Missionaries are known as Christians who travel to a different cultural context to proclaim the Gospel. The reason that Christian missionaries exist is because in the book of Matthew, the Lord gives His Great Commission and commands His people (all Christians) to go into every nation and make disciples.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:16
What is a missionary? These evangelical Christians travel across the world and enter into a different cultural context to carry on the word of God to different nations of the world.
What is missionary work? Missionary work involves sending individuals and groups of Christian believers, called missionaries, to different nations of the world to do simple tasks and still make an impact that lasts, all while bringing the Gospel message simultaneously.
What Do Missionaries Do?
Christian missionaries go to proclaim the Gospel by helping, serving, and caring for the different nations. They build friendships, learn an entirely different language, and serve with a compassionate, inspired, and motivated heart. There are different types of mission trips that a follower of Christ who wants to pursue missions can go on.
Types of Mission Trips
- Business as Missions
- Church Building
- Early Childhood Education
- Medical Missions
- Social Justice
- Volunteering
1. Business as Missions
Business missionaries focus on the economical side of providing for the nations. These followers of Christ open doors for many civilians on their mission field by providing them a substantial occupation. Opening a business in the nation the missionary is serving creates unity in the community and local jobs for families who want to provide food on the table, a house to live in, and clothing on their backs.
2. Church Building
These types of missionaries go to a nation where churches are non-existent and create a building for foreign people to go to. Building a church on a mission field brings moments of opportunity to share the gospel with the people groups. Also, building a church provides others a sacred and safe place to learn about the Lord.
3. Early Childhood Education
Some missionaries are called teach the gospel to the younger generations. These believers go to a different nation to provide an education academically and spiritually. They love, play, and care for the young boys and girls. These Christian missionaries not only teach the children in the country they are serving in, but they also learn the foreign language themselves so that they can teach the young ones.
4. Medical Missions
Missionaries that go for more of the medical side of a trip are trained professionals who stay for a designated period of time. The group that makes up this team consists of registered nurses, surgeons, speech therapists, etc. These believers go to help increase health in a nation. Many developing countries have a necessity to advance medical assistance and are desperate for a sense of hope. Christian missionaries go to show the Lord’s love and help them with the critical conditions that they are in. They bring the Holy Father’s love to their dark and helpless lifestyle.
5. Social Justice
Believers that go to the mission field that involves social justice are going to help others who are scared, lost, and held in bondage. There are several different types of social justice positions in a missions group. There are the ones who evangelize to the homeless, prostitutes, etc. Also, there are the ones who go to find the hidden areas that hold women in hostage for human-trafficking. Lastly, there are the missionaries that pursue the nation to help children and adults are being forced into work-labor.
6. Volunteering
The last type of mission is volunteering. These are the missionaries that do the manual labor to help out an organization, school, or church. Most volunteers spend their time digging, drilling, cleaning, fixing, and painting different homes, wells, and buildings for the community. Believers will get the chance to talk to other people groups (who they are helping out) about the Lord and sharing the gospel with them. This is a great way for the missionaries to show their trustworthiness and explain how the Lord has changed their lives to a non-believer through their testimony.
This is just a brief explanation of the different types of Christian missions. For information check out another blog I wrote on this subject titled Christian Missions: Definition, Biblical Examples, & How-to .
Examples of Inspirational Missionaries
Christian missions have been pursued for a long time. Here are a few inspirations who have led others to the Lord’s truth.
William Carey (1761-1834)
First, William Carey, known as the Father of Modern Missions, was an English missionary who traveled to India from England. Carey was a skilled linguist (Latin, Hebrew, and Greek), writer, and motivator. He found the Baptist Missionary Society in 1783 and became a full-time pastor in 1792.
Three years later, Carey published a manifesto titled An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, which is a landmark text he wrote setting out several different principles of the Christian faith. These statements resulted in converting natives of foreign lands to Christianity.
Without justification salvation is not of grace, but of works.
William Carey
Hudson Taylor (1832-1905)
James Hudson Taylor was a British Protestant Christian missionary who traveled to China. Taylor spent fifty-one years in Southeast Asia and started up the China Inland Mission (which is an international and interdenominational society) that he found in 1865. This society has brought over 800 missionaries to China and began 500 schools. The outcome of this has directed over 18,000 Christian conversions, as well as foundation 300 occupational work areas in the Southeast.
Taylor is an inspiration and influencer for thousands of people to this day. Many Christian missionaries follow Hudson Taylor and commend him for his perseverance to bring the Chinese to their faith. Reverend Hudson passed away from cancer in 1904 but will always be remembered as the man who brought the Southeast to the Lord.
There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.
–James Hudson Taylor
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)
Amy Beatrice Carmichael was a Protestant Christian missionary and author from Ireland and ventured to India to spread the gospel to that nation. Carmichael’s main mission work was with little girls and adult women. Back in India, (in Hindu temples) young females were dedicated to different gods through prostitution. She created a ministry to protect these little girls from being returned to the temples for their sexual assignments and provided shelter, food, and an edication of the Lord for these individuals.
Carmicheal also has written a novel called Things as They Are: Mission Work in Southern India in the time period of 1901, and later published another book titled The Gold Cord in 1932. Amy Carmichael wrote (as to be believed) 16 additional books before passing away in 1951.
He said “Love…as I have loved you.” We cannot love too much.
–Amy Beatrice Carmichael
Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
Mary Teresa Bojaxhu, commonly known as Mother Teresa, is another important inspiration to Christian missions. Teresa is infamously known for her humble, loving, and charity heart. Mary Teresa started pursuing missions when she started working with the poor. She gained experience with nursing and counseling and was known for praying and building relatinship with ill patients.
Teresa accomplished many different goals of hers. She converted a Hindu temple into a home for others who have critical diseases, opened her own hospital, and contributed to many different international charities. She also was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was declared a saint after her one year anniversary of deceasing.
Intense love does not measure. It just gives.
–Mary Teresa Bojaxhu