Top 5 Lessons from "Called to an Adventure: An Online Career Talk on Missions"

Before I developed a passion for the health sciences, I was first mobilized to be involved in missions. In fact, missions is the reason why I became an occupational therapist (OT). The problem was that I didn’t know how one could transition from being a secular worker to becoming a long-term missions mobilizer or missionary. The path to becoming an OT is straightforward: you take up BS Occupational Therapy and then go through an internship before taking the board exams. You cannot handle patients as an OT without anyone validating your competence and character. But how do you prepare for the mission field?

What was disturbing for me for many years was that many of the self-professed missionaries that I met lacked in-depth Biblical knowledge. Worse, a lot of them were “nice” but lacked the courage to stand up for their convictions under pressure. How on earth did they end up on the mission field? More importantly, how do we train missionaries and mobilizers to prevent them from committing moral and spiritual failures that will disqualify them from their vocations?

To satisfy my curiosity, my aunt Lin Arceo and I organized an online career talk on missions to get insights from seasoned missionaries and mobilizers on how they prepared to go into the field. Praise God because it was a success! We had about 40-plus attendees given that some of them were sharing devices with at least one other relative. That’s a high turnout considering that the topic is missions! 

We also had a healthy mix of different age groups, with the participants coming from the Philippines, South Asia, and North America. Some of the attendees barely knew English. Yet the Lord must have wanted them to learn from the career talk because one of the other attendees volunteered on the spot to translate for them. Hearing English translated in another language was so cool!

But of course, the best part of the event were the insights from the speakers. Here are the top 5 lessons that I learned from them:

# 5 Excellence is a must in missions because we need to give our best to God by serving people to the best of our abilities. Just because missions is a religious endeavor doesn’t mean that you can get away with being mediocre. If you’re called to be a missionary or a mobilizer, the chances are that you will do on the mission field what you’re currently doing in your profession and in your church ministry. So whatever legitimate work you may have now, give it your all! It is a noble task in itself, but it will also be highly useful on the mission field. If you can go to Bible school to deepen your Biblical knowledge, do it! 

# 4 Expect a lot of hardships and resolve to be dedicated in spite of it all. It will feel as if the trials will crush you, but they will turn into wonderful opportunities to depend on God more.

# 3 Be adaptable by having a great sense of humor. No matter how much you prepare, there will always be unexpected events on the field. When you find yourself floundering, just chill! Learn to laugh at yourself.

# 2 Always cultivate your inner life. Prioritize prayer despite your busy schedule. Fellowship regularly with other believers so that they can pray for you and keep you accountable. Study God’s Word to know the Lord more, not just because you need to teach others. The best cross-cultural workers excelled in their ministries because of their high view of God which they developed through their devotions and their involvement in the local church.

# 1 Be humble. Not only is humility often overlooked, but it’s important to always call out missionaries and mobilizers in this area because the most gifted of them tend to be the most prone to spiritual pride. Let’s admit it: when you’re an excellent mobilizer or missionary, there’s a good chance that you know a lot more than the average church volunteer. You most likely have greater Biblical knowledge and have handled more ministry challenges. You’ve travelled more, you speak more languages, and you’ve been exposed to far more diverse cultural practices. Moreover, you’ve seen God work through difficult circumstances in ways that many of your churchmates have not. 

It is easy to think that you’ve achieved all that because of your supposed inherent talent or faithfulness. But as Pastor John MacArthur said, everything is just a gift from God, even your victories in the ministry. “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor. 4:7).

The lesson on humility is personally the biggest one for me, haha! Because I began studying the Bible and missions on my own at a very young age, I often look down on people when they don’t immediately understand my perspectives. At the same time, I’m frequently blind to my embarrassing weaknesses in areas where other people thrive. I’ve also been an honor student for the most part of my life, hence the huge ego. So now that I’m failing to meet a lot of the expectations that I set for myself, it’s been pretty difficult for me. But that’s for another article.