“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” Matthew 28:19 (KJV)

There are still villages where the name of Jesus Christ is yet to be heard, communities where the Gospel has never been preached, families who have never encountered the message of salvation, and people groups who remain unreached by the transforming power of the Gospel.

While many Churches are building bigger auditoriums, organizing more conferences, and expanding their events and meetings, there are still millions of people still waiting to hear the message that can transform their eternity.

This is the unfinished business of the Church.

One error we must correct now is that, Missions is not a department of the Church, neither is it an optional assignment for Christians who have a particular interest in travelling or preaching in distant lands. Missions is at the very heart of God’s redemptive purpose, and the Great Commission is the responsibility of every believer.

Jesus did not command us merely to gather people into our Churches, He commanded us to GO and make disciples of all nations.

Behind every mission station is often a story of sacrifice and behind every village Church is someone who dared to go so as to bring transformation to communities and villages. These are men and women who surrendered their comfort, resources, ambitions, and sometimes their safety to make Christ known where He was not known.

We must understand that missionaries are not superhuman people. They are men like us who also experience hunger, fatigue, loneliness, discouragement, financial difficulties, family pressures, sickness, and opposition. They have genuine needs, just like everyone else.

Yet, they continue.

Some trek long distances to reach remote communities, learn unfamiliar languages to be able to communicate the Gospel, some even live among people whose cultures and circumstances are entirely different from theirs, while there are others who labour for years with little visible result, patiently sowing the seed of God’s Word.

Most of the missionaries in hitherlands serve without applause, recognition, or adequate financial support. Their reward is not necessarily found in the comfort of the field but in the privilege of seeing lives transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Missionaries are not looking for sympathy at all because they are not people to be pitied and seen as paupers; they actually need a Church that understands its responsibility towards them.

The advancement of God’s Kingdom is not the responsibility of missionaries alone. The apostle Paul acknowledged the partnership of the Philippian believers in the Gospel (Philippians 1:5) and also commended their practical support for his ministry (Philippians 4:15–18).

There are several believers that have been called to GO but we have some others who have been strategically positioned to SEND the people who are going. But nobody is exempted from the responsibility of making Christ known.

We can participate in missions through:

1. PRAYER. Missionaries need more than encouragement; they need consistent intercession. It is the responsibility of the Church to pray for their protection, spiritual strength, families, provision, open doors, boldness, and fruitfulness. Paul repeatedly requested prayers from the Churches (Ephesians 6:18–20; Colossians 4:3–4). If the Apostle Paul recognized his need for the prayers of believers, how much more do missionaries serving in difficult and unreached places?

2. GIVING. Missions requires resources. Transportation, Bibles, evangelistic materials, accommodation, feeding, discipleship programmes, and the establishment of local Churches all require practical financial investment. Your giving may help put a Bible in someone’s hands, support a missionary family, sustain an outreach, or establish a Gospel presence in a community that has never had one. However, we must know that giving is not a replacement for going, but it is a powerful partnership in going.

3. GOING. The Great Commission was not given to a select group of professional missionaries. Every believer has a responsibility to make disciples. You may not be called to another nation, but there are people around you who need to hear the Gospel such as your neighbours, work colleagues, school mates, community members, and family. These are all mission fields and it is important that you are available, intentional and ready to witness.

It is easy to celebrate the missionary when a report of souls won arrives or applaud when a new Church building is dedicated. It is also easy to share photographs of an outreach on social media. But what happens after the photographs are posted?

Who actively remembers the missionary when there is no money for transportation? Who prays when the work becomes difficult? Who stands with the missionary when discouragement sets in? Who remembers the children whose education may be affected by the demands of the mission field?

The Church must move beyond celebrating missionary achievements to sustaining missionary labour.

A missionary should not have to struggle alone while the Church enjoys the fruit of the Gospel.

Supporting missionaries is not charity, it is biblical partnership in the advancement of God’s Kingdom here on earth.

Jesus said: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” Matthew 9:37 (KJV)

The problem has never been the absence of a harvest, but the scarcity of labourers.

There are communities that are waiting for someone to go, young people who need to be discipled, families who need the hope of the Gospel and nations that need faithful witnesses of Christ. We cannot keep postponing the Great Commission while generations pass without ever having the opportunity to hear the Gospel.

The question is not whether the world needs missionaries but whether the Church is willing to raise, release, pray for, and support them. One day, every believer will give an account of his or her stewardship before God. What did we do with the Gospel entrusted to us? Did we take it to those who had not heard? Did we pray for those who went? Did we give towards the advancement of the Kingdom? Did we raise others who would continue the work? The Great Commission is not finished because our generation has not yet completed its assignment. There are still places to reach. There are still disciples to make. There are still missionaries to send. There are still churches to plant.

You don’t have to be a traveling missionary to make a missionary’s work possible. You can pray. You can give. You can go. You can encourage. You can mobilize others for the work. Whatever God has entrusted to you, make it count for the advancement of His Kingdom. Stand with a missionary. Support a mission field. Become a partner in reaching the unreached. The Gospel must go, and we all have a part to play.

Grace to you!