"So, You're Called to Missions?"

Right around 15 years ago now I experienced a radical encounter with God. I don’t know any other way to describe it but to liken it to Paul on the road to Damascus. (Hope that doesn’t offend anyone?).

It was as if the Power of God literally fell upon my life so suddenly and so forcefully that even my own free will was overridden as I stood under the conviction and mercy and forgiveness of a Living God. I knew at that moment in time that the rest of my life here on earth, would be taking a completely different course.

My life to that point consisted of hopelessness, despair, drugs, alcohol, addiction, rejection and abandonment, abuse, failure and worthlessness just to name a few.

II Timothy 1:9 says that we have not only been saved, but that we have also been called.  
“who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began”.

I began to understand that even before time began God knew that I would be saved (rescued, delivered, healed; made whole) and He knew the call (to Name and give an attribute or assign a quality to).

Only 3 years after my life-changing encounter with God and as much teaching, training, Word and Praise that I could fit in, I knew without a doubt that God had called me out of one place, and into another.
I didn’t have a vocabulary for it then, and I certainly would have never considered ‘missionary’ to describe Gods’ call on my life, but come to find out it was/is the assignment on my life.


Here is a definition.
A Christian Missionary is a Disciple sent into an area to perform ministries of service or MEET A NEED. To advocate or promote the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ by meeting the practical needs of a different culture or people group.

At the most basic level, a missionary is someone who has been sent. That’s what the word “mission” entails. It may not appear in your English Bibles, but it’s still a biblical word. Eckhard Schnabel—one of the world’s leading experts on mission in the New Testament— makes this point forcefully.

The argument that the word mission does not occur in the New Testament is incorrect. The Latin verb mittere corresponds to the Greek verb apostellein, which occurs 136 times in the New Testament (97 times in the Gospels, used both for Jesus having been “sent” by God and for the Twelve being “sent” by Jesus). (Paul the Missionary, 27-28)

The apostles, in the broadest sense of the term, were those who had been sent out. Linguistically, this sent-outness is also the first thing we should note relative to the term missionary. It is, after all, the first thing Jesus notes about his mission–that he was sent to proclaim a message of good news to the poor (Luke 4:18). Being “on mission” or engaging in mission work suggests intentionality and movement (Paul the Missionary, 22, 27). Missionaries are those who have been sent from one place that they might go somewhere else.

Every Christian–if we are going to be obedient to the Great Commission–must be involved in missions, but not every Christian is a missionary.

When most people think of Mission work they automatically think of international or even 3rd World Countries, etc.

But here in the U.S., right in our back yard is a mission field.

The purpose of this Blog and several to follow is to educate on the subject of Missionary and being sent into the "Native American Mission Field", and what it looks like to PREPARE YOURSELF for it.

For Non-Natives in particular, to be in Native American Ministry means to be called to a different place, a different culture and nation.

HISTORICAL: The story of the Native American people is complicated and marked by significant trauma and atrocities which resulted in the largest genocide of the 19th Century. Efforts to assimilate Indians into mainstream American society often involved the removal of native children from their homes on tribal land and sending them to religious and BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) boarding schools. Fueled by Richard Henry Pratt’s belief that Indians could be civilized through total immersion, these schools prohibited children from speaking their language, following their cultural practices, or spiritual beliefs. What happened to these young vulnerable children in many of these schools resulted in overwhelming, long-standing effects of trauma and unresolved grief. These traumas which interrupted the ability to parent, has led to most of the current social problems which plague Indian communities today.

GENERATIONAL: To grow up as a young Native American in the world today is very different than in most other cultures and people groups.  The generational cycles of affliction and hardship make it much more difficult.

STATISTICALLY:
Child Abuse and Neglect: A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds and more than five children die every day as a result (NCAS)
Alcohol Abuse: Alcohol abuse in the Native American community is epidemic and the leading cause of death of the tribal youth more than any other drug. (The Indian Reporter)
Domestic Violence: Three-fourths of Native American women have experienced some type of sexual assault in their lives (American Indian Women’s Chemical Health Project)
Child Sexual Abuse: One of the most destructive problems affecting children in Indian Country today is sexual abuse. Life for Young Natives Today
Poverty, Suicide, Hopelessness and Despair.
.......the list goes on and on, and to be honest most of these statistics describe my own personal life before Christ....BUT GOD.



Especially for those of you who feel the Calling of God for this type of ministry the next several blogs I want to look at the following pertinent topics:

• Spiritual Warfare
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Servants' Heart
• Walking in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
• The Condition of the Heart
• Community Living

Also maybe some real life examples from some of the best Missionaries that I know:).

In Him and with much love...........Bless YOU