Why They Go

Why do missionaries do what they do? Here's what I learned from some of my missionary friends.

Todd and Tami Carter (Tanzania):

"We went to Tanzania to serve as missionaries for a variety of reasons. Foremost was Jesus' Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. While that includes the United States, we had within us the ability and also the desire to serve overseas.

"Thoughts of people dying in their sins without fair opportunity to hear of God's love for them grieve us. Jesus said, 'I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd' (John 10:16). Christ's passionate love for his lost sheep is what compels us to go serve in Tanzania. His desire for us all to experience an abundant life physically, emotionally, and spiritually can only be found in him. Many seek after this abundance but are looking in all the wrong places."

Hamish and Molly Taylor (New Zealand):

"I (Hamish) came home to New Zealand from the United States as a newly minted church planter. I find myself serving in New Zealand because I grew up here and it simply made sense for me to come back to my people, rather than to serve in an American church and send Americans out to minister in my country.

"I am involved in church planting because New Zealand is a nation that has walked away from the church and needs to be reintroduced to Christ through a fresh, relevant expression of the gospel. But if I may be honest, at the core of my motivation for being a church planter is the simple fact that God asked me to do it. Don't get me wrong; the mission field and the opportunities in New Zealand excite me, but what gets me through the difficult times is an obligation of obedience to a Savior who once felt the same way."

Brett and Heather Seybold (Germany):

"The contemporary German mindset is saturated with excuses as to why modern man cannot believe the gospel of Jesus and simultaneously be taken seriously. Jargon gets repeated: 'Irrational, primitive, unenlightened, uninformed, radical, fundamental, bigoted, and intolerant.' This propaganda, backed by an overwhelming majority of the 'scientific community,' theologians, and a Zeitgeist (spirit of the times) hinders the convincing power of the gospel.

"Combine this resistance with a post-enlightenment apathy, enormous influxes of non-Western religions, and a divided evangelical population of at best three percent, and our ministry becomes two-fold. We seek to share the truth of the gospel with non-believers from different corners of this multicultural demographic, while at the same time promoting the unity of all believers based on the truth of the gospel. Our primary focus is toward students at the University of Göttingen, while keeping doors open to much more. In a nutshell, we are here because faith in Christ is in despair and the bride of Christ is wounded."

Peter and Cathy Ignatius (India):

"India—a complex mosaic of cultures, religions, and peoples. Everyone seems to be looking for something—anything—to satisfy their deepest needs. As followers of Jesus, we have the solution. But the churches in India have been curiously resistant to evangelizing the world around them. Our dream is to see Indian Christians and churches look more like what we find in the pages of the New Testament—single-minded, sacrificial, and sold-out to Jesus and his agenda.

"Serving as academic leaders in a theological institution (Lakeview Bible College & Seminary), we must constantly guard against mere academic training and focus on transformation of students' lives as our core business. What keeps us pressing on is seeing this dream realized through the lives and ministries of our alumni in faraway corners of South and Southeast Asia—unnoticed by most men, but incredibly significant to our Savior!"

We need to stand behind faithful servants like these. The Bible says, "You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth" (3 John 6-8). If we agree with "why they go," then we need to support them so they can go.