BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS – THE STORY OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES

Yesterday, we meditated upon God’s goodness, grace, mercy and faithfulness in enabling the First Baptist Church of Telangana, to see 150th anniversary, of what was sown as a small seed, by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABM) through their missionary, W. W. Campbell. Let us, for our meditation this day, continue to contemplate on the theme of missions, missionaries and us Christians.

Whenever I think about Christian missionaries, it always makes me ask the question, “How were they able to manage life, in such ‘strange’ and difficult places?” The differences were not some small matters. The whole world in their own countries was so very different from the lands to which, they willingly volunteered. It just amazes me, when I think of their commitment to God, their faith to trust Him for their health and safety, and and their courage to step out, willingly to sacrifice a life of comfort, for a life of struggles, sufferings, hurdles, obstacles and pain. 
– “The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.” – Hudson Taylor

Oh what love for the LORD. What love for the lost. What love that made them willingly choose to suffer for their God, in obedience to His command, over a life of comfort and sufficiency. It speaks volumes about their hearts and their minds. 
– “Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love.” – Roland Allen [1868-1947, Missionary to China]

If one were to describe the missionaries of old, and their work, I would use these three words to sum it up – SWEAT, BLOOD and TEARS. Why did they choose to undertake such a perilous work? Because…
1- THEY LOVED THEIR SAVIOUR.
2- THEY BELIEVED WHOLEHEARTEDLY, WHAT THE LORD COMMANDED HIS DISCIPLES, IN THE BIBLE.
3- THEY OBEYED THE LORD IMPLICITLY, IN ALL WHAT HE ASKED THEM TO DO – IN THE BIBLE.
4- THEY COUNTED OBEDIENCE TO THEIR LORD TO BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR OWN COMFORT.
– “Suffering is not only the consequence of completing the commission, but it is God’s appointed means by which He will show the superior worth of His Son to all the peoples. Just as it was “fitting that He…should make the founder of [our] salvation perfect through suffering” (Heb. 2:10), so it is fitting that God save a people from all the peoples, from eternal suffering through the redemptive suffering of Jesus displayed in the temporal sufferings of His missionaries.” – David Mathis

Therefore, they willingly and joyfully chose Love, Sacrifice and Suffering over their personal comfort, peace and progress. They saw the millions, and couldn’t sleep. They read their Bibles and obeyed their LORD.
– “Missions is not about ‘What can I spare?’ The question is ‘What’s it going to take?’ Risk. Abandon. Sacrifice. Radical dependence on Christ. Everything. Are you passionately committed to God’s glory among all peoples?” – AsiaLink Worker

The heart and the commitment to missions is seen in the love of the Western Christian missionaries, and their iron-clad commitment to the LORD’s call to preach the gospel to all people. It is a simple faith. It is a commitment to obey the LORD, at all costs, rather, despite the cost. It is born out of a deep love and commitment for their Saviour. The words of Adoniram Judson, a Baptist missionary who wanted to serve His LORD in India, aptly sums up, what is at risk for a missionary, and what did they gladly chose.
– “I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure to a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left His heavenly home and died for her and for you, for the sake of perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with a crown of righteousness brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?” – Adoniram Judson

Dear brothers and sisters, can we follow the LORD in the same manner? The way the Christian missionaries of old have walked? Can we willingly forego a life of comfort, safety and security, in obedience to the call of our Redeemer? Can we place our trust in His ability to meet all our needs, while we plod in His vineyard faithfully and obediently?
– “13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” – Romans 10:13-15

Even so the LORD help us to be His disciple, His witness and His ambassador.