Missions is not a task for the faint of heart! Here are some questions to settle before you take the plunge.

Questions to Settle

1. Do you have a desire?

God loves you so much that He will put a wonderful desire in your heart to do what He wants.

2. Do You Have Ability?

God would not call you to do something that He did not, first, enable you to do. If God has called you to do the work of a church planter, He has given you, or will give you, the ability to do it!  I have found that people have a lower expectation of missionaries and mission works than they do for ministries here in the United States. If I may, allow me to ask a simple question: Why would we send a missionary 4,000 miles away to start a church, against incredible odds, but not trust the same man to go across the street and start a church in our own town? Do missionaries require less abilities than the church planter in America? Is it easier to start a church from nothing, when you do not even know the language or culture?

3. Has There Been Confirmation?

Can other people see what God is doing in your life and how He is leading? People may see God’s call and His working in your life before you realize it yourself. Ask your pastor if he can see God’s call on your life.

4. How is Your Family?

Is your wife beside you? Does she live up to the characteristics of a deacon’s wife that are given in I Timothy 3? If you are not a deacon, you may be thinking that this passage does not apply to you. However, if this passage lists the qualifications for a deacon, do you not think that the standard should be higher for a missionary? The success or failure of your ministry will rest strongly on your wife. Your wife was made to be your help meet. If you lose her, you lose your whole ministry. Your first ministry is to your wife. It is imperative that she has a burden for the ministry also. Work on strengthening your marriage bond. Have the type of relationship in which nothing can come between the two of you. You can rest assured that the devil will try all he can to separate your love from each other.

5. How Are Your Children?

Are your children prepared for what lies ahead? Developing the right attitude among your children is also imperative. Are they obedient?
If we cannot control our own house, how can we watch over the house of God? Are your children teachable?
Work on those areas in which your children are reflecting your own poor habits. Work to win over your children. If they are not on your side now, it will not be any easier to win them over on deputation or on the field.
Be ready for the reactions from your parents and grandparents. One of the largest obstacles you will face, when entering into missions, will be your family.
How is the health of your family? You may have some family members that have serious medical conditions that need to be addressed. Can that family member survive on the field? Will there be adequate medical attention given and available?
It is one thing to have someone martyred for the cause of Christ, but something completely different for you to make the decision to take an ill family member to the field where he loses his life because of inadequate medical care. If God has called you, I most certainly would not want to hinder you, but you must think about the medical condition of your family when looking at the will of God. You must be resolved to the fact that due to medical reasons and lack of adequate care, your family member could die on the field.

6. How is Your Personal Life?

Are You Teachable?
What is your response when someone tells you what to do? One of the greatest hindrances to learning and growing is the lack of a teachable spirit. Proverbs 2 tells us that a wise man will hear and increase learning.
Are you willing to listen? To change? To grow? Can someone teach you to preach? How to present your burden? Design a missions display? Book meetings? Are you the type of person who already knows everything and can be taught nothing? Are you willing to read, learn, and be instructed?

Missionary work is quite different from many things you already know. Many missionaries fail on the field because they want to do things their way, yet it is the wrong way.

Are You Humble?
Do you have a humble attitude? Are you ready to be turned down by pastors when you want to book meetings? Are you willing to die to your pride when you are looked down upon as “not being able to make it in America” because you are going into missions? Are you ready to sleep in a converted Sunday school classroom while on deputation? Are you willing to be forgotten and when you show up for a meeting, hear, “Were you supposed to be with us tonight?”  Can you travel six hours one-way, pay for your own food and lodging, spend hundreds of dollars, and keep a right spirit when you only receive a fifty dollar love offering? We try to live with the disposition, “Expect nothing and be grateful for everything.” After all, who are we that others should give us their hard-earned money?
discipline

You A Self-Feeder?
There are many people who need a pastor to keep their spiritual lives going. Is that you? What will happen when you are on the field and it is you who is the pastor? Do you have to be fed, or are you a self-feeder? Do you pray? Is there a time each day when you pour out your heart to God in prayer?

Are You A Self-Starter?
Many men have difficulty being their own bosses. They need someone to tell them when to be at work and what to do. As a missionary, you do not have that. You must be a self-starter who knows what you are doing and where you are going. I know the ministry is not a vocation; it is a calling, but the problem is that many people use that as an excuse to be slothful and lazy.

Telemarketers spend eight to ten hours a day on the phone trying to get you to change phone companies but missionaries complain about spending three hours on the phone booking meetings. May you settle in your heart, now, that you will work harder on deputation than you have at any other job in your life.

7. How is Your Outlook?

Much of your success on deputation will depend on your ability to keep a positive attitude.
God already knows where the money will come from, which churches will support you, and the length of time it will take to reach your needed level of support. In fact, God is your only means of support. “God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19). He will support you through the means of the local church.

God did not wake up one morning and say, “I have called this man to be a missionary but I am not sure how I can support him.” Friend, if God has called you, rest assured that He has a ministry for you, a people for you, and He already has the funds set aside for you.
You may not know where you will find those funds, how God will provide them, or which churches God will use. However, you can still go on deputation with a great deal of confidence. You must realize that God has already planned it all.

The first time you call a pastor and he turns you down for a meeting, do not get irritated or offended! Just say to yourself, “Therefore I will look unto the LORD,” and realize that this particular pastor was not part of God’s plan for your support (Micah 7:7).
Even if a pastor turns you down, you have not failed. You have successfully eliminated another church that was not part of God’s plan for your ministry.

Remember, God already knows which churches will support you. You are simply eliminating those which are not part of His plan and finding those churches that are part of His plan.
Remember, your support does not come from churches. Your support comes from God! “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” (II Cor. 9:8).
remind yourself, “This is a good church; that man is a good pastor, and these are good people; however, they may not be part of God’s plan for the support of our ministry.”

You don’t think God would put it on the heart of his undershephard to move on your behalf? And if He does not, you will be able to?

Call on God before you call on any church. You must begin every day of deputation by calling on God first. “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land…” (Ps. 63:1). Calling on God is essential.
You must maintain a close relationship with the Lord and be right spiritually if you are going to be successful in His service. It is foolish to ask God to provide for your material needs, while you neglect your spiritual needs. Every morning, make sure that you spend time with God.
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (Prov. 8:17). Pray about every phone call you plan to make. Pray for every pastor and his church. Pray for the people in the church and for God’s power in their services.

**Most of this material has been adapted from Austin Gardner’s excellent book “Deputation Manual”.