Arise in North Africa: Redefining Missions Through My Two-Year Term
- Posted by Editorial Staff
By Jane S.*
The word “missionary” carries different meanings to different groups of people. To the atheist, the word is associated to “humanitarianism” whereas to some Muslims the word may be associated with “intruder.” In my circle, the associations that are made by my community are words like, “hero,” “leader,” or “spiritual elite.” Through my short two-year experience, the most important message I want to communicate, to not just my community, but to all Christians, is that the word “missionary” applies to YOU, to me and to ALL followers of Christ.
My call to missions was pretty simple. I loved Jesus and the message of His forgiveness by an act of incomprehensible love. Through it, I get to enjoy an eternal life of intimacy with God on earth and in heaven. Once I realized that Jesus was the only way to receive this and the very fullness of what this even means, I could not help but to consider those who did not know this Truth. For them, the consequences are not only hell (as blunt as this sounds) but it also is a life filled with uncertainty and dissatisfaction- which to me is hell in itself. As I continued to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, one step at a time (and a very long story short), He brought me to North Africa in the winter of 2016.
Before I had left, there were many people that told me that I was “unique,” “special,” and even “more godly than themselves” for doing this. Although I was very uncomfortable with these accusations, subconsciously I started to believe them. So when I got on to the mission field, I did my best to meet these expectations. I read the Bible every day, I prayed as often as I could, I tried to love my neighbors and talk to strangers. This carried on for several months and, of course our Redeeming God used each of these times for me to speak Truth to someone who has never heard of Jesus before. But eventually, as I grew an increasing awareness of my sinfulness -- sins like comparison, jealousy, anger, and unforgiveness -- I began to get waves of self-doubt. Especially when culture stress reached its peak, I grew so frustrated because I knew I was falling short of all the expectations of what a “missionary” should be like. In my mind, I could not understand how God could use someone like me when I acted out in rage against the very people I was supposed to love.
In the midst of all this, God provided a teammate and supervisors that truly kept me accountable and spoke His Truth into my life. Our team mottos were to choose joy, to confess sin quickly and to keep the Sabbath. Our supervisors made it a point to ask how we were spiritually, emotionally and physically and if there were any sins that needed to be confessed. The responses to each confession and time of sharing were never condemnation, but rather a question of how we could help one other get through each circumstance. This really allowed our team to be transparent with one another, and through this, God worked in the most amazing ways.
As our team became united, we were able to be effective for His Kingdom work. Our job was to share the gospel as broadly to as many people as possible. We had six cities in particular that we focused on and traveled around as often as we could to share the gospel and once we had some interest from the people, to keep going back and follow up. We hosted and organized several short term teams to come to join in on our mission. All the while, bringing this back to my initial point, I still struggled with sin (and still continue to today!). At times I got angry, I fought with those who treated me unfairly, I grew bitter, and even was unable to love. However, the Holy Spirit helped me to persevere through the Word, through prayer, and though the help of my teammates that walked alongside me.
By the end of my two year term, despite my failure to be the “missionary” that my community from home thought me to be, God chose to use my team and I to share the gospel with nearly 700 people and to see a church of five local brothers come to be in the city that I called “home.” He chose to use me, a “not-so-good-missionary,” to lead two souls to faith and not only that, but chose to use this adventure to teach me the most important lesson: that faithfulness is fruitfulness and that although I am weak, He chooses to do all things by what He has already done on the cross. I hope this allows you to redefine what you think of as “missions” and who a missionary is. This is what my definition of “missionary” has become: It is you and me, as ones who have been changed by the cross, that are crazy enough to give all of ourselves for the cause of His Name to ARISE among the nations. Isaiah 60:1-5.
*Name Changed
Jane S.* is an ICP (2+2) student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and has recently served in North Africa with the International Mission Board for a couple years. She also formerly served at the World Missions Center of SWBTS and at the Fountains through After School Ministry before going overseas. She is currently serving for middle school students at a local church in TX.