You Can Become A Missionary Today!

Pastor Bruce Oyen
E-mail: bk_oyen@hotmail.com

If you are a Christian, you can become a missionary today! That's right, today! Jesus himself told his disciples, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men," we are told in Matthew 4:19. What he meant is that if we follow him , he will use us to make known to others the Good News about him. If they believe that Gospel message, they will immediately obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life, just like we did when we believed it.

However, we don't have to go to a foreign country, or have a Bible college education, or have great public speaking skills to be a missionary. All we need to do is take some simple steps right where we live or work to help others come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

One step to take is to tell someone else how we came to believe in him as our Savior. Then, tell them how, they, too, can believe and him. If we know what John 3:16 says, we know enough to lead someone else to faith in Christ. It says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Many persons have become Christians because some one told them about the Lord.

A second step we can take to help others come to know Christ as their Savior is to invite them to attend church services or home Bible studies with us. Many of us feel inadequate when it comes to telling someone else how to become a Christian. But, we all can invite another person to attend these activities with us where they will get the Gospel in the music and in the sermons. Many persons have become Christians because someone invited them to church services or home Bible studies.

A third step we can take to reach others with the Gospel is to give out Gospel literature. We can give a friend a good Christian book that has meant a lot to us, and which clearly presents the Gospel message. A book the Lord used to draw me to faith in him in the late 1960s when I was a drug-abusing teenager was The Cross And The Switchblade, written by David Wilkerson. We can also give a friend a Bible, with instructions that they should start reading the New Testament because it will acquaint them with Jesus. We can give someone what is called a Gospel pamphlet, also called a Gospel tract. I did this just yesterday evening (Tuesday, March 22, 2011). I was staying at a motel, and was in the lobby using the computer provided for customers. After I had checked my e-mails, it occurred to me to give the desk clerk a copy of the well-known Gospel pamphlet called "God's Simple Plan Of Salvation." So, I went to the publisher's website, printed out a copy of it, and gave it to the desk clerk.

While I did some more work on the computer, the woman read the pamphlet, and then, on her own, thanked me for giving it to her. This opened the door for a conversation with her. She told me she had previously accepted Christ as her Savior. She also told me she was not attending a Bible-believing church. So, I gave her the name and address of the church hosting the conference many of us were attending. She said she knew where the church was located. Maybe she will begin attending the church and be helped in her Christian life. However, if she decides she has not yet truly believed in the Lord as her Savior, that pamphlet could be one more link in her believing in him. Many persons have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior through Gospel literature. If you want to give someone a copy of "God's Simple Plan Of Salvation," you can get it from this website: http://www.godssimpleplan.org/.

You can become a missionary today! Just take some of the steps mentioned above. It is even possible that the Lord will prompt you to go to a foreign country as a missionary.