Discover Your Calling

Jared Gleason, Director of Mobilization
The Call, April-June 2017

Are they waiting for you?

God is doing so much around the world, which you have learned as you have prayed through the many available ministry opportunities highlighted in this issue of The Call. So many exciting ministries are happening, and only God knows what He has in store for the future. 

As you prayed through these ministries and opportunities, asking God to send more workers, did you feel God calling you to be the one who goes? Perhaps that brings feelings of excitement and joy but also feelings of apprehension and fear. That is all right. If God is calling you, He will make a way; and our team is here to help you.

If you do feel God speaking into your heart, asking you to answer His call and serve on His mission field, here are two ways you can do that:

1. SHORT-TERM SERVICE

Maybe your availability is limited or you don’t feel God calling you to serve for a long period of time. There are many ministry opportunities that ask for short-term commitments—one month to a year. We can customize a shorter experience for you that will enable you to invest in a ministry, experience missions life firsthand, and serve in a vital way. WGM has great volunteer programs for individuals, couples, and families. Visitwww.wgm.org/serve for more information.

2. LONG-TERM SERVICE

Perhaps God is calling you to explore a career in missions. I encourage you to consider the Missionary Discipleship Program, which consists of two years of service. It is designed to equip you to serve in long-term, cross-cultural ministry, focusing on discipleship and training. You will have a team of people who will work together to prepare you for service as an individual, couple, or family. Learn more at www.wgm.org/md. 

GO: Are you ready to take that next step now? Want to talk to someone about your calling, or what you wonder may be your calling? Contact mobilization@wgm.org to get started. 

Prayer Calendar March 27-31, 2016

If you’re like me, it’s easier to remember names when you can match them to faces. I feel more connected to the people, and, hopefully, I can say hi to them by name when we meet again. This brief introduction to WGM’s newest missionary disciples may help you recognize them and show you how you can pray for them.

Pray for new Missionary Disciples who are just beginning their service in missions. p.22

Choosing between Opportunities

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Josh Hallahan, Missionary, Uganda
October-December 2015

As Kelly and I began our term as missionary disciples serving in Uganda, we were ready to come in, receive our clearly laid-out job description, and begin serving with new friends. That’s when our plan and the reality on the ground collided.

Our missionary experience started by allowing us to “try out” two new ministries. I began serving as the first-ever chaplain at Heritage International School in Kampala. Meanwhile, Kelly and I were also beginning to minister with United Faith Chapel, which is now part of the University Discipleship Movement. Because these ministry roles were new to both established ministries, finding the right balance of involvement was tricky.

Outside of missionary work, there are not many other opportunities that allow you to create your own job description and sometimes even allow you to choose between two really attractive opportunities, but that was where we found ourselves.

I spent the first year at Heritage finding out who had been doing “chaplaincy duties” in the past and what expectations there were for a school chaplain. While at UFC, Kelly and I spent time getting to know the students and national staff and asking lots of questions. We wanted to see what the needs were, where our skill sets could best be used, and pray about our roles.

It was definitely an exciting and difficult first year. We did not do everything right. We wanted to walk away many times. One day it felt like Heritage was the place for us to focus and the next we were sure it was UFC.

During our second year, we began really seeking the Lord as to where He wanted us to focus our ministry upon returning as career missionaries. We truly felt as if God would be honored with either choice. Students at HIS were becoming followers of Jesus, and developing student leaders at UFC became a clear need that we could fill. How do you choose between two really great opportunities? That kind of answer can only come through prayer.

Eventually, a peace settled that for the next season we were to focus our efforts with UFC and the University Discipleship Movement and help develop leaders who will change their communities for the kingdom of Jesus. We love Heritage and are still involved there, but for now God has asked us to concentrate on UDM.

What started as two possibilities with no job descriptions has become two passions of ours where we are excited to see God continue to work in great ways. We thank God for journeying with us. Will you pray with us that we will continue to honor Him in the years ahead?

ACT: Pray for Josh and Kelly as they serve in Uganda. Join their prayer team by signing up on their blog at http://thehallahans.blogspot.com/p/join-our-team.

An excerpt from: 

Who’s Got Your Back?

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By Bonnie Gouge, Regional Director for South America
July-September 2015

Do you ever wish that someone would just listen to your heart and hear your concerns? Don’t you want to know that someone “has your back?” Do you wish you had a mentor?

Scripture gives us many examples of mentoring and of learning and gaining wisdom from others. For example, Elijah was a mentor to Elisha. Paul was a mentor to Timothy. These older men poured into younger men, shaping their lives and helping them mature spiritually so that they were better prepared for kingdom work.

World Gospel Mission believes in its missionaries and wants them to succeed. When our new missionaries go to the field, a mentor takes time to be with them, helping them in their transition to the new culture, place, and language. Many times, we just listen. Other times, we lend a helping hand. We are often called upon to share what we have learned as we have served.

My husband, Ron, and I have worked with new missionaries in Spain. And that has not been easy since we do not live there. Thanks to technology, we can still connect with new missionaries in Spain through Skype. We work with them through a written mentoring program, but also spend a lot of time just listening, helping them process their new life in a new place.

As a mentor, I am keenly aware of my own inadequacies. I realize that although I have served for many years in a “foreign” country, I do not have all the answers. In many ways, I just “press on” as Paul writes in Philippians 3:12: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on.…” Our hope is that in spite of our mistakes and inadequacies, our experiences can help someone else grow and mature and maybe even miss some of our pitfalls, helping prepare them to reach out to their world for Christ.

Perhaps you never had a mentor to help you along your life’s journey, but I imagine there are younger people around you who could use a helping hand. Will you “have their back?”

PRAY: Is mentorship the next step in your journey in helping you grow deeper in your walk? Take time this month to pray and ask God to direct your path to the right person who can help you with this process.

An excerpt from...

One Step at a Time

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By Esther Leininger, Missionary Disciple, Texas/Mexico Border Ministries
January-March 2015

When I was a child, I heard stories of great missionaries who were called by God to go to dangerous, unknown places to share the gospel with the lost. Some received the call like Moses, maybe not with a burning bush, but definitely with some great sign of God’s power. Some received the call like Elijah, who heard a still, small voice calling him to follow where God led.

My call was nothing like that. I did not have a great sign from God or a still, small voice that told me what to do. I’ve simply followed God one step at a time.

My parents, Tom and Karen Leininger [former WGM missionaries], were called to missions before I was born. I was raised in Bolivia for seven years and Honduras for two years. Overseas ministry was my life, and I loved it. I was 12 when we returned to the United States and did not understand why we could not stay missionaries forever. I realized then that if I wanted to be a missionary, I would have to work hard, and, of course, follow God’s lead.

At first, I wondered if being a missionary was just what I wanted and not what God wanted. However, as God began opening doors for me to continue missions work, I began to realize that God’s desires for my life and my personal desire to be a missionary were the same.

God first began opening doors when I went on a missions trip to Haiti in 2008. During college, I went on two more missions trips—one to Russia for a week and one to Bolivia for four months. On both trips, I kept testing to see whether my call to missions was what God wanted, and both times I felt a great deal of peace about the situation.

Every new step, every new opportunity, has brought me closer to being a career missionary teacher at Taylor Christian School in McAllen, Texas. Sometimes I still wonder if I am just doing what I want to do, but I believe God gives us the desires of our hearts that mirror His own. Often He did not give me the answers I wanted when I wanted them, but He always gave me answers before I needed them. He has always been faithful to me, and I can be sure I am in the center of His will by simply following Him one step at a time.

MORE: Stay connected with Esther at www.facebook.com/estherleininger.

What to Do to Be a Missionary

An excerpt from...

What to Do to Be a Missionary

By Jared Gleason, Mobilizer
October-December 2013

World Gospel Mission has a great program called Missionary Discipleship for those wanting to serve in long-term missions. This three-year program includes one year of training and fundraising in the U.S. and two years at your ministry location.

Just like the name implies, the MD program intentionally focuses on mentorship and discipleship. Our goal is to give you tools and support so you can have a successful ministry.

How do you get started?  Here’s a quick list:

1. Talk to your family, friends, and pastor. These individuals are essential in helping you pursue your calling into missions.
2. Apply with World Gospel Mission. Fill out the preliminary application available at www.wgm.org/md. We’ll then help you through the rest of the application process.
3. Attend a Candidate Review Weekend at WGM headquarters. We’ll meet with you face-to-face and talk about your calling and vision for ministry.
4. Be approved as a missionary disciple. A formal interview is held at the end of the Candidate Review Weekend. You are assigned a staff “coach” to help you the rest of the way.
5. Attend training sessions. Training events focus on mentoring ministry partners, fundraising, cross-cultural ministry and living, language acquisition, and more.
6. Develop your sending team. Talk with friends, family, your church, and others about how God has called you into missions. Help them become more missions-active. We’re all in this together!
7. Receive language training. Language is key in ministry. This usually takes place at your ministry location after you are fully funded.
8. Serve. Do what God has called you to do. You will not be alone; veteran missionaries will be with you to help and encourage you along the way.

I would love to speak with you and hear about how you’d like to use your gifts and talents to make an impact for Christ around the world. Contact me at recruiting@wgm.org or call 765.671.7226.

ACT: Click here to download, print, and share this becoming a missionary checklist with others.