Lesson #7 -- How People Become Missionaries

Wow! Lesson #6 was a lot of reading. But acquiring an historical perspective is important for anyone considering a call to missions -- either as a missionary (some of us) or as a part of the home team supporting missionaries (the rest of us). With this lesson, we're going to shift gears a bit. We're going to change emphases and start to consider some of the more practical matters involved in mission work.

Let's begin by talking about how people become missionaries. How do you know what that looks like for you? Please read chapter 9 in the textbook, "First Steps: Have You Been Called?" (starts on page 149 in the print edition and Kindle Location 3766).

Then let me share a little of my own story and understanding of "call." The textbook gives us a pretty decent explanation of a "call." I'd have a hard time identifying a single moment or experience of divine call in my life. There have been lots of smaller very ordinary experiences that have contributed to who I am and my understanding of where God wants me to direct my energy.  In my experience SELF-AWARENESS is how God has led me.

That is, over the years I've become increasingly aware of the way that God has put me together. All my life I've been drawn to people from different cultures. I love hanging out at the Micro Mall where as a white American I'm in the cultural minority, and where I might hear seven different languages in 10 minutes of sitting at the food court. It all reminds me of how creative God is -- so many different human expressions.

Then I've always enjoyed writing and teaching -- especially if it helps people grow in their faith. (The people who know me tell me that I'm good at it and encourage me to spend time preaching and teaching.) Another aspect of who I am involves the people who keep showing up in my life. God seems to place a lot of vulnerable and broken people in the roadway in front of me. I've always had friends with mental illnesses. I'm at ease out on the streets working with homeless drug addicts. I enjoy being around handicapped people. Complete strangers will initiate conversations with me and tell me about their problems. And then I love being around children, youth, and senior adults. This is the way that God has wired me.

Of course, there is more. But even the abridged detail of my life kind of explains the way that God has directed me. I took a long time to finish my university studies because I was doing ministry with International students and high school students alongside my college work. Then I became a youth minister. While doing youth ministry my boss and pastor helped me catch a vision for pastoral ministry and encouraged me to do graduate seminary studies.

After seminary, I pastored three churches, two of which I was instrumental in starting. Then at the age of 50, I met Dave Owen, a great guy my age, who had grown up near to us in California. We clicked and became great friends. So when he invited us to help out at Pacific Islands University as missionaries, Cheryl and I jumped at the opportunity. In 2006 I resigned from my position as a pastor. We sold our house in California and moved to Guam. Cheryl worked in the PIU business office. I taught classes, started the first PIU distance education courses, and served as the Academic Vice-President. Then in 2009, the economy in the United States fell apart and the people and churches who were helping us financially could no longer support us. So we had to move back to the United States.

We went to Arizona and started a new church that served homeless men, immigrants, and families with troubled children. I continued teaching PIU classes online. But I also taught English for immigrants in Phoenix and I taught Bible and theology to some immigrant African pastors through South African Theological Seminary. It was during this time I realized that even though I functioned as a pastor, my primary identity (the way I see myself) is that of a missionary. In 2019 I was asked to become a chaplain for senior adults at a large retirement community in Florida. That's what pays our bills but I still see myself as a missionary. And teaching these PIU classes is one of the ways that my missionary calling is fulfilled.

Now, of course, if you talk to other missionaries, their stories will all be different -- some very different. There is no single way to be a missionary. For some, the path opens smoothly and for others, there are lots of challenges and obstacles.

Please read the "Call of God" case study (pages 158-159 in the print edition of the textbook. Kindle location 4064-4103). At the end of the case study it says, "Eventually, Lim realized what he needed to say to Nathan. Breathing a prayer for wise words, he said..." Use your imagination and tell me in at least a few paragraphs what Lim said to Nathan. If you want bonus points, add a paragraph or two clearly explaining how you think Nathan received Lim's advice.

Send your response embedded in an email to me at bboydston@piu.edu (no attachments please) or share it with me as an editable Google Doc. This assignment is worth up to 30 points (not counting potential bonus points).

Once you're done, even before I score and return Lesson #7, get started on Lesson #8. 

Remember, too, that you receive class points when you send me a Monday Check-in email. The email should include:

1. What you are currently working on for this class. 

2. What you hope to accomplish in this class this week. 

3. Anything else you want to tell me.