast-paced  with its numerous competing demands on our time and energies. This has a tendency of crowding out thoughts about the well being of others, particularly those with whom we do not come in contact directly. This is a very myopic approach to life. I pray that God will grant all of us the ability to see things from His global perspective which (I believe) places primary importance on individuals rather than things or activities. We should all yearn to have this same mind-set as the Lord.

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A lack of exposure to the importance, urgency and magnitude of missions work could well be another reason why I am not fired up about missions. The inertia in me has prevented me from seeking to make missions part of my concern. I would be the first to admit that blaming it on “inertia” is a poor excuse indeed. Now that there is someone from our own church going to the mission field, this reason (or excuse, if you like) ceases to be valid altogether.

 

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A New Chapter

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Our joint venture with Jeff (and ultimately with God) in a mission outreach to China has the potential of opening up an entire new chapter in the life of PLMC. I believe that there are others in our midst who have heard God’s call to the mission field and are preparing to be sent forth into other lands. Further, our heightened awareness about missions work of missionaries in various parts of the world - they, undoubtedly need our prayers and support as well.

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By obeying God’s call to be His missionary in China, Jeff is making a statement - a statement of his conviction that Christ’s message of salvation must be spread to everyone and that missions is something very close to God’s heart. We have to learn (this of course, entails some effort on our part) to share this same biblically based conviction. We should strive to be personally involved in the missions outreach to China recognising that ultimately, such a personal involvement is not for Jeff’s sake but ours and ultimately for the sake of God’s kingdom.