What Do Missionaries Do Anyway? [And why that’s a hard question to answer]
In the past, the word “missionary” usually brought to mind people trekking through the jungle, sleeping in huts, and preaching behind a makeshift pulpit to a rural village. While this is still the case for many missionaries today, it is not a complete picture of what all missionaries experience. Although the missionary is traditionally seen as being on the field, there are many roles which a modern missionary may take, (it could even be a desk job). So what does a missionary actually do? There are at least a 1000 ways to answer this question, all of which will differ based on the location, the missionary, and of course, the specific mission itself. The place, person, and purpose all help to determine what exactly a missionary may do. Yes, they all are supposed to be serving God, but God’s plan is big, and enacting it can widely vary based on these three points. So let’s dive in to take a closer look at how these components affect what a missionary may do on the day to day.
The Purpose
The overarching goal of most missionaries is to obey the Great Commission by making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20). The most important step to ensure you are doing it correctly is to undergo a biblical education, so as to make sure you are actually following the way of Jesus and not just slapping the label of “God’s agenda” on your own mission. Without being firmly anchored in God’s Word, the mission could easily veer off course and not even be a mission God approves of (see Matthew 7:21-23).
Another crucial aspect of missionary work is being able to bridge cultural gaps, though it’s not the end goal. Being able to transverse culture is a requirement to be an effective missionary, but if we limit it to only that, then there wouldn’t be much difference between a missionary and any other person who works abroad. So one must know the Bible and be able to communicate cross-culturally if they plan on achieving their purpose, but their communication must also be able to improve the quality of life of the community in which they live, which leads us to our next point: holistic community development.
Holistic community development is similar to regular community development, but done so with God’s Word as the foundation for what the development looks like. Some people may judge the development of a place based on its technology, tall buildings, or accessible goods, but we must be careful not to distort God’s ideal by interweaving it with worldly concepts of progress. The life found in God’s Word can permeate the people who learn it, developing the people who make up the society, and not limiting “development” to mere structures.
Knowing God’s word and being able to communicate and demonstrate it cross-culturally, improving the quality of life of the people you are ministering to is a general way to describe the purpose of a missionary. Moving into specifics is where it gets challenging to give a stereotypical picture of missionary life. Whether a short or long term missionary, they likely have specific missions. Are they installing a solar-pump for a communal well? Are they organizing a teacher’s conference? Are they cultivating a plot of land to demonstrate new agricultural methods? Are they running a short term health clinic? Each of these tasks meets the same purpose but in a different way. Each of these tasks will also be carried out in a different way depending on the culture they are administered in, which brings us to our next point.
The Place
Enacting God’s will is going to look different depending on the culture you are in. Yes, you are still trying to manifest the kingdom of God, but there are certain aspects of that kingdom which may present themselves differently based on the culture you are in. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it (John 3:17), and thus our goal is not to do away with the culture by imposing our own. Rather, we try to inject the righteousness of God’s law into the culture to help preserve it and improve the well-being of those who are in it. For example, in the Philippines where the majority are Catholics, most municipalities have a holiday based on a patron saint where people prepare lots of food. Some Prostestant believers have shunned this practice saying that it is food sacrificed to idols, and refuse to fellowship over these meals with their friends. However, we also learn from Paul that this can be an acceptable practice (1 Cor. 8). Rather than attacking the cultural practice, we can use it to develop healthy relationships among the members of that community.
This means two missionaries on similar missions may go about the mission in completely different ways due to their location. Each country has different laws and regulations which must be complied with, religious customs to be taken into account, seasons and schedules to consider, and the accessibility of resources also plays a factor in deliberating how to accomplish one’s goal. A youth empowerment program is going to greatly differ based on the location. Youth in an urban environment of one country could benefit from internet safety seminars while those in a rural area may have no need for it at all. You have to know what the youth are up against to help empower them, and thus it can become very situational.
For students who are pursuing missiological work, The Institute for GOD encourages them to choose a region in which they plan to serve in order to gain a better understanding of the culture and language. By narrowing their area of focus and studying a specific culture, they are able to increase their effectiveness when trying to implement programs.
The Person
A local missionary is typically more effective than a foreign missionary. Why? Because their lifestyle more clearly exemplifies the changes God’s Word can bring if implemented into their community. A foreigner has to fight through cultural complexities, such as the locals untangling what is the missionary’s home culture, what is the missionary’s own person like, and what exactly the missionary is supposed to be doing for God.
So why send foreign missionaries? To thoroughly answer that question would require a lengthy and possibly controversial essay which none of us have the time or energy to read right now, but one of the big reasons is empowerment. Certain people may have education in skill sets which allow them to be a blessing to communities who may not have easy access to such skills or education.
To be a missionary, one needs education in a field which can improve the quality of life of the people they are there to serve. Yes, God’s Word is the foundation for all we do, but only preaching isn’t enough to convince a watching world the goodness of our God. It needs demonstration. People need to see how God so loved the world, which we can do by acting like Jesus. When Jesus was on earth, he brought healthcare for those who were neglected and education for those who had ears to hear. Through the education he offered practical ways in which the people could live at peace with those in their community, and by healing people, he helped revitalize the work force which could positively impact their economy.
So, the life in a day of a missionary is going to drastically differ depending on what the skill sets are of that missionary. If their skills are administrative, they may spend a lot of time at a desk, while a master electrician may fix wiring issues, install outlets in a construction project, or educate others about electrical safety. We’re one body, but many parts, and each has its own function.
In conclusion, it’s pretty difficult to describe the day in the life of a “typical” missionary, because they can be vastly different. “What is that missionary’s specific objectives?”, “where is the mission taking place?”, and “who is the person executing the mission?” All play a significant role in how to go about answering it. Of course, the best way to find out what the lives of specific missionaries are like is to ask missionaries themselves.
