You Are a Missionary!

This month we are all about missions and I am going to interview someone who has been on the mission field for a very long time.

Hello Bishop Chris Swift.
Hello Kathy Swift.

Kathy….That’s right. We serve together across Western Europe. How many countries?
Chris…..”Thirteen countries and that includes three islands around the world.”

Kathy……”It’s a busy time and a busy place but today we want to focus on why people go into missions.
Why do people care about missions?
What does it mean to you if I said, ‘I want you to help us with this mission project?’.”
Chris……”Well, it means that we are fulfilling the commandment of the Lord to GO into all the world and make disciples of all men.”

Kathy…..”That’s found in Matthew.”
Chris……”Matthew 28:19, it’s the Great Commission and also in the Church of God we call it the FINISH Commitment.”

Kathy…….”Now Bishop Swift, you have been on the mission field how many years?”
Chris….”Over forty years it has been my privilege and my honor to serve the Lord in various countries.”

Kathy…….”And in various capacities .”
Chris…….”In various capacities whatever it was, no matter what the job was, I did it for the Lord.”

Kathy……..”so you left all you had and moved with your family of years ago to the mission field.”
Chris…..”I left my father and my mother as the Bible says. And my family, my brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles, the whole family behind and went thousands of miles away.

Kathy….. And when I went to the mission field, my children were already grown and I was a widow. I went to Africa . I thought I would stay there the rest of my life.
Now, everybody doesn’t leave everything to be a missionary, do they?”
Chris…….”No. There are some people called short-term missionaries and they go for a number of days or weeks to do what God has called them to do.”

Kathy…….”And the difference between them and us is that we are career missionaries. We live where we work.”
Chris……”You lived in a mud hut for a number of years with no water and no electricity.”

Kathy…. “That was a different world and a different season. But”
Chris…..”yes..”

Kathy……..”But I want to focus today not just on all the different mission projects we have in Western Europe , different churches, different countries, each one doing different things but I want to talk about….
WE are missionaries.”
Chris…….”Everybody is really a missionary. Because a missionary by definition is really someone who leaves his home and goes to another place, another culture.”

Kathy……..”So everywhere we walk, everywhere we GO, everybody we talk to – if Jesus lives in our heart……YOU ARE A MISSIONARY!”
Chris….. “Every time you step out the door of your home and you go to talk to someone about Jesus Christ, you are fulfilling the great commission.”

Kathy………”That’s right! And remember in Isaiah 6:6 when the Lord said,’who will GO?’
What did Isaiah say?”
Chris…… “I will GO! Send me.”

Kathy…….”That’s what we said when as unto the Lord many years ago. When I gave my heart to the Lord, I said Lord whatever you want; but I never thought I would go to Africa. I didn’t think I would ever go to Western Europe.“
Chris…….”When I went to the altar, many years before I became a missionary I said, ‘God I will go any where in the world but I named one country that I did not want to go to and that became the very first country that God assigned me to.”

Kathy ……”And it was the same for me. All the mission services at church, if they were going to talk about Africa, I didn’t go. And then, where did I end up?”
Chris / Kathy…….. AFRICA!

Kathy……….”But today we want to challenge you as missionaries, first. ..
for the Lord!
Chris……. “Amen, number one.“

Kathy……….”Secondly, perhaps God has been touching your heart, calling you to do something specific.
Maybe as a missionary to feed the hungry,
Maybe as a missionary to a far away land,
Perhaps, it is a missionary to your next door neighbor.

YOU ARE A MISSIONARY if you love Jesus!
And today, we are going to pray and ask the Lord to touch your heart and recommit yourself – first love!
Will you pray?”

Prayer:
Chris………”Lord Jesus we thank you for the Great Commission. We thank you that the Father loved the world so much that he sent his son that we would all have eternal life. He gave his son and his son gave himself for a lost world. And so we too give ourselves today, Lord whatever you tell us to do, whether it is next door or a far off land, or wherever it may be.“

Kathy…..”And Father, we thank you for every project in each and every country across Western Europe and each and every church
But Lord we pray especially for the two big projects the women do together. We just ask you Lord to let us be missionaries for the harvest. That you would win souls through us. And today we say, ‘Here we are Lord, send me.

I ask you to come into my life, be my friend and I will obey. Wherever! Whatever You want me to do. In Jesus name. Amen”

Chris ……… Amen

Kathy ……..”I hope you enjoyed this month, all about missions. Several projects are highlighted.
Remember to join us here again every month. Right here on wewomenofexcellence.com
God Bless. Have a great day!

Chris……. Amen!