May 22, 2013
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On being a Missionary
Recently someone sent me a list of questions. They are enrolled in a “Missionary college” and as part of their homework they are required to pose the following questions to some missionary they know. I felt that some of the questions were good enough to share, so here goes.
Those of you who know me, know that I am not the type of person to give short answers…. be prepared.
1. Full Name:
Wayne Shuman. I am also known as 陳偉恩 (Pronounced “Chun Way-Un” in Chinese. Interestingly, 偉恩 (Way-Un) means “Great Grace” or “Abundant Mercy”. God chose that name for me.
2. Birthplace:
New York, America. Only lived there 6 months though, so it’s really not “home” to me. I spent about 30+ years living around Chicago. That’s where I call home.
3. Birthday:
June 5th, 1964 — yes, My birthday is in 2 weeks.
4. Mission Field and Time there:
Taiwan, 4 years 3 months.
5. Years elapsed between the call and the exit:
By this I assume you mean the time between I felt that God wanted me on the Missions field and the time I actually left for the Mission field. The answer then would be 1 year, 2 weeks. There’s a story to go with this — I’ll add it at the end if there is nowhere else in the questions to talk about it.
6. Exit country:
Sorry, this is another odd question. I assume you mean where I left “From” — That would be America where I lived most of my life.
7. Marital Status:
Marriage #1 1987-1998. Ex-wife pushed for and obtained divorce, despite my fighting against it. In the end she got what she wanted.
Marriage #2 2008-present. I love my wife so much that I married her twice — once in a civil ceremony (in order to speed up the process of obtaining a green card for her — originally we were going to stay in America.) on January 25, 2008. And again in a church ceremony on May 24th, 2008. Yes… two days from now.
8. Do you have children?
Yes, by the previous marriage.
If your answer is Yes, how many do you have?
I have two children by my previous marriage. I have a son who is 24 and proclaims to be an radical Atheist Bi-Sexual. I likewise have a daughter who is 22 and is a lesbian agnostic.
I did not get to spend much time with my kids as they were growing up (My wife demanded sole custody which meant she called the shots for their upbringing… for whatever good that did…), but I did try hard to preach the gospel to them when I did get to have time with them. As a result, neither child wants any contact from me at this point in their lives. They do not want to hear that their lifestyles are sinful. I write my blog mostly so that in case some day they want to know who their father was and what he believed in.
9. Academic Preparation:
35+ years of studying Scripture and theology. No college training, just in depth study of the Word, theology, cults and Church history.
I have 20% of the New Testament and 5% of the Old Testament memorized, chapter and verse. I have the whole of scripture topically memorized so that I can pull up key verses (by memory) on any given subject if necessary. Definitely helps when I need an answer for the questions that pop up around me.
I have gone to Seminary — but I prefer not to count that. It was run by Liberals who questioned the authority of God’s Word, who questioned the accuracy of God’s Word, and who did much to destroy the actual faith of many believers. I fought my professors tooth & nail and refused to back down from my position that the Bible was written by God, not man, and is the ONLY source of our knowledge of God. The only thing that Seminary taught me was not to trust in men who claim to be “Christian” Seminary Professors.
10. Mission Training:
Again, none. When God calls someone to go, I don’t believe that it is always necessary for them to take a PH.D. with them. Paul was classically trained, that shows in his letters to the Churches. But Peter and John were a simple fishermen. No college training.
Acts 4:13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures.
Does training help? It can. If you want to train to be a medical doctor on the missions field that would be of great benefit to those you are taking the gospel to. But if you’re getting a college degree in Economics — give it up and take something practical / useful to the folks you intend to preach to.11. Have you been at other mission field?
No, this was not something I had planned to do.
12. Church or Mission Agency that sent you:
None.
I had my reasons. It seems to me that Missions Agencies tend to do several things which counter-act or are counter-productive to the purpose of missions.
(A) they tend to restrict or enhance the message of the Gospel.
By this I mean that they tend to tell you what you can or should preach, stressing things such as Tithing, Speaking in Tongues, Baptism in the Holy Spirit and any number of other things that while helpful in some ways — ARE NOT THE GOSPEL.
The Gospel is simply this — You are a sinner, who has offended a Holy God by your acts of rebellion against him. Your sins deserve punishment, but the good news is that Jesus died for your sins if you will simply believe in him. To believe means to trust in Him with all your heart. (Proverbs 3:5-6) To repent of your sins (Proverbs 28:13; Acts 17:30) and turn to God for forgiveness, understanding that not one “good” work that you’ve done amounts to anything before the God who made you. (Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 64:6)
(B) Missions agencies are just that — agencies. They have bills, they have staff with salary requirements and often the money to pay these bills and staffing needs are pulled directly from the funds intended to go to the missions fields. That means that a percentage of the money that you draw in for “Support” doesn’t go to you, it goes to your agency — who supports you.
Why have a middle man (The missions agency)? Why not just go? Trust that God will meet your needs and take care of you — AS HE HAS PROMISED. (Philippians 4:19; Psalms 55:22; Isaiah 40:31) Paul had one church that supported him, and many others that sent money as they had the opportunity. God always made sure that Paul had enough to cover his missionary needs — and even beyond that, Paul labored in the field so that he would not be a burden to any city he preached in. (Acts 20:33-35; 1 Corinthians 9:11-12; 2 Corinthians 11:7-8, 12:14-16)
(C) Missionary Agencies & The great assumption.
Missionary agencies often ASSUME that the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) means
“Go —- to college and spend several years learning and preparing.
They assume that without some specialized training, God can’t use you. Peter and John would have been useless to today’s Missionary Organizations. But bear this in mind —- God doesn’t choose the wisest and most college prepared! 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 tells us the exact opposite.
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.
Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
Go —- on a missions support round up, making sure all your needs are met BEFORE you go to the missions field. (Meaning: Go from church to church to church in your home country — SOMETIMES FOR YEARS — until you get enough people to commit to supporting you when you finally do someday get to the missions field you intend to work in.)
Which begs the question — why even bother waiting on God to supply your need if you’re only going to do it yourself before you go? Missions Agencies ASSUME that support must come from local churches back home, rather than from you actually being on the missions field and working and laboring there and allowing God to supply you as you work.
Go —- learn a new language (or two, or three) before you can be effective in preaching.
Missionary Agencies ASSUME that if you are going to preach in Chad, Africa, you must first learn French, before you learn the tribal tongue of the people you’ll work closest with.
I am not making this up — I have a friend who is with Wycliffe Bible Translators, working in Chad, Africa. He had to spend 2 years learning French first… before he was allowed to tackle the tribal language. This meant he knew Spanish, English & French — BEFORE — he ever learned a single word to preach the gospel where he felt led to.
Go —- present yourselves to a missions board to have their approval that you are “sent by God.”
Ummm, isn’t that rather “sent by men of the Missions board”? When Abraham heard the call to leave Ur of the Chaldees, he did not first put it to the vote of a committee. (Genesis 12:1-4) He simply obeyed.
All that before you can …. go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
Seems to me that Missions Agencies throw far more into it than Jesus ever intended. The Disciples only had to wait 40 days…. why then do the agencies require upwards of 10 years?
(D) Missions Agencies will often require you to come back home every 5 years or so “for a vacation or break.”
What this really means is that you will be required to go BACK to the churches you visited in your home country in order to (1) give them an overview of the missions work you’ve been doing and (2) work again to renew the missionary support you worked hard to get before you left the first time…. and hopefully gain more support (both for yourself and for the missions agency which takes a percentage).
I can’t tell you the number of missionaries I spoke to over the years whose one biggest complaint was that they were FORCED to leave their missions field for some mandatory “vacation”…. right when their work was at it’s most crucial point…. and have to remain on “Vacation” until they have drummed up sufficient new “support” for them to go back.
Paul lived on the missions field, died on the missions field — dare I expect to do less?
My final conclusion on the matter of missionary agencies was “Why not just go — and leave all the red tape behind? Preach the Gospel where you can, as you can, as God leads — and allow God to marvelously supply all your need as it arises….. thus giving praise and Glory back to Him… and not the missions agency which begot you.
And so left I did, without an agency backing / supporting me — and I’ve never been more relieved that I choose that path.
13. Your Transportation at field:
An 8 year old car that was given to us by my wife’s parents. It suits our needs and has been a blessing since we obtained it.
14. Do you have a job?
I sometime teach English and get paid for it, but it’s not very often or very much. My wife has a full time job that helps us along. She is a teacher at an Elementary School
I am presently a student, learning Chinese, so that I can adequately preach the gospel. My story of becoming a student is a funny one though, and worth sharing. In any case I am learning Chinese with grade school students, which gives me great opportunity to show the heart of the Gospel in action to both child and parent — even without knowing the language.
15. Monthly Expenses (USD currency)a. Food – $400 for 2 people. We eat as cheaply as we can.
b. Water – $30
c. Gasoline – $120
d. Electricity – $80 – $100
e. Others- Housing — $450
- Cat supplies — $150 (We have 5 cats and often feed strays.)
- Propane — $40 (In Taiwan, they use propane for hot water and cooking)
- Car Insurance — $350 a year
- Car maintenance — $500 a year (Oil changes and light repair work)
- Life insurance — $350 a year (on my wife only)
- Medical — $350 a year (but 2 years ago I had an emergency appendectomy which cost us about $2500 US)
16. Do you receive economic help from any movement?
No. I run auctions on Ebay once a year around Christmas in order to apply what we get back into our ministry. I usually sell Christian Music CDs… and have had people actually donate their CD collections to me for resale just for this purpose.
17. Do you receive support and counseling?
No, the only “counseling” a Christian should need is constant reading and application of the Word of God and the humble submission of himself to those he is accountable to in his local church.
God has breathed life into all of Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. By using Scripture, a man of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
18. Do you have a Retirement Plan?
The man who trusts in God will lack for no good thing. (Psalm 34:9; Psalm 23:1; Philippians 4:19; Psalm 55:22)
My wife has a retirement plan through her job, but for the man of God we ought not to look entirely to such things but rather to the Lord who abundantly supplies.
I do believe that the Proverb that says “Go to the ant, you sluggard” Isn’t referring to retirement plan but rather it’s a open rebuke of laziness. Something we could dare to hear more about in our day and age.
19. Do you have a LOCAL prayer group that prays for your mission, family and you?
Yes, we do.
But let me offer this up to you. The greatest prayer warrior we’ve ever seen was a man named George Muller back in the 1800′s. This man feed over 1500 orphans in England for over 40 years — BY PRAYER ALONE. But his manner of prayer was unique. He laid his prayers out to God ALONE…. no one else. He told no man of his need, be it money, food or provisions. He told no one but God and his wife.
He kept a record, a journal, of every item he ever prayed for, and noted just when and how God provided. By the end of his life, when other men found his prayer journals, he had listed over 50,000+ answered prayers — often to the exact amount he had prayed for.
This man went to God alone so that God alone would get the glory for having answered the prayers. He did not always and constantly present his needs to other men so that one of them might be moved to answer the prayer for him. God alone.
When you trust in God completely, you start to see that you need nothing else.
20. Do you have a INTERNATIONAL prayer group that prays for your mission, family and you?
yes. My Blog readers do constantly lay me before God in prayer. I do know this.
21. From your perspective, answer the following questions: If your answer is No in any question, please explain Why?I’m going to answer all the questions that follow individually… but also all at once here by saying that the questions are foolishness to a Christian. Does a Christian “NEED” to feel loved? Does a Christian “NEED” to feel valued? Is “Safety & security” a promise from God?
Paul wrote this of himself — Greatest missionary ever known to man… and this is how he summed up his ministry.
Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. (2 Corinthians 11:23-27)
So for us to ask things such as the following portion of this Question & Answer survey is nothing more than foolishness and shows a very worldly mindset bent on being comfortable and lazy.
Need I remind you of Paul’s promise to all Christians?
Those who desire to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus SHALL BE PERSECUTED. (2 Timothy 3:12)
Jesus said that we should expect that the world won’t like us or our message — if they hated him, what makes us think that they’ll like us? (John 15:18-21)
a. Do you feel loved? — God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. (John 3:16) Yes, I feel loved. What else am I supposed to feel?b. Do you feel valued? Feeling “valued” is a vain pursuit. The only thing that has “Value” is to hear God say “Well done my good and faithful servant…” (Matthew 25:21) AFTER I DIE…. that has no bearing upon the here and now.c. Do you feel you have a purpose for your life? The world follows after such vanity. I know Rick Warren wrote “the Purpose Driven Life” — but to be blunt, this man can’t even present the Gospel straight, what’s to make me buy into his baloney about me needing some grand purpose?d. Do you feel safe and secure? Jesus had no place to lay his head, no bed to call His own…. and you want to ask if I feel safe and secure? God is my strength & my shield — The Lord is my shepherd. Beyond that — I don’t care about personal comfort or safety.e. Do you feel part of a community? If you are asking do I have a local Church that I belong to, worship at and minister in — yes.f. Are your basic needs supplied? Yes, Praise God, amen.g. Are your health and your family’s health well? When it’s not, we pray. When it is, we simply & humbly thank God for His bountiful blessings.h. Is your family committed to your ministry? My wife, yes, my children, no.i. Are you satisfied with your achievements? I am simply a servant of God doing what I am called to be doing. Achievements are meaningless. (Luke 17:10)22. Do you have any project in mind you want to develop? If you do, how much you think will cost? (USD)
Interesting that you should ask this — yes I have a project in mind. I desire to give New Testaments with Proverbs & Psalms to the children I minister to daily. It’s something that won’t be needed for another 2 years, but I am already at work trying to build up the funds and find the necessary Chinese Bibles (and name printing) so that I can do this. I know what it will cost — but I’m willing to trust that God knows this too and is already working on taking care of it.
23. At your mission field:
I have to freely admit that I am not sure what you’re actually asking here. I’ll try to give some form of answer based on my understanding.
a. Do you have liberty of association?If you mean by this — Am I free to worship openly and freely — then yes. Taiwan does not have religious persecution…. yet.
b. Is there persecution or prejudice against the church?Sadly, no. And interestingly — the only persecution I get is from the Church itself. They don’t like my message of the Bible being God’s Word, Jesus being God in the flesh, bringing men to the repentance of their sins and faith in Christ being the primary mission of the Christian or any other number of similar evangelical doctrines.
The “Church” Here is mostly liberal social gospel garbage. By that I mean that they don’t believe the bible, they don’t believe Jesus is the only way to Heaven, they don’t believe Jesus is coming again to set up a kingdom — they believe that we need to work to make this world a better place to live… through politics, through social action & through “being nice to one another”, forgetting that we are not permanent residents on this Earth. (1 Peter 2:11; 2 Peter 3:13; Hebrews 11:10, 26 & 13:12-14) This is not the Gospel Jesus came to deliver. The Church is is luke-warm (Revelation 3:15-16) and shall one day be spit out of Jesus mouth if they do not repent.
24. Any advice for young people who feel the Call for missions:(#1) Know your bible. Consider it more precious than food. Let the WORD of Christ dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16) so that you might be able to give answer for the hope that is within you. (1 Peter 3:15) Remember that the means of our affecting the salvation of men is two-fold — The word of God and the Spirit of God…. who uses the Word of God in the hearts of men to bring them to repentance. (Luke 8:11, 15; 2 Timothy 3:15-17, 4:2; John 16:7-11; Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)
(#2) Likewise — know your enemy. I am not talking about Satan, though his schemes are plain and open to those who know the Word of God. No, I am talking about the cults who you will come up against time and again — and likewise the false philosophies of our day and age which presume to know more than God. Walter Martin’s “Kingdom of the Cults” is the best book you can have with you on the missions field beyond just a bible. It will give you deep insight and information into the belief systems of most cults and world religions and give you answers on how to best present the Gospel to these lost souls. I regularly come up against Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and Buddhists here in Taiwan. All of them are lost and without the Gospel of Christ… in need of salvation.
(#3) Lastly — and this may seem strange — but know the Gospel. (Romans 1:16-17)
This is the most important advice I can give you because scriptures pronounce serious damnation upon those who preach it wrongly.
No matter the source of the false gospel, even if it is preached by us or a heavenly messenger, ignore it. May those who add to or subtract from the gospel of Jesus be eternally cursed! Listen again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than what you have accepted, may he find himself cursed! (Galatians 1:8-9)
“As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and be drowned in the bottom of the lake. How terrible it is for the world because of the things that cause people to trip and fall into sin! Such things have to happen, but how terrible it is for the person who causes those things to happen! (Jesus in Matthew 18:6-7)The key points of the Gospel are simply this:
- Jesus was God, in man form, come to earth that he might be a sacrifice for our sins. (John 1:1, 12-14)
- Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)
- Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)
- To repent is simply this — turn from your sins, stop trusting in your “good works” to save you. (Proverbs 3:5,6; 28:13)
- If we confess our sins, indeed if we confess that we are sinners in need of saving, then God is Faithful to forgive us. (1 John 1:9)
- We must openly confess Christ as our savior if we are to be saved. (Romans 10:9-10) This means that we stop living for our selves and start living for God, in obedience to Christ’s commands. (John 15:5-10; 1 John 2:3-4)
- All men are not “Children of God” — we are all enemies of God (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21) — we only become Children of God by the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, after we are saved. (Romans 8:15-16)
- Once we are in Christ’s hands, no power in Heaven or Earth can remove us. (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39) This is cause and reason for rejoicing!
Long answers — lots of scripture — much to think about. It took me 10 hours to answer this email… I pray that those who dare to read it are encouraged and blessed in some way.
Footnote I added later to the person asking the questions:By the way — I took the time to review “Go to the Ant” in Proverbs …. AFTER …. I answered your questions. The implications for the verse are a rebuke about laziness, but I do believe there is justification for the verse likewise to be regarding saving up for one’s later years (RE: retirement).But think about this — Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for changing God’s laws. Jesus specifically pointed this out with the Pharisees setting up the “Corban” rule. (Read about it in Mark 7:8-13) But if you look at verse 11 closely, you’ll see something interesting.
Children were to provide for their parents in their old age…. this was their “retirement plan”.
It’s the same way that Taiwan and China still follow today and exactly why China is having serious problems with their “One Child per Family” law — when you’re only allowed one child…. you want it to be a boy so that he can provide for you when you get old.
There is a retirement plan in God’s economy…. it’s just not the “SAVE ALL YOU CAN SAVE NOW!!!!!” method the world pushes us towards.
Comments (2)
I’m glad there are people in this world like you, who share the gospel with the lost…….because time is drawing near for the Lord’s return……..
@alterb4ego - I added a footnote that’s worth reading.
thanks for the encouragement…. keep praying for us.