What are Christian missions?
Christian missions could be defined as the preaching of the gospel as religious members in locations within or outside the missionary’s home country. We can also refer to the Christian mission as the settling missionary colonies in inhospitable or difficult places in order to help them through the distribution of food, construction of settlements and facilities…
As we will see throughout this article, missions are something very beautiful and at the same time complex, because there is not a certain type of mission, but they are continuous actions in different aspects that allow us to help and collaborate with communities and groups of people in need. It is our duty to help through what God our Lord has taught us to make the world a better place for all. Love and empathy, among others, should be values present throughout all types of Christian mission.
Importance of missions
Doing missions is a mandate that brings us blessing, peace, love… God teaches us through the Bible that He desires to be known and that we human beings have a relationship with Him. God almighty gives us the privilege of being part of His great plan, and that is why we will now talk about the importance of missions for Christianity and for the Lord.
Mission highlights
- We want others to enjoy the Lord and religion:
What is more important than sharing the strength that the Lord has shared with us through the teachings and the sacred scriptures. In many places they find themselves in situations where perhaps finding faith and hope becomes difficult, and this is where some of the functions of the missionaries come in. To be able to give hope to those who do not know how to find it, to help all those who are going through situations of famine, who are homeless… It is thanks to religion that we will be able to make others enjoy the Lord.
- We have and want a heart like that of Jesus:
Related to the previous point, Jesus taught us to love, he showed us his big heart… It is our duty to share this love, to show that our heart is also big. Through selfless actions we must show the Lord that we know how to love others, ourselves and the Lord himself.
- We do everything for the father:
Although similar to the previous point, putting aside greed or selfishness is also part of being a good missionary. What we do for others, without expecting anything in return, is also something we do for the father. We must never lose sight of the fact that the core of everything is Christianity and the Holy Scriptures.
- We have a commitment to the church:
And finally, just as the church offers us shelter and a place to pray and communicate with the Lord, we also owe it to the house of the Lord to participate in whatever way we can to represent correctly all that the church and religion have taught us and that we should teach.
And as everything in this life, we do not want to close ourselves in these 4 points mentioned above, we know that there are many important points in the missions, because they are still happy and beautiful moments that can turn into difficult situations. But if there is one thing we believers know, it is that through effort and love we will be able to move forward.
Types of missions
Missionaries in their homeland
Although the most common type of assignment may be overseas, there are many people who choose to work on causes or assignments that are in their home country. Any person either from the church (pastors, representatives, …) or parishioners and believers who make a difference in works of kindness, charity, etc. is already participating in a mission. Therefore, missionaries in the homeland are a very important part of missions.
Missionaries abroad
Overseas missionaries are the most common when one imagines someone participating in a mission. Traveling and living in an evangelized country and/or helping people in need.
Many of these missionaries are sent on behalf of a religious or non-profit organization that helps to increase support and prayer for the efforts of these missionaries. Missions can last a few months and can be extended indefinitely due to the type of work performed there.
Missionary evangelists
The main objective of evangelistic missionaries is to convert people to a particular religion. The focus of his work is to pray and teach in areas where people have never heard religious messages before. Many evangelistic missionaries go door-to-door, conduct crusades and organize public demonstrations. While many evangelistic missionaries are involved in some aspect of helping people in need, their main objective is to spread their religious message and convert them.
Needs-based missions
Needs-based missions focus more on helping the people in the area where they are located. Although they may carry out evangelization work, their main goal is to help and satisfy the population that finds itself in difficulties of all kinds. Some of the most common tasks may be to distribute medicines, build orphanages, churches, community centers… as well as providing food and water to the needy.
Ways to do missions
Doing or participating in a Christian mission does not always mean leaving your home and spending a few months in a foreign country. There are several ways to participate so that everyone can help and transmit the word of God and Christian goodness in the way they can. We proceed then to tell you some of the ways of doing missions that you can perform:
- GO to the country or region in question:
It is the best known and at the same time the most complete form. Committing to travel to a country where the situation is complicated, the culture is completely different, … to share and teach the word of the Lord in a selfless way and only for the love and kindness that God has given you and you want to give to others who surely are having a hard time, makes it a hard but rewarding way of doing missions.
- Praying
Prayer is a very powerful tool and one that we all have access to. If our personal and work situation does not allow us to travel with other parishioners, we always have this option. Part of our responsibility as Christians is to support our fellow believers, especially those who urgently need our prayers, so never stop praying!
- Giving/Sharing
If Jesus has taught us anything, it is that we must always give. We will not always be able to give in the same way, one time you may be able to give food to those in need, another time you may simply share or give your time to a friend or family member… The important thing at the end of the day is that you are able to give and share in every way. And precisely because of this, if you don’t have time to travel or to pray, another option is to share and give. You can participate by making material or financial donations to those who will be able to go on mission, so that they can better share and carry out the teachings of the Lord Almighty.
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After this pleasant and enriching reading, we hope that if you did not know the missions, their functions, etc., you will have learned from the article and at the same time perhaps we have planted in you the possibility of participating in a mission in the not too distant future. Remember, there are many ways to participate and transmit the strength and peace of the Christian religion.
Finally, we can only wish you good luck and may the Lord be with you! See you at the next articles!