Messenger 2017 summer final

THE MESSENGER | SUMMER 2017

A MISSIONARY WIFE’S PERSPECTIVE

T

he Oxford definition of unique, “being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else,” is a very accurate description of the life of a foreign missionary wife.

The very fact that God created each of us with unique personalities, gave us different backgrounds and sent us to different fields of service argues that the blessings and challenges that make up the life of every missionary wife are as unique as each woman. In preparation for this article, many current missionary wives from a variety of fields of service around the world contributed their thoughts. As to be expected, their responses were . . . unique!

This article is largely a synthesis of their contributions.

The blessings of being a missionary wife truly are innumerable! The privilege of sharing the Gospel, discipling new believers, helping to grow local churches and, as one missionary wife stated, “spending your life impacting people for this life and the life to come” cannot be adequately expressed in words! While, to be sure, challenges abound in establishing churches with primarily first-generation Christians, the wonder of new life is exciting and even contagious.

Blessings on the personal level are of real significance. Missionary life necessitates a close marriage and family relationships that are . . . well, unique! Being alone (even with the advantages of technology), living far away from family and home church, experiencing together the ups and downs of living in a culture not your own 1 Phraseology taken from Surprised by God by Faith Cook

and serving the Lord together develops close, loyal bonds. Rearing a family on a foreign field presents a variety of tough challenges, but there are also so many blessings that a book could be written on them alone!

For instance, the simplicity and somewhat slower pace of life, compared to that of most American families, offer greater amounts of meaningful family time and opportunities to train children how to serve the Lord in a local church. Small churchplanting works always need Bible club leaders, Sunday school teachers, nursery workers, musicians, visitation partners, and the list goes on. These needs become opportunities for MKs (missionary kids) to serve the Lord, often at a younger age.

Additionally, MKs benefit from the crosscultural experience that helps them develop a missions perspective and a vision for how the Lord could use a life wholly dedicated to Him. The challenge of adjustment to a new country and culture demands flexibility in almost every area of life. Tackling new languages and adapting to foreign ways of thinking are daunting tasks. Returning for furlough may suggest a reprieve from the incessant need for flexibility, but those hopes are short-lived. One missionary wife taught kindergarten on the floor of a small-town laundromat because the older children needed all the space in the hotel room for their schoolwork.

Thousands of miles in the family car invite misery to children who may be prone to motion sickness, requiring more flexibility than even the most laid-back personality could possibly possess. Each missionary wife probably has hours’ worth of real-life stories in which human adaptability was stretched beyond reality!

Another challenge faced by many a missionary wife involves her own spiritual growth. Her personal walk with the Lord requires a deeper level of devotional study than the preparation for a ladies’ Bible study for first-generation Christians.

Finding time for sufficient study is a universal problem certainly not limited to missionary wives! But ministry on the road in the States often robs missionary wives of privacy and time. If the wife does not schedule time for personal study of the Word of God and fellowship in prayer, she will shrivel up like a plant without water and will easily become overwhelmed by the challenges of missions. Thankfully, there are many accessible resources today to encourage our walk with the Lord!

The challenges may sometimes seem to overshadow the blessings. Such was the case for the psalmist in Psalm 77. After crying out to God and listing his troubles, he counseled himself by turning his focus to God and His sufficiency. It would be wise for us to counsel ourselves in like manner. God is much greater than any challenge! It is easier to keep the challenges in proper perspective when we keep in mind that “faithful is He that calleth you who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

The challenges, though they are often huge and harsh, will become blessings as we turn them into “many errands to the throne of grace,”1 giving us more reasons to spend time with the Lord, whom we are privileged to serve. Fixing our eyes on Him opens up a whole different set of blessings—a peaceful heart, a growing faith and a vessel fit for service for our sufficient God! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Katie Graham and her husband Eric have four children. Their family has served with BWM in South Africa since 1994.

Thirty Years Later

BY ROBERT SOUTHARD

T

he trip to Japan was such a blessing. We visited old friends not seen in 30 years; we all thought we would not see each other again this side of Glory.

HIGHLIGHTS

FROM THE HIGHWAYS & HEDGES

Nationals Are Key

BY DR. PAT DELANEY

I

returned from a recent trip to Asia with an amplified appreciation for the role of foreign nationals in world missions.

Although India is closed to American missionaries in the traditional sense, three precious Indian couples serve there under BWM. The Mathew Thomas family was appointed in 1987. Dr. Sam and Molly De were added in 1995, and Santhosh and Sophie George joined our ranks in 1998.

Through their joint efforts, a network of nearly 20 churches has been planted in the state of Kerala alone. While “the care of the churches” weighs heavily upon the hearts of Brother Santhosh and Sophie, so does their sacrificial care for Sophie’s father, Brother Mathew Thomas.

In the past 20 years under the leadership of Dr. Sam De, Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary has produced multitudes of trained workers to establish churches throughout India. Last year, the college enrolled 164 students, of whom 65 earned degrees ranging from bachelors to doctorates. Some graduates have planted churches as far away as Orissa, Punjab and Manipur. “Team India” is proof that no one can reach nationals better than nationals.

BWM’s missionary team in Cambodia is also reaping the fruit of nearly two decades of toil and teamwork. Dr. Tom and Anna Johnson arrived in Phnom Penh in 2000 and were joined by Ron and Tina Fruin four years later. Over the next decade, they trained many nationals through their Bible institute. Presently, five pastors serve in various localities, including far-flung provinces. Two years ago, Jason and Leigha Carpenter joined the team with the goal of discipling new believers and further equipping pastors in the provinces. Around the same period, Rebekah Fruin joined her parents in order to assist in the college and children’s ministries. I cannot thank God enough for the sacrificial efforts of “Team Cambodia.”

Dr. Pat Delaney is BWM’s Field Administrator for Asia and the Pacific

These Christians now have young adult children whom we got to know during our two-week visit. Most of these young adults expressed their gratitude that God had led us to Japan 40 years ago, resulting in their parents’ salvation and allowing them to grow up in Christian homes. Wow, what a blessing! Now these “grandchildren in the Lord” have their own families.

We visited five churches and preached or gave testimonies ten times. This included three days of camp at a mountain lodge, where we all enjoyed fellowship and listened to messages by five Japanese pastors. We also taught two English Bible classes for young Christians. This helped sharpen their English skills and gave them pointers on what to say in English when asked to give a testimony. In addition, we met with 12 young adults under Pastor Yamamoto’s ministry. He asked us to give them some advice on what it means to serve Christ. The main church in Okazaki City built their third building about 10 years ago with ample room for 150 people and an apartment for the pastor’s family upstairs. The first floor also has Sunday school rooms and a small fellowship hall and kitchen.

Mary and I were never so humbled as when we witnessed the continued blessings of God during this trip. It was a reminder that God’s work is enduring. We praise God for letting us be a vessel for His use in Japan. God also gave us complete recall of the Japanese language, enabling me to preach comfortably in Japanese after 30 years. Those who heard us speak kept asking how we retained our fluency. All we could do was give God the glory. The Japanese were so gracious and would not let us pay for anything. God is so good.

Robert and Mary Southard left Japan in 1987 after serving as missionaries for 12 years and were appointed with BWM in 2015 as furloughreplacement missionaries.

MISSION MATTERS A New Generation of Giant Killers

BY DR. BUD STEADMAN

“I

s there not a cause?” was a question posed by a teenaged Jewish boy to his older brothers and other Jewish soldiers as those supposed warriors cowered in the face of the Philistine enemy, Goliath.

In the midst of the unbelief of his generation, David posed this question revealing that he was convinced that God was able to give deliverance to His people, and he trusted God for it. As a result of David’s faith, the Lord wrought a mighty victory through David, proving that Jehovah was still the God of deliverance.

2 Samuel 21 finds David, nearly 50 years later, facing another great enemy named Ishbibenob, the progeny of the original Goliath. David, as an aged king, was still fighting the battles of faith. Out of the deliverance that God gave David in this passage, he wrote the hymn recorded in 2 Samuel 22, which is also reproduced in Psalm 18. W. Graham Scroggie said that David’s song “touches the high-water mark of Old Testament devotion and is conspicuous among its noblest utterances.” It is a God-centered declaration of praise for that which each of us should be experiencing—personal deliverance from the giants that confront us in our lives and ministries.

But you will also discover within the narrative in 2 Samuel 21 that David experienced more than personal deliverance from giants—he was used by God to raise up a new generation of giant killers, a generation who saw “the cause” and committed themselves to it as David had! It is interesting that two of the young men who slew giants in 2 Samuel 21 were David’s nephews, Abishai and Jonathan. One of

NEW MISSIONARIES Yaovi Kpogno We are happy to introduce to you Yaovi Kpogno as a national, church-planting missionary. He is being sent out from Temple Baptist Church in Powell, Tennessee, to return to his native Togo. He desires to plant churches and train God’s servants to do the same. We are excited to see what God will do through this young man.

those, Jonathan, was the son of David’s older brother, Shimeah (or Shammah), who was one of the cowards who had refused to fight Goliath. While David’s brothers had been afraid to fight the giant Goliath, David had inspired his nephews and other young men in Israel to become giant killers by the same grace of God. How did he do it? By being a man who modeled God’s victory in his own life.

The ministry of missionaries, like that of all spiritual leaders, is to be used by God to raise up the next generation of giant killers, slaying the enemies of Christ and His work. When such enemies as lust, selfishness, pride, carnality, adultery, pornography, discouragement, etc., defeat the servants of Christ, how will the next generation be inspired?

We as disciples of Jesus Christ need to be walking with Him, controlled by His Spirit, not fulfilling the lust of the flesh, but rather experiencing and thus modeling the power of His resurrection. We should be demonstrating genuine holiness, seeing prayers answered, disciples made and churches planted. Christ’s victory over the giants has already been won.

Now, we must continually be seeking to practically appropriate that victory by faith and thus impact a new generation of giant killers.

Timothy and Elisabeth Makin We are excited to welcome Timothy and Elisabeth Makin to Baptist World Mission.

Timothy and Elisabeth, along with their three children, come to us from Westgate Baptist Church in Tigard, Oregon. Timothy has a burden to plant churches and translate the Scriptures for people groups who already have believers and desire the Word of God in their own language. The Lord has burdened him for the people of northern India.

ITINERARIES Steve Anderson June 1–July 28 Administrative Trip Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa

August 28–November 25 Furlough Replacement South Korea

Kevin Brosnan No Meetings Scheduled

David Canedy June 23-26 Grace Baptist Church Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

July 6–August 1 Administrative Trip Nova Scotia, Canada

July 9 Hillcrest Baptist Church Elmira, NY

July 16 Heritage Baptist Church Schubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada

READY TO GO! July 23

August 13

Antigonish Baptist Church St. Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

Bethel Baptist Church Tucson, AZ

July 23

Bethel Baptist Church Georgetown, IL

Grace Baptist Church Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

Pat Delaney No Meetings Scheduled

Mike Martin June 25 Greenville Bible Church Greenville, MS

July 3–12 Administrative Trip Peru

August 20

August 23 Woodcrest Baptist Church Fridley, MN Gulf Coast Baptist Church Cantonment, FL

September 3 Crossroads Baptist Church Columbus, NC

September 7–21 Administrative Trip Argentina and Uruguay

Bud Steadman

North Hills Baptist Church Round Rock, TX

July 23

Charity Baptist Church Rio Rancho, NM

August 6 Continental Baptist Church Tucson, AZ

Steve and Brandie McKinley (Ireland) 100%

smckinley@baptistworldmission.org

August 27

July 30

August 2

These missionaries have reached 100% support. They are READY TO GO! They plan to leave for the mission field June 27, 2017.

Bethany Baptist Church Brevard, NC

September 10–13 Brown Street Baptist Church Alton, IL

GONE Greg and Amanda Little (Saint Lucia) are fully supported and left for the field on April 18, 2017.

Amanda Baker (England) is fully supported and left for the field on May 29, 2017.

Aaron and Jenny Peterson (Germany) are fully supported and left for the field on May 31, 2017.

September 24 Faith Baptist Church Taylors, SC (PM Service)

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BWM administrators and directors offer a wonderful blend of passionate preaching and current field experiences. Please contact the mission if you would like to schedule any of these men for your next conference. Call (256) 353-2221.

This publication is available at baptistworldmission.org.

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