Mission is any deliberate effort by a Christian or group of Christians to take the gospel of Jesus Christ across culture to a group of people who have never heard it. The great commission signifi
Mission is any deliberate effort by a Christian or group of Christians to take the gospel of Jesus Christ across culture to a group of people who have never heard it. The great commission signifies the beginning of a mission work in the life of the early Christians and this commandment is still binding on every Christian today. It takes both physical and spiritual efforts of every Christian for this mission to be fulfilled and the urgency of this assignment cannot be over emphasized in our contemporary time.
Being a missionary means intentionally seeking out and reaching out to people who don't have Christians around them at all. It takes a distinct set of skills, talents and giftings to be a missionary – more than simply being a witness. At the most fundamental level we look for people who aren't afraid to speak up for Jesus, and who have shown the desire to strike out and make disciples. They are willing to take a risk: more than simply being willing to speak up if their Christianity is threatened, they are willing to speak out and risk making a fool of themselves. But beyond that, there are additional skills: being a self-starter, being accountable to others, living a life of purity in the midst of temptation being able to endure when no fruit is immediately to be had, listening to the Holy Spirit, being obedient, even when it seems crazy, being able to raise the funds required (which shows skills of organization, communication, follow-up, etc.), an appreciation for other cultures, a willingness to leave what is comfortable and go into the uncomfortable, a willingness to learn another language and culture, not just work through interpreters, cross-cultural friendships, boldness, humility, and so on.
The advance of God's kingdom through the spread of the gospel to every nation, tribe, people, and language is the challenge that confronts us (God's people), in this generation. Some places, cities and countries have heard much of the gospel message but still need a change of heart. Yet every tribe, language people should be adequately represented before God on the last day (Rev. 7:9).
Although tremendous progress had been made in the past centuries, the task ahead remains very formidable in this millennium. Christians are faced with many challenges in missions. The increasing world population, its diversity, and the realization that millions have not yet heard the Gospel even for the first time, and our awareness of the unreached people groups in the 10/40 windows of the world and even within Nigeria and the West Africa sub-region, etc., are some of the challenges ahead of us. This millennium is the era for missions, and any Church or any believer that does not fit in, will make itself or him/herself to become obsolete. Every Parish (Church) should set two things; a mission group (team) and a Mission Field and until this is done you have not started.
In this book, the author discussed the fundamentals, reasons, purpose and practice of missions. The book presents a practical guideline to Church Leaders, Missionaries, missions outreach organizations, Bible colleges, Seminaries, biblical students, theologians, etc., on how to be involved in Missions. It highlights; with historical data, the contemporary issues in the missions' fields of the world, the operational strategies and tactics to employ, the essential preparations to make, the problems to anticipate and how to overcome them by any individual, church or missionary agency, that is venturing into missions.
