I Feel Called to Missions. What Next?

As a pastor and missions leader, I’ve heard the question many times: “I feel called to missions. What should I do now?” I’m always thankful for what the question represents—a willingness to serve the Lord overseas and a desire to prepare well for that task.

Over the years, I’ve also heard many answers to the question. But I’ve often been disappointed by the advice—not so much by what’s said but by what isn’t. Answers tend to include helpful suggestions such as going on a short-term mission trip, reading missionary biographies, studying Scripture, praying, practicing evangelism, and getting cross-cultural training. Something’s missing: the local church.

I doubt anyone offering these suggestions would deny the local church is somehow involved in one’s call to missions. But their answers indicate it isn’t a primary factor. However, instead of being tangential to one’s missionary call, preparation, and sending, the church is central from beginning to end.

Missionary Sending

Missionaries are products of the church. Institutions such as colleges, seminaries, and cross-cultural training schools may be involved in preparing one for the mission field. But the church is ultimately responsible for identifying, training, affirming, and sending cross-cultural gospel workers. Local churches send missionaries.

Missionaries are products of the church.

We see this throughout the New Testament, where Great Commission workers come from local churches. Missionaries like Barnabas (Acts 11:22), Paul (13:2), Silas (15:22), and Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25) are commissioned by local churches to do missions work. Multiple examples are found in Acts 20:4, which lists several of Paul’s traveling companions with their city and, presumably, church of origin: Sopater is from Berea, Aristarchus is from Thessalonica, and Gaius is from Derbe, to name a few. Missionaries aren’t self-sent and self-prepared; they’re ambassadors of local churches.

Missionary Preparation

The church’s role in missionary sending begins well before someone goes to the field—perhaps even before he senses a call to missions. The church is the God-designed mechanism for developing the single most important qualification of a missionary: godliness as a disciple of Christ. Without this, nothing else matters. No amount of passion, giftedness, training, or ambition will compensate for Christlike maturity. Training in godliness comes first (1 Tim. 4:7), and this training takes place in the church.

In the local church, future missionaries learn to practice spiritual disciplines like devotional Bible reading, study, prayer, and worship. They learn how to fight sin in their lives. They learn how to love different kinds of people—even ones who are hard to love. Life in the local church’s Scripture-saturated, truth-speaking community corrects character deficiencies and reveals sin issues that must be dealt with before someone is ready for the field. It develops the spiritual muscles necessary for perseverance through hardship. In short, it’s in the church that future gospel workers “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15).

The local church is also where missionaries are outfitted with the practical skills needed to do Great Commission work.

One of the primary responsibilities of church leaders is to equip the body for “the work of the ministry” (v. 12). To “equip” is to make someone completely fit and qualified for a task. The fundamental convictions and skills missionaries need for their work are acquired in the context of their churches. This includes competencies in evangelism, discipleship, biblical interpretation, teaching, and counseling.

The path to becoming a missionary is largely the same as preparing for ministry at home. Gospel work overseas doesn’t require less preparation and qualification than domestic ministry. If anything, given the cross-cultural component, it requires more. Of course, knowledge to do this ministry can be learned elsewhere, such as in a Bible college or seminary. But the church is where these real-world skills and abilities are developed. Healthy local churches are the supply chain of laborers in Christ’s global harvest.

Missionary Appointment

Who determines an aspiring missionary is qualified and suited for vocational ministry overseas? The answer, again, is the church. Not everyone who wants to teach in the church should be allowed to, nor should everyone who desires to serve as an elder. Why? Because it falls to the local church—its congregation and leaders—to recognize and affirm someone’s gifts and calling.

In the same way and for the same reasons, not everyone who wants to go overseas as a missionary should. The giftedness of both local and global gospel workers must be recognized and affirmed by the church. Aspiring missionaries need the body to develop and assess their suitability for vocational ministry. Of course, missions organizations can help assess cross-cultural suitability, but only local churches can observe and assess ministry suitability.

Lean into the Church

So what should you do if you sense a call to missions? Lean into your local church.

Only local churches can observe and assess ministry suitability.

Make your desires known to your elders and other mature church members who know you. Open yourself up to being discipled and equipped. Be trained in godliness. Begin to serve and use your gifts. Pursue deep relationships that will allow you to both disciple and be discipled by others. Submit to your leadership’s counsel and shepherding. Surround yourself with older, mature believers who can shape and guide you. Work hard to develop the skills and tools you’ll need to make disciples and serve the church overseas.

Does that mean aspiring missionaries don’t need to read missionary biographies, take a short-term trip, or enroll in a cross-cultural training school? Not necessarily. But whatever good things they might do to prepare, they mustn’t forget that missionaries are made in the church.

​