Jesus: Lord, Not Just Messenger
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And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
- Matthew 28:18-20
What's new this week
Life on the field can be challenging, exhausting, and difficult. In the midst of that, many missionaries feel forgotten by their church and friends back home. The Great Commission is not a solo task. Even the work of individual missionaries is not solo work. We are all called to engage. Sending is the role that some will play. It is the work of a community of believers.
So how can we be great “senders?” How can we care for those who are serving overseas?
new for you
Missionary profile – Deborah Sekyi
As a child, I enjoyed missionary movies and storybooks. The stories mostly featured an evil force, fetish priests in a community, and sometimes people in a community who spiritually attack the work of missionaries who have traveled far to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.
These missionaries faced hostility and attacks from the people; they had to suffer a great deal even after leaving their cherished possessions and coming to a people they did not know. However, in the end, the power of the Holy Spirit moved mightily in the whole community and everyone, including the main enemy of the gospel, most often a fetish priest comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Missionary profile – Gusty and Elena Makhutcha
While training to be a pastor at the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi (EBCoM), I had many classmates from Mozambique. They always told me, “There are many pastors in Malawi, but in Mozambique, there are few, yet we have many unreached people. So why don’t you come and work with us in Mozambique?”
I thought and prayed about it for a long time, and as they kept asking, my interest grew. But when I finished Bible school and explained my vision to my seniors, it turned out that I couldn’t go.
I worked as a pastor, and the call to be a missionary stayed with me for nine years. One day, I met a mission mobiliser, Watson Rajaratnam. He asked me about my call and vision.
Missionary profile – Mustafa Abubakar
As a Muslim, the message of Christ crucified for the sin of His people did not make sense to me (and it was foolishness) until the day I heard and by God’s grace truly understood the Holiness and Justice of God and His Law.
It is a waste of time witnessing about Christ crucified without pressing the above to their sin-sick souls at the very beginning.
You don’t begin with, “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for you.”
You begin with, “God is holy and Just. You have broken all His Laws and you will certainly go to hell if you die today!”
Missionary profile - Frederico Catihe
My name is Frederico Catihe. Since January 2018 I have been working with Campus Crusade for Christ, or Cru, which is a member of IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students).
I was born in the province of Huambo, Angola, in Southern Africa. My grandfather was the Pastor of a Congregational Church. Since very young, I attended the Evangelical Congregational Church.
I was born during the time of the civil war in Angola, on 15 January 1978. I saw many ugly things during the civil war, and because of the civil war I didn’t know my father. I am the last of five siblings.
Missionary profile – Chris and Nancy Maphosa
I felt God’s call upon my life to do Christian ministry full time in 1988. I joined the Pentecostal Bible College in Zimbabwe and graduated in 1993. I became a pastor in 1994 and served in several churches. In 2001, I decided to further my education and enrolled for a bachelor’s degree in counselling, specialising in children’s behaviour. I felt a huge gap between churches, parents and children, and my need to concentrate more on preaching to children to children grew.
In 2003, I volunteered with a missionary working with children, and the passion for reaching children grew. My wife, Nancy, and I worked under Hope for AIDS (Widows of Hope). We worked with a cross-cultural missionary until he left us in charge and returned to his country.
Missionary profile – Rev. Edwin B. Fussi
Rev. Edwin B. Fussi is a Tanzanian full-time missionary, with a business background. Before going to missionary training school and starting work among an unreached group in Tanzania, he owned a small shop.
“When my family arrived in the community where we serve it was 99.9 per cent Muslim. There were many barriers to the gospel: we experienced rejection, insults and ridicule.
Our strategy was door-to-door evangelism, but the community rejected us. The youth ran when they saw us, afraid we were government spies. The mosque leaders warned others to avoid us because we would convert them to Christianity. Some people said, “You have your religion, and we have ours.”
Missionary profile – Tariku Gebre
At 8 years old, I was invited by a friend to come to their Sunday school. My friend’s family were evangelicals and thus regarded by both the government and the Orthodox church as heretics and followers of “imported religion.”
Despite repeated warnings from my traditional Orthodox family, I attended the Sunday school for more than two years without their knowledge. I needed something to fill my time, which was a common problem for the children of families of our class. This childhood experience left within me a conviction of the existence of God, counting Him as the Creator.
Missionary profile - Esther Okello
I am Esther, from Nyeri county Kenya; I did my bachelor’s degree in Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
On 20th June 2017, I finished my last exam, and the reality of transiting from school to the marketplace got real. I was both joyful and anxious, with humongous dreams to pursue.
I had sat in a Bible study facilitated by Missions Campaign Network (MCN) Angaza student one year before. All eight sessions were about unreached people groups and the unreached world blocs – new, strange new things I had never encountered as a church attendant since I was a toddler.
Missionary profile – Kirubel Girma
Kirubel Girma, missions mobilizer with SIM’s East Africa Sending Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, says, “I am finally embarking on my long-awaited dream to serve as a full-time missionary, focusing on mobilising, facilitating and sending missionaries from East Africa to the global mission field.”
Despite setbacks due to Covid-19, he is amazed at the unwavering commitment and passion of local churches and candidates. He adds, “We have been working to send eight couples and five singles from Ethiopia, Kenya, Eretria, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. Our focus is least-reached communities.”
His first five-year goal is to see at least one church from 11 East African countries mobilised.
Missionary profile –Titus Oludotun Kumapayi
Architect Titus Oludotun Kumapayi is the Director for Mission and Evangelism for the Church of Nigeria Society, Anglican Communion. He has an architectural firm in Ibadan, where he lives with his wife, Margaret.
In 1991, during a training session at Haggai Institute in Singapore, I had the conviction not to take church ordination but to sit at my architectural table and use my training for evangelism, soul winning and discipleship.
So in my office each day began with 30 minutes of prayer and Bible exposition. As the fellowship grew, some of the staff members came to me seeking counsel about their choice of career and spouse.
Missionary profile – Lynn Uwimana
We set off on a Sunday from different homes and met in Kampala. On Monday, we left for Pallisa to visit a missionary family before proceeding to Kaabong. The family hosted us for the night.
They introduced to us their family friend, a pastor; we had a fantastic time learning about God’s call on his life and the work he is doing. On Tuesday, we started our 12 hours’ journey to Kaabong. We have numerous stops as the car kept breaking down.
Anyone who has used the Kotido-Kaabong road knows only a 4X4 car can handle it.
Missionary profile – Agnes Joy Natukunda
Recently, Rev. Alex Alinaitwe, Archdeacon of Nkoma Archdeaconry in Western Uganda, allowed several of us to visit the Rwamwanja refugee camp to encourage the people and distribute some essentials.
Two ladies and a gentleman from our Anglican church heeded the call to go. A friend offered to drive us, though we had to fuel his vehicle. It took 8 hours to reach the centre.
We found people from Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo who had been waiting for us in the church since morning.