Dr. Joby M. Easow

As Christians, we have a desire to do something for the Lord. If we look back to the day when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour and the Lord of our life or the times when we recommitted our life to our Lord, we had made a conscious decision to serve our Lord in all ways possible. In effect we wish to fulfill our Lord’s Great Commission.

All of us do have a mission oriented mindset. But what drives us into various levels of involvement in missions is our spiritual vision behind it. Even though we might desire to be a witness beyond our work place or campus we are held back at times because we are not sure where and how we would be useful.

Understanding the Needs.

The ministerial opportunities available to us as a layman are immense. There are various types of ministries catering to different categories of people and all of us will have a role to play - especially as a graduate. But it depends entirely on the level in which we would want to get involved

A few types of ministries are;

• Student ministry

• Ministry at an unreached village or a tribal hamlet

• Ministry among social outcasts like slum dwellers, alcohol or drug addicts, convicts in prisons, lepers AIDS patients, etc.

• Ministry among orphans and destitutes

• Medical missions

• Bible translation

• Literature ministry

Even though the approach employed by missionaries in the ministries mentioned above are different as it involves different categories of people, the task at hand is the same ie; to convey the message of the cross to the unreached. And that is exactly what we also would want to achieve.

What role can we play in missions? Support to a ministry starts with prayer. It sets off a series of chain reaction within us. A desire to happen. When we pray for a ministry, not only will the ministry be a blessing to others but also God will impress upon us as how we can also be a blessing through that ministry. The Lord will guide us into the level in which we can be useful to him.

All genuine ministries are done in faith and not through their bank balances. It is our prayer by faith that will drive us into action as ‘faith by itself if it is not accompanied by action is dead’ (James 2:17). Financial support to a ministry gains importance here. The answer to a prayer for the much needed finance for a particular project or staff salary or some other need of a ministry might be through our gift offering.

The Bible says that ‘whoever sows generously will also reap generously’ it continues to say that ‘ now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in  every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generousity will result in thanks-giving to God.”(2 Corinthians 9: 6-11). This is a promise of God for us and he will enlarge the harvest of our righteousness as we support ministries financially. Many are the testimonies of this fact.

Beyond Comfort Zones

Is there any role for us beyond financial support? A friend of mine after graduation in a professional course, joined a ministry for an year to take up the role of a pastor before joining for work which he was trained to do. Even though it was an unchartered territory for him, he testifies that it was one of the best years of his life.

Supporting a ministry with our time is an area if tried will reap rich dividends. If we can spend some time in the mission field where ever that may be, it will be much more than a spiritual feast. It will help us to have a glimpse or get first hand information of the ministry that we are supporting both with our prayers and financial contributions.

The crux of activity of any ministry is in the mission field. It may be a college or a hostel, on top of a mountain or down the valley, in a hut or a hamlet, in a highway or a byway. That’s where the real activity of spreading the good news takes place.

There is nothing as profitable as being in the mission field. To share the difficulties and hardships a missionary faces daily and also to experience the joy of trying to pull a soul out of eternal damnation. To be a part of it we will have to support ministries with our time. This would seem to be a difficult proposition, but it is the contrary. It can be done by taking a few days break from our busy schedule or day to day activities or set apart our vacation to be in the mission field or even be part of a mission on a short term service.

There are many who support ministries with their time. Some spend time with missionaries and encourage them, some in outreach, some in cooking a special meal for the orphans, some in helping out a medical mission and in various other ways. If you hear the testimonies of those who have supported ministries with their time it will drive you also to do likewise. Being involved in this manner will also help us to have a glimpse into the spiritual vision of these ministries and their missionaries. Most of them had paid a price to be a full time missionary. They had sacrificed many things they could have gained had they been in a secular job.

The words of apostle Paul, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18) is a reality for these missionaries. We can also be a part of this great and glorious vision and be active participants in spreading the message of the cross beyond our comfort zones.

Let us also aim to see the unseen and thereby always give ourselves fully to the work the of the Lord (1 Cor. 15: 58).

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