CEE Story From The Mission Field
We Don't Go Alone
June 8, 2005
Growing up in the Soviet Union, Olga Gilbert had never heard of God or the Bible. Then she stumbled onto an opportunity to translate for missionaries. Through her relationship with them, God led her to faith in Christ and opened her eyes to her country’s spiritual void.
“Now it is my turn to take the Gospel back to my people,” she said.
She and her husband, Mark, were among 54 new International Mission Board appointees Jan. 25 at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Colonial Heights, VA.
Another appointee, Patrick Goodman, was in seminary when he heard IMB president Jerry Rankin talk about how so few missionaries are working to reach so many lost people. “I was shocked!” he said. Now he and his wife, Janet, are committed to countering that problem as they, too, head to Central and Eastern Europe.
IMB president Jerry Rankin spoke to the group of newly appointed missionaries and challenged them to go and make disciples, emphasizing that disciple making is not an easy task. He warned them that their calling includes planting their lives in new cultures, learning new languages and possibly even accepting deprived lifestyles. Some will encounter antagonism from people of other religions; others will confront restrictive government policies. And some will be frustrated by people’s indifference to the Gospel. But most importantly he reminded them that they do not go alone.
Rankin told of one missionary who said the two most important words of the Great Commission are “go” and “lo.”
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” Jesus charged His followers. But then He reminded them, “... lo, I am with you always ...”
“No ‘lo,’ no ‘go,’” the missionary had said.
“He grasped the significance of what you should realize as you are appointed to missionary service,” Rankin noted. “You do not go alone, but Jesus goes with you. You’ve got no business going to a foreign country as a missionary unless He goes with you.”
Rankin also told the new appointees that other Southern Baptists should have been with them being appointed -- but they haven’t taken the Great Commission personally, which grieves his heart. “As we rejoice in sending out these 54 new missionaries, we still have only one missionary for every 1.2 million people around the world,” Rankin said.
The Dec. 26 tsunami serves as a reminder of the Great Commission’s urgency, said Gordon Fort, IMB vice president for overseas operations.
“In the twinkling of an eye, more than 200,000 were swept into eternity. How many of them will spend a Christless eternity?” Fort asked.
Images from Asia showed survivors scanning photos of bodies -- looking for lost relatives. “God’s eyes, too, roam the earth, looking for lost to be found,” Fort said.
And then he asked, “What part will you play in the search?”
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This article is adapted from an article by Manda Roten Gibson. To read the full article go to http://www.imb.org/core/story.asp?storyID=2378&LanguageID=1709