DR Zhang Mukai said: “You may say that you have no burden in becoming missionary, but you can’t say you don’t have burden to do missions.”
Missions are God’s heart’s desire. Without missions, there would be no church. Since the beginning of 20th century, about 209 foreign missionaries were sent to Sarawak to conduct missionary work in education, finance and social concern. They stayed long and became one with the local people doing what Jesus commissioned, bearing remarkable spiritual fruits for the Lord. That is one reason why there are now so many churches in Sarawak with a large Christian population. We have to remember their devotion and submission and follow their footsteps. So, what are your excuses for not joining missions work? We are only carrying on the Great Commission of Christ.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”(NIV Mathew 28:18-20)
This authority of Jesus had been despised by the world until being nailed to the cross. But He rose from the dead and was given by God the Father the ultimate authority to rule the universe, heaven and earth. The word “Therefore” is a linking word to the action verb “go”, a continued action to be carried out to the nations and people groups. How do we do it?
Go
All born-again Christians should actively participate in cross-cultural ministry. We have the best news in the world and the best thing we can do to others is to share with them at all costs.
When I was doing missions work in Cambodia, a fellow Cambodian wanted me to preach the gospel to his villagers. He said, “There isn’t a church there and neither a Christian. All of them are Buddhist or Pantheism adherents.” Without hesitation I went there to tell them the Good News. Although I didn’t find any diamond or honey there, in *the eyes of God they are all diamonds and honey.
We reached out to around 200 children during the short-term missions. It was their very first time to hear gospel stories, hymns and that Jesus died on the cross for their sins. Through the women’s ministry, there were nine women who opened their hearts to receive Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Saviour. If we had not responded to this Macedonian Call, none of them would have heard the gospel.
There are about 2.1 billion people who have not heard of Jesus. It is our responsibility to go to tell them the good news. In fact, the minute you are reading this, there are unbelievers leaving this world without knowing Jesus. Therefore, we have to respond to Jesus’ Great Commission with more enthusiasm. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” and “Who is willing to go?”
Baptism
According to statistics, there are about 6,900 unreached people groups. Most of them are found within the 10/40 Window which include India (2034), China (456), Pakistan (435), Bangladesh (339), and Nepal (328). These people do not know the true God, living in emptiness, fear and insecurity. They need genuine peace and the source lies in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
In the 50s, five American missionaries set out to preach the gospel to the Auca people in South America and they were all killed. When the people killed these missionaries, they discovered that these missionaries had guns but none of the village people was hurt. They then realized that these five missionaries were not bad people because they could easily have defended themselves and shot at them. Owing to this incident, this part of history was re-written. The wives of these martyrs came with other missionaries to these people and through them many Auca were converted to Christ, turning away from evil and sinful ways to become new creations.
Teaching
“Teaching them to obey what Jesus had taught” is Disciple-making in other words, so that the followers of Christ become more Christ-like. This is actually a mission for every follower of Christ.
In my missionary work I have engaged a lot in nurturing the believers. For new believers I do one to one coaching. For students I do Bible studies to explore the Christian faith. In addition, I also arrange enhancement training, leading them to have a better understanding of the biblical truth and to be rooted in the Word of God. We also work together with“Good Man Organisation” to train the male students to become a better person. Those who have been trained are able to bravely share their faith in their work place, in schools and at home.
Dr John Sung once said: “When we go to heaven, we can’t bring anything with us, but the souls of many. Can you show people the way to heaven?
We Christians are obligated to carry out the Great Commission. If we do not take up the responsibility, who will?