by Jon Konnerup
Missionaries accomplish deputation by organized, consistent, hard work. There are people who feel called of God to be missionaries, but never go because of the deputation process. Their apprehension comes from:
- Not comprehending the process.
- Reluctance to put in the hard work it entails.
- Listening to the difficulties others have experienced.
- Unwillingness to do humbling tasks.
- Not understanding the benefits God provides and teaches.
- Thinking the process is broken or believing there is another way.
In the past 66 years, thousands of missionaries have successfully raised their support through deputation. Experience shows, the more churches a missionary visits in a short amount of time, the sooner he or she finishes deputation.
Making phone calls on a weekly basis to schedule a time to present one’s passion and burden in churches is part of the hard work involved in raising support. Deputation is a stepping stone for life on the mission field. Moving to the field involves relocating your family to an unfamiliar place without the comforts of home, learning a second language, adjusting culturally, and so much more.
Whether on deputation or on the mission field, you must trust God, acknowledge His lordship, allow Him to lead in all your ways, and be assured He will direct your path. If God has called you, you must go! He will give you the grace needed to carry out the Great Commission as you go in obedience to “preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:7-8).