How Can I Get Started?

Bryan: In 5th century Greece, a philosopher named Zeno presented a paradox that has come to symbolize that overwhelming feeling of starting something new. According to Zeno's paradox, progress is broken down into an infinite division of steps so that it seems impossible for anyone to ever get from A to B.

Thankfully, Zeno's paradox is theoretical, but for new missionaries, it probably doesn't feel that way. There are thousands of small details and a lot of big ones that need to be sorted out. There's college and seminary and missionary training. Support networks need to be raised. Languages need to be learned, visas need to be acquired. And those are just the highlights. It might feel like you'll never get there before you've even taken the first step.

Our question this week comes from Creed. He asks, "how can I get started?"

Brooks: This is really good question, especially for young people and Creed. I'm going to assume you're either in high school or maybe into your early college years. So I'm going to talk to you from that perspective and also the perspectives that you're aiming towards going to the 4th lane where there are languages that have yet to hear of Jesus Christ, that you're headed in that trajectory of missions. So that's where this advice comes from.

And I would recommend eight things. And some of these are going to have some subcategories to them. So bear with me. But these would be the eight steps that I would think through if I'm headed down a path of, I want to go into missions, I think the Lord is impressing that on my heart and I'm beginning to feel like this is where my life is headed towards and I'm wanting to make sure that it continues down that path.

Number one, first thing right out of the gate, talk to your pastors, talk to your pastors, talk to your pastors. Now implied in that is obviously that you are a member of a church and you can't talk to your pastors unless you're a member of the church. And so become a member of the church and then go and talk to them and say, "This is what I feel like the Lord's laying on my heart, I'm aspiring to be a missionary. What would you like me to do or how would you see this playing out? What are the things in my life that you would say I need to work on?" Just lay yourself open for them to give feedback to. That's such a wonderful thing. When a young person doesn't get this nebulous missionary call all to themselves, but they invite their church leaders into it. That's a wonderful way to start and to go along the path of missions to allow your elders to speak into that.

And part of being open to their advice is show yourself to be a servant of the church. Be the type of person that is inviting people to church, that's carrying sound equipment, that's helping to clean up the grounds, not to get paid, but you're helping in any way that you think would benefit the church. You're teaching in kindergarten, you're serving food to the elderly saints at potluck, whatever it is, you're a servant. We can count on this young person. We see the character of their life in so many different ways. They would be the type of person we would recommend for ministry. That would be number one.

Number two, as you head to college, many of the missionaries that are going into 4th lane missions got to go to closed access countries. You're going to need a degree or a life experience that would be like an internship or different ways that you could gain life experience, but predominantly it's going to be a college degree. Your four best college degrees are going to be business, engineering, education, and then after that it goes into a variety of fields. But that's what I recommend to high schoolers, with a minor in Bible. You want to get the Bible in there, but you want to make sure you've got a major that a country that's looking at you and an immigration official is saying, wow, they have some background that they could benefit our country with.

Now, there's different ways that different countries are going to look at your resume, so to speak, or that your major and if it's coming from a well known or moderately well known institution, you're going to be fine — just don't worry about if you have a Bible major or if you have a kinesiology major. They're all going to work. But those are the top three. I neglected to mention accounting in their top 4. The 4th one would be accounting— those are just majors that are always going to be looked at well by immigration officials.

Number three, read good books. Here's a listing of the good books that I would read and I would kind of read them in this order. Number one, To the Golden Shore. It's the story of Adoniram Judson. I think it's the best missions biography ever written. A close second would be the autobiography of John G. Paton. I would read that book right alongside To the Golden Shore. I think those two, they are just missionary biographies, are incredibly powerful. They take us out of looking at ourselves and we see what other Saints of other times went through.

John Piper's Let the Nations Be Glad— that's an excellent resource, especially chapter 5. I think that's the beating heart of that book. I would include Foxe's Book of Martyrs. I think that's a wonderful book just to think through what it cost to be a Christian in other times. Beauty for Ashes is the story of Amy Carmichael. That's by Iain Murray. That one I would recommend as well. No Shortcut to Success— it's kind of talking about what's happening today in missions and some of the ways that good missionaries are making progress and things that can sidetrack you. And then The Diary of David Brainerd is a historic book. A lot of missionaries over the last 200 years read that book and went to the mission field because of it. And then Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer. I think that's a wonderful book to talk about how does someone truly get converted from death to life? Well, that's a work of God and how God does that and how God in His particular way works in the heart of men and regenerates them. That's something that I think is worth investing some time in.

Number four, I would go to conferences. Good conferences have a way of catalyzing young people to where they think well about missions. I like Cross Conference, but I would major on the 4th lane things that Cross Conference does. Sometimes they have more, sometimes they have less, but that's a good one. The Missionary conference — that's also a good one. Those happen every couple years, but there's a lot of Missionary Go conferences. Those are for young people that are popping up around the country. There'll be a lot of those in 2027. Those are good conferences and there's some other missions conferences that I would stand behind, but those would be the main ones.

Number five, I would visit a place where you think missionaries are getting trained just to see what people are going through and to hear from students who are probably just a few steps ahead of where you're at and thinking through the things that you will be thinking through in the next couple years. Obviously, I'm thinking about Radius and the students that are down there. We have these visit days that happen in November and February. Those tend to be really catalytic for young people. And so we had, I think 3 weeks ago, we had 42 potential students that were coming. Not all of them will end up as Radius students, but it helps them see things through another set of lenses.

Number six, I would go on a short term trip. The two best to me are Engaged Global in Minneapolis, MN and Radius Serve which is down in Tijuana, Mexico. They build houses for lower income people in Mexico and they have teaching in the morning and the evening. Good, short term trips are going to be trips where the teaching is excellent and then they're going to tie into a long term ministry that's in that area to make benefit of the short term work that's being done.

Number seven, and you should not take this for granted, but pray.

Become a student of prayer. I think Valley of Vision is a great way to — I read Valley of Vision and it helps me think through how I pray better. I would pray that the Lord would give me wisdom, discernment in so many different areas as I'm thinking about missions. But I would pray especially that the Lord would give me courage. Most of the young people I know feel like they're being led into missions, but the courage part of stepping into that is usually what's lacking. It's not a lack of information, it's a lack of courage to step into what the Lord is showing. So I would pray for that clearly in your time of prayer.

Number eight, and then I would memorize Scripture. I would memorize Scripture based around the Great Commission. I'd memorize Matthew 28:16-20, probably the most famous Great Commission passage. I'd memorize Acts 1:6-8. I'd also memorize John 10:14-16— "I have sheep that are of other sheep pens. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there'll be one flock and one shepherd." That's a wonderful text. And then Psalm 67, the entire Psalm— "May the Lord bless us. May he be gracious to it that your name may be known on earth. Your saving power among all nations." We want the name of our God to be known among all peoples. And that Scripture memory component, just to have that coursing through your veins, so to speak, is a wonderful addition to an aspiring missionary.

So those would be the eight steps that I would press into if I was thinking about going into missions.

Bryan: If you have a question you would like to hear answered on Ask Missionary, drop a comment on this episode, get in touch with us on social media or send us an email through missionary.com and your question may be featured on this show. And don't forget to subscribe to the show to get notified when the next episode, "How Should Churches Prepare Missionaries," airs next week. Thanks for listening.