“Well I am going there anyway because I know I’ve been sent by God”
James O. Fraser at 22 years of age gave up his engineering career to become a missionary to China in 1908. He wrote the words above when after six years there was little response and the mission needed him elsewhere. He felt led of God to continue the work amidst great opposition and challenges because he felt passionately that God was in it and because he knew God would not forsake his own.
It was this passion that would sustain him through kidnapping, multiple robberies, leg ulcers, lice, rats, malaria, total exhaustion, and mental and spiritual depression that nearly drove him to suicide.
It was also this passion that would sustain him when others would tell him, “your prayers are not being answered.” Day after day he kept hearing negative words that “no one wants to hear your message as you can tell by the few who first believed and have now deserted you.” Each letter reminded him that he has been in China five years and there’s not much to show for it.
While alone the devil could whisper to him, “You thought you were called to be a missionary. It was pure imagination.You’d better leave it all, go back and admit it was a big mistake. Why not end it all?”
It is noted that six years after arriving in China, the breakthrough occurred for James Frasier. A miracle took place within a four month period of the seventh year. 600 Lisu representing 129 families turned away from Satan and followed Jesus Christ! An indigenous church planting movement was ignited with Lisu believers leading scores of other Lisu villages and families to Christ. And today the conversion of the Lisu is one of the greatest stories in mission history. Today, there are an estimated 300,000 Lisu Christians in China, with more among the Lisu living in Myanmar and Thailand.
Rev 12:11 so wonderfully says, he overcame the evil one by the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony. In his obedience to the call of God, James Fraser brought the light of the gospel to Lisu people. Some one has said that;
On the human side,evangelistic work on the mission field is like a man going about in a dark, damp valley with a lighted match in his hand, seeking to ignite anything ignitable. But things are damp through and through and will not burn, however much he tries. In other cases,God ‟s wind and sunshine have prepared beforehand. The valley is dry in places, and when the lighted match is applied – here a shrub, there a tree, here a few sticks, there a heap of leaves take fire and give light and warmth long after the kindling match and its bearer have passed on. And this is what God wants to see, and what he will inquire of us: little patches of fire burning all over the world .” (The Prayer of Faith).
In any missionary effort, Paul may plant and Apollos water, but it is God who gives the increase; and this increase can be brought down from heaven by believing prayer. In the harvest field now ripen we are, as it were in the days of Paul, Wesley and others, God’s agents – used by him to do his work, not ours. We do our part, and then can only look to him, with others, for his blessing.
In any missionary effort, there is spiritual warfare. The aim of Satanic power is to cut off communication with God. To accomplish this aim he deludes the soul with a sense of defeat, covers one with a thick cloud of darkness, depresses and oppresses the spirit, which in turn hinders prayer and leads to unbelief – thus destroying all power (instead of seeing Heb 11:1).
In any missionary work, the spirit must be continually maintained in strength by unceasing prayer and constant reminder that you’ve been sent by God and not any human agency. Like Carey and Judson, it may be 7 years before you see any result! But rest assured, the Father hears the prayers of His children and He sees their labor of love for the Exalted Lamb and the souls of the nations.
In any missionary work, giving is required. This giving may be as practical as opening our checkbooks, wallets, bank accounts, or investment portfolios to make it possible for the gospel to be taken to unreached people group, urban centers, suburban communities, schools, and a thousand other places around the world where people need to hear the gospel. It may be giving your time to tutor a child after school, or get involved with evangelism outreach. It might be inviting your neighbor over for tea /coffee and beginning some conversations that will lead naturally into sharing the gospel. It could be as profound as putting two or three people on a prayer list and praying everyday for their salvation.
In any missionary work, there is fruit but we must be careful lest the fruit turns us into a dead sect. When John Wesley began to preach the gospel in 18th Century England and Colonial America, less than 10 percent of the people went to church. There was widespread immorality, ignorance, and unspeakable poverty. Wesley often spoke of the greatest danger of a spiritual awakening. People would come to Christ because of their desperate lives. But, once they began to follow the principles of the Bible, their marriages would be stronger, and their families stronger. They would clean up their lives, stop gambling and drinking, work hard, save money, and make a better life for themselves. After a while they would prosper, and then become complacent. They might even become prideful. Having lost the poverty of spirit, and becoming comfortable in their success, they would no longer feel a need for Jesus, for the lost or a fear of God. May God help us that we remain faithful to give of ourselves to God in all circumstances so that others may hear the gospel.
Erick Chepkwony, TH.D 