You’re The Missionary - 8/30/26 - Meadows Baptist Church Missions Conference - Bro. Gary Crisp

Welcome to [music] the podcast of

Meadows Baptist Church of Walnut Cove,

North Carolina. We're so glad [music]

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friends. Now, let's join Pastor [music]

Charlie Branch with a word from God.

>> Thank you, brother. Well, it's good to

be back in the house of the Lord

tonight. Amen.

>> Trust you had a good afternoon and u got

you a good meal for lunch and a good

Baptist nap this afternoon. Amen.

>> And uh back in church ready to worship

the Lord. Amen.

I appreciate already the hospitality

that you've shown us. And uh Sister Abby

came out carrying a huge basket after

church this morning. It probably weighed

about 50 lb I guess. and somebody went

grocery shopping for us and gave that to

us and a basket of fruit as well. Thank

you so much for little things. A lot a

lot of times it's a little things that

says so much and we appreciate that more

than you know. Acts of kindness have

already been shown to us tonight and I I

really appreciate that and I trust the

Lord to bless you for it. Amen. Take

your Bibles this evening. Let's go to

the book of Acts. Acts chapter number 13

tonight. Acts chapter number 13.

And uh gonna be a little bit different

tonight. I hope that be all right.

Got a friend of ours that came down from

Virginia, Sister Denise back there, and

she said she came to hear some good

preaching. I'm afraid she'll probably be

disappointed tonight. And I don't know

how much preaching I'll get to do

tonight, but uh do have something real

near and dear to my heart and I want to

share with you this evening. Ezekiel

chapter number three says this

that I sat where they sat and remained

astonished for seven days. Now that's

not a missions text. It's not talking

about missionaries.

But Ezekiel sat. he put himself in

somebody else's circumstance [snorts]

that he might understand and might might

realize what someone else was dealing

with, what someone else was going

through. This is a missions conference

and um I do believe this is a

missionminded, maybe even a

missionhearted church. I'm grateful for

that. you have missionaries come through

quite often and appreciate that. I don't

know exactly how many support, but God

keeps good records of all of that and um

there'll be a reward for it one day.

Amen.

It is an investment

>> when you support when you partner with

these ministries and these missionaries.

You're you're making an investment. And

anytime you make an investment, you hope

to have a return on that investment.

>> Amen.

>> Paul at one time was only being

supported financially by the church at

Philippi.

And he's writing the letter, the book of

Philip Philippians is a it's really a

prayer letter, if you will. And he's

thanking them for how God's using them.

And he mentions the financial support.

And uh he said, "Not that I desire a

gift, but his desire was that fruit

would be added to that church's account

for their investment that they had made

in him." And that's what missions is.

You're making an investment in these

ministries and what God's doing. And

there will be a return. There'll be

fruit added to your account one day.

Isn't that a blessing? What's the good

port portion of that is that most of us

get to stay at home and enjoy air

conditioned church buildings like

tonight. Somebody say amen right there.

>> I'm glad thankful for this modern

convenience. Ain't you

>> good padded pews to sit on. Isn't that a

blessing?

>> Somebody said we need to go back to the

old time way. Well, we do spiritually,

but let's don't let's don't get rid of

the padded pews. Somebody say amen.

Amen.

>> I I'm thankful we don't have a wood

stove sitting out in the middle of the

floor and somebody having to come about

2 hours early to light that thing that

we might be warm when we worship in the

winter time. Y'all with me?

>> I'm glad that everybody's not sitting

with a fan tonight having to fan

themsel. I'm thankful for this modern

stuff that we have. It spoiled us pretty

good.

But there is a crowd tonight that's

serving and worshiping the Lord that

don't have that.

>> Some of them are meeting in pole barns

tonight and it's about 120 130 degrees.

Amen. And they're

Y'all going to have to help me just a

little bit.

>> I think we're on the good end of this.

What do y'all think? Amen.

>> We get to stay at home and drive nice

vehicles and go home into our nice beds

at night and

>> and we don't have to worry about the

crickets jumping across the bed and

snakes crawling under the bed and

>> Yeah.

>> Amen.

>> And we get in on their reward. What

about that now?

>> I think that's pretty good end of the

deal if you ask me.

And so, uh, y'all have these

missionaries come through and you you

see their prayer cards and maybe maybe

I'm not real sure about this, maybe read

a few prayer letters,

but outside of that, we don't know a

whole lot about what's going on with all

the missionaries. At least that's the

average church folk.

Brother Charlie mentioned something

about finances and I'll be honest with

you, I'm not real sure that usually I

know what I'm going to deal with about

each service when I come into a meeting

like this. I'm not that way this week.

I'm not real sure what we'll do tomorrow

night to be honest with you. Good chance

we probably deal with finances sometime

during the week. Don't let that scare

you off. All right.

>> There's a reason for that. Brother

Charlie, I we do preach on finances a

lot in the missions meeting. And let me

clarify why. The majority of the people

we're going to be preaching to in a

mission conference like this is not

going to go to the mission field.

>> You might you might make a missions trip

and I'd encourage you to do that.

>> Yes.

>> But most of you, a lot of you ain't even

going to do that. Now, I'm not saying

that's wrong. I'm just saying that what

you're going to be doing in reaching the

world with the gospel is going to be

through your finances.

Others are going to sell their homes and

move their family halfway around the

world.

>> But for the most of you, the way you'll

be involved is going to be through your

finances.

>> Now, I'm I'm taking for granted that

everybody's going to pray.

>> We got to pray.

>> But outside of praying, the way that

most of you will be involved in missions

is going to be through your financial

giving.

They don't give plane tickets away to

missionaries.

They don't give land to missionaries

when they get to the field.

They don't buy their groceries for them

while they're on deputation. And when

they get to the field, there's a

financial side of this. And the way most

church members are going to be involved

in missions is going to be through your

financial giving. So, we'll preach on

some money a little bit in a meeting

like this. And really, um, that

shouldn't bother us. If you've got a

problem with a preacher preaching on

money, you you probably had a big

problem with Jesus.

>> Amen.

>> He used about 32 parables while Jesus

was here and 16 of them deals directly

with money.

>> What about that? So, if you got a

problem with preacher preaching about

money, you'd have a problem with Jesus.

>> I'm going to try my best to leave you

money along at least tonight and share

something else with you. I want to put

you I want to put you in the shoes

and put you in the seat of a missionary

tonight

and uh let's see if we can figure out

what that would be like.

Let's look in Acts chapter number 13

this evening. We'll begin reading in

verse number one.

The Bible said, "Now there were in the

church that was at Antioch

certain prophets and teachers as

Barnabas and Simeon that's called Niger

and Lucius of Sirene and Manan which had

been brought up with Herod the tetriarch

and Saul.

As they ministered to the Lord and

fasted,

the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me

Barnabas and Saul for the work wherein

to I have called them." And when they

had fasted and prayed and laid their

hands on them, they sent them away.

And so they being sent forth by the Holy

Ghost, departed unto Seucia. From then

they sailed to Cyrus. Let's pray.

Father, we want to thank you for the

good day that you've given to us and the

service this morning. Lord, thank you,

Father, for the opportunity to gather

back again tonight and the songs that

have already stirred our hearts. We're

grateful for that.

But now, Lord, for the next few minutes

as we take the time to look into the

word of God, would you please help us

and speak to us once again? We really do

need you tonight and praying that you'd

do what only God could do in this

service.

Lord, help us tonight as we try to

experience a little bit if we can, God,

what it would be like, Lord, to be

called of God

to sent by the church to take the gospel

to a people that wasn't even wanting us

there. Help us, Lord, I pray, to have a

greater understanding,

a greater love, a greater compassion, a

greater zeal for what you're doing, not

just around here, Wet Cove, but Lord,

what you're doing around the world. Have

your will and your way in every heart

that's here. And we'll be careful to

thank you for what you do in Jesus name

we pray. And amen.

Here we find the churches at Antioch. I

wished I had time to develop this a

little bit better. This is going to

become the hub

for missions and what God does in the

beginning of the church age. Really, it

should have been Jerusalem.

I don't have time to deal with that. I'd

like to.

Jerusalem is where they first gathered.

That's the first church. And that's

where Jesus told them to carry into

Jerusalem till they be endued with power

from on high. And after that power

comes, then they're supposed to take the

gospel beginning in Jerusalem, all

Judea, Samaria, and the other most

places. But they failed to do that. They

never did take the gospel out until Acts

Acts 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8 verse number one. When they

went should have went out in faith. God

made them go out in fear. through

persecution, they scattered that church.

>> Matter of fact, if you'll read Acts 8:1,

Acts 8:1

scattered them to the very places that

he told them to go to in the beginning.

Long story short, now it seems like

things have moved to Antioch.

Antioch's going to become the hub, if

you will, what God does in the days of

the Apostle Paul. Paul, outside of the

Lord Jesus Christ, is our first

missionary. Would you agree with that?

>> He's the first one to take the gospel

out and begin to preach Christ and plant

churches to the Gentile world. Amen.

>> I think probably most of us, if not all

of us tonight, are Gentiles. Ain't you

grateful that God used Paul to take the

gospel to our people? Amen. Yes.

>> But he's going to be sent from Antioch

and he's going to be this missionary

that goes out. And notice what the Bible

said as they're there at Antioch. It

starts to introduce us some to some

people that's a part of that church.

First of all, we'll see that Barnabas is

there. And then it mentions Simeon,

which is called Niger. He he's at

Antioch. Lucius is at Antioch. Man's at

Antioch. And then we find Saul is at

Antioch. What are they doing? Verse

number two said they're ministering to

the Lord. What are they doing? They're

serving the Lord at Antioch. They have a

church at Antioch. That's their church.

And they're serving the Lord in their

church. What are they doing while

they're serving the Lord? They're

praying and they're fasting there at

Antioch. And then while they're serving

the Lord there at Antioch, the Holy

Ghost steps in. And the Holy Ghost said,

"Separate me." Two of them now, Saul and

Barnabas.

Said the Holy Ghost said that I have

called them to do the work that he's

wanting them to do. Here we are at

Meadows. What we're doing here, at least

what y'all are doing here, I hope you

are. Hope you're serving the Lord here

at Antioch or this is your church right

>> now. If this is not your church and

you're looking for one, I can highly

recommend Meadows Baptist Church. Think

it'd be a good church for you and your

family. Amen. Get in here and serve the

Lord together. While you're serving the

Lord here, what if the Holy Ghost

stepped in and said, "Separate me."

And maybe it's you and your family.

Maybe you're the Saul. Maybe you're the

Barnabas and said, "I have called you to

do a work wherever it is that God would

have you to go."

Big decision here. What if God steps in,

calls you? I've been praying for you.

Jesus left us with one prayer request.

Any of you know what it was? The only

time he ever asked us to pray about

anything, he said, "Pray that the Lord

of the harvest would send forth laborers

into his harvest." But Charlie, I'm

trying to honor that prayer request.

I've been praying God send forth some

labors into the harvest.

>> Yes,

>> the harvest is plenteous,

>> but the laborers are few.

Right now in 2026,

we have fewer missionaries

going to the mission field than we have

had in years and years.

There for a little while, the amount of

missionaries that was going out was

climbing, but it reached a plateau and

now it's declining. Fewer and fewer is

going. I don't know. I have some ideals

as to why. I'm not going to deal with

any of those tonight. That's not That's

not why I'm here this evening. I will

mention maybe convenience might have

something to do with it.

>> Yeah.

>> Amen. I don't know for sure, but it sure

seems like that might be a possibility,

but we're in great need of some laborers

tonight. I've been praying God send some

families out. We need some missionaries.

I tell you, you could take a globe

tonight and spin it, stop it with your

finger, and if your finger lands on

land, there's a good chance they need

they need a missionary there.

>> Dire need for somebody to take the

gospel. I've recently found out that the

Philippines

are rapidly approaching, if not passing

America as the country that's sending

out the most missionaries. The

Philippines.

What about that?

We need somebody to go to the field,

take the gospel of Christ.

>> What if it's you?

>> What if God came by where you are

>> and begin to deal with your heart about

taking the gospel somewhere? Say, I

ain't preacher. What if God calls you?

>> Uh I'm I'm not able. I ain't either.

Takes God to enable us to do anything.

Amen. Right?

>> You can come up with all kinds of

excuses, but what if God was to center

you out and called you to be the

missionary? Boy, you talking about a

decision.

Let's look first of all at this decision

that you're going to be faced with. Am I

going to go? Am I going to go? I feel

for those, there are some tonight, no

doubt, that's dealing with this type of

decision.

God's calling. God's drawing you to go

somewhere. I don't know where it's at

yet, but God's dealing with your heart

about me. What are you gonna do? What

are you gonna do? I thought about the

the different things that's going to be

laying heavy on your mind. Are you

willing, listen to me, are you willing

to lay aside the luxuries

that we have as an American? Are you

willing to lay that aside

and go to a place that don't have what

we have here?

Now, there might be a possibility God

might call you somewhere to America. Let

me say this. Don't overlook America. We

need some missionaries here.

>> Amen. Used to be that was a you don't

talk about that. But I'm telling you,

our country is in as bad of need of

missionaries now as a lot of these other

countries are. He might send you

somewhere here. That'd be wonderful.

You'd still have a Walmart to go to.

Amen. Still have a Dollar General right

around the corner. Somebody say amen

right there. I I don't know who the CEO

is of Dollar General, but I really want

to get them involved in missions.

>> If they can put a Dollar General on

every street, maybe we can get them in

missions and they can put a church on

every street. Somebody help me.

>> Yes.

>> Maybe God calls you somewhere in America

and you'd still have the convenience of

America. That'd be wonderful. But what

if God calls you to a third world

country?

You willing to lay aside the luxurious

lifestyle that we long for, that we

want. you willing left side that and go

somewhere and endure hardships for the

cause of Christ. That's a pretty big

decision.

Maybe you're a homebody.

Maybe you're [snorts] attached to mama

real well. Maybe you got grandbabies and

you don't want to you don't have to go

halfway around the world and leave them

grandb babies behind. I I don't know

what's holding us here, but would you be

willing to lay some of that aside,

pay a price, make a sacrifice that most

is not willing to make? That's a pretty

big decision. Would you agree with that?

>> Amen.

>> Maybe you got health issues and maybe

you'd think, well, I if I leave here,

then I won't have I won't have the

health available that I need or the

health care available that I need. a lot

of things going to weigh heavy on your

mind and making a decision like that.

All right, for a few moments. I I'm I'm

not a long- winded preacher. Usually, if

I'm going to be long-winded, it's going

to be tonight. So, don't let that make

you nervous. Uh I I want to I want us to

help us this evening. All right. You

make a decision that you're All right.

You're going to go, Brother Charlie, you

get me a couple of men. help me right

here real quickly. I probably don't have

enough of these for everybody.

Um

but um I have enough I think for at

least every family to have one. All

right. And just get those out here. You

make the decision. You're praying about

it. God's put some something in your

heart. He's calling you to be a

missionary. And then when you get these

cards here, these p papers here, this is

going to be your destination. All right.

God's calling you to be a missionary and

you're fixing to find out where you're

going soon as they get these handed out.

When you get them, take a moment, look

over them real quickly. Up at the top,

it simply says, "You're the missionary,

having been called of God." We do

believe it's a calling. Having been

called of God, Acts 13:2, you are now

Acts 13:2

preparing to go to the mission field.

Then you'll see where you're going. It's

got the name of the country or state

there near the top. It's got a map. It's

going to give you an idea where it's at.

It's even some of them's got a world

globe there to give you an idea where

it's at. Then right there in the middle,

it's going to tell you how many souls

are there. The world calls that the

population. We don't call it the

population. We call it souls because

every one has a soul. Y'all with me?

>> Amen. Some of them is going to be real

big numbers.

Some of them might not be so big, but

every one of them is a soul. Then it's

going to have some pictures, let you

know a little bit what to expect as far

as the culture, what the people might

look like, what things might look like

around you. Then it's going to have some

information down at the bottom. Going to

tell you a little bit about the

government. Going to tell you about

ethnic groups, languages, religion, the

climate even. And then it probably have

a note down there at the bottom that you

might ought to read. So, you've prayed

about it. God's really been dealing with

your heart about being a missionary, and

now he's told you where he's sending

you.

Let me take just a moment as you're

looking at them. I'm going to ask a

couple of you where you going tonight.

Brother Charlie, where you and Miss Abby

going?

Oh, you didn't get one.

>> Was there any extras?

Idaho. We got one going to Idaho right

here. He gets a American state. That's a

blessing, is it not? But let me say

this. Idaho is in dire need of a

missionary.

>> I know a couple out there and um you go

out west, any of you ever been out west,

you can drive miles and miles and miles

and even more miles and not come across

a Biblebelieving

Bible preaching church. Dire need out

there. How many souls are in Idaho?

1,600,000

>> 1,600,000 souls just in the state of

Idaho alone. Wow, that's a lot of

people. Let's see here, brother. Where

y'all going?

>> Okay, that's a I'm glad you got that.

I'll come back to you. They're going

What? I I don't know if I'm pronouncing

it right either. The Piccarian Islands.

Okay, I'm coming back to y'all in a few

minutes. All right, let's see here.

Where y'all going?

>> Argentina. Do y'all know how to speak?

Is it Spanish?

>> Spanish.

>> I guess it's Spanish.

That's gonna be interesting. Amen. I

have trouble with English.

I don't know if I can deal with the

Spanish or not. Let's see over here.

Where y'all going?

>> Massachusetts.

>> Massachusetts. They got American State.

That's a blessing, brother. Where y'all

going?

>> Dominican Republic.

>> Dominican Republic. What language they

speak over there?

>> I have no idea. [laughter]

>> I don't either. You're gonna find out if

you go, though. Amen.

I could ask all of you and there's a

couple I'm going to ask for. Who got uh

who got India? Anybody get India right

back here? Sister, tell us how many now

it's been a while since I've done these.

How many souls are in India? That's a

big number.

That's a lot of souls in India. When I

did these, China was the biggest one.

Who's going to China?

>> Right over here. There's a lot of souls

in China. I think that's flip-flopped

now. Indry, India has passed China and

population or souls. Now, uh either one

of you, you're going to have a hard time

being a missionary where God's called

you. I'll come back to that in a little

while. Who got the Hawaiian Islands

way back here in the corner? Everybody

in here wants to trade with y'all.

They want to go to Hawaii. Amen. I'll

come back to y'all in a few minutes as

well. All right. You found out where

you're going. Now, we need to we need to

talk about some things. If God's called

you there,

it is a calling. I would never suggest

anybody try to go the mission field on a

burden. There's a big difference between

a burden and a calling.

>> Burdens come and go,

>> but a calling will not leave. Amen. And

so, you've been called to go there. You

going to obey God?

That's probably the biggest question.

You going are you going to go? Are you

willing to drop everything here?

Probably most of you, if you're going to

go somewhere like that, there's a good

chance you might as well even sell your

house. You you willing to do that? Some

of you had a house given to you. It was

mama's house. Or maybe you through sweat

and blood, you built it with your own

hands and you are you willing to give

that up?

Man, that's big decisions going to have

to be made. We'll talk more about that

maybe if we get time. But are you going

to go where God's called you? All right,

you decide you're going to go. You've

prayed about it. Uh what' be the first

step to take after you've discussed it

amongst yourself, your family, husband

sat down with the wife and wife has

talked it over with the husband. I'd say

the first thing I'd do is I'd be I'd be

sitting down with my pastor and I'd talk

to my pastor. What do y'all think?

Probably pretty good ideal. God's really

put this on my heart. Talk to your

pastor. Your pastor going to help guide

you and help you in the next decisions

that you're going to have to make. And

I'll mention this one briefly. Um are

you how you going to do it? Are you

going to use a mission board or you just

going to go out of your church? Now, I

do believe in the authority of the local

church.

Uh and mission boards, a lot of people

don't know a whole lot about mission

boards. I'll say something real quickly

about that. A mission board is not the

missionar's authority. That that really

is not their authority. A mission board

is simply an agency to assist that

missionary and that sending church in

getting a missionary to wherever God has

called them to go. We do have some

that's anti-mission board.

Brother Charlie, the biggest reason I

can find out why some don't like mission

boards or don't don't believe him is

simply this. And it's it's going to be a

valid point, but I want you to listen to

me. You can't find it in the scripture.

Okay? There's no mission board in the

Bible.

Let me clarify something for you.

There's no need for a mission board in

the Bible. Okay? Paul was sent out of

the church at Antioch. That's his

sending church.

>> But Paul's the only missionary. Barnabas

goes with him for a little while. has a

couple others come alongside of him,

help him a little while, but he he's the

only one. Let me tell you about a

mission board real quickly. It's about

10 to 7, y'all. Okay. If I get too

longwinded, somebody just raise your

hand and uh

we'll see what happens. I'm afraid I'm

afraid to afraid to say that. We better

leave that alone, I guess. I'm going to

try my best to hurry, but let's talk

about some things. I believe more we

understand, more we know about missions,

more able we're going to be able to know

how to help in missions. Amen. A mission

board. A mission board wasn't started. I

mentioned brother William Kerry this

morning. Y'all y'all remember I

mentioned him. After William Kerry

settled in his heart that it was the

church's responsibility to take the

gospel to the heathen, he began to

gather with some other preachers that

began to see eye to eye with him. They

started praying about it and asking God

to send somebody to the mission field.

Well, again, in those days, most people

wasn't for that. But yet, a few of them

got together and as they're praying, God

brings a guy into the life of William

Kerry that had been in India. Long story

short, God calls William Kerry then to

be the first missionary. He left the

country of England to take the gospel to

the country of India.

as they're gathered together and he's

made the announcement. He said, 'I will

go.' William Kerry makes this statement.

Y'all with me? Here's what he said. I

feel like India is a gold mine of souls.

He said, I'll go down in the mine. He

looked at these other preachers that was

with him. He said, I'll go down the in

the mine if y'all will hold the ropes.

H Andrew Fuller was one of those

preachers and there's a couple of more

and they looked at William Kerry and

said we will hold the ropes if you go.

Those three or four preachers stayed

back and they formed the first Baptist

missionary society. That's what they

called it. Basically what they done,

they formed the first mission board.

Their goal was to help William Kerry in

any way and every way they possibly

could. Raise support for him, whatever

they could do, recruit other

missionaries to go to the field and

help. That was the sole purpose of the

First Baptist Missionary Society. That's

what a mission board does today. Simply

there to help that missionary, to help

the local church. We try to do anything

that we can to make sure they get there,

stay there, have what they need while

they're there, assist the churches and

sending so many different things. That's

what a mission board is. You're going to

go through the local church or you going

to go through a mission board. Maybe

pros and cons with a little bit of each.

If you go through a mission board, they

might be a church out there that don't

like mission boards and they won't help

you. That's their prerogative. But I

believe the pros outweigh the cons.

You're going to get a lot of help from a

mission board that you're not going to

have if you try to just go it alone by

yourself and just through your local

church. Lots of help. I don't have time.

If you got questions later, we'll try to

answer some of those, but we help in a

lot of different ways. So, you're going

to have to decide if you're going to go

with a mission board, which one you

going to go with. We'll say more about

that as the week comes. But then the

next thing

once you start deciding whether you're

going to go with a mission board or not,

you got to start putting a plan

together. How you going to do this? I

highly doubt that there's any of you in

here that can afford to do it on your

own.

Have Is any of you in here I'll just go

ahead and say it this way. Is any of you

in here rich enough tonight to go move

your family halfway around the world

without getting a job when you get there

and still be able to buy your groceries

for years to come that you're able to do

all I doubt any of you can do that. You

know what you're going to have to do?

You're going to have to find some help.

>> You're going to have to find somebody to

help you get the gospel to where God's

now listen. God's called you. You've got

to get there. And when God calls you, he

puts something in your heart. You will

not be satisfied until you get where

God's called you. Y'all with me there?

You just cannot be satisfied until

you've done what God called you to do.

You're going to have to find some help.

So, what you're going to have to do now

is put a plan together about going out

on what we call deputation.

We'll deal with that. Before we

before we do though, I want to I want to

talk about where where you're going, the

destination. We need to find out some

things because it's going to have big

impact on your deputation. Let's look at

a few things real quickly together.

We've done mention with some of you. How

about communication? Where you're going,

do they speak English? How many of you

is going to a place that don't speak

English? Let me see your hands. Got

quite a few of you. You're going to have

a challenge

right off the bat. You're going to have

to learn another language.

You're going to have to I go on mission

trips. Matter of fact, u matter of fact,

two weeks from tomorrow, Jenny and I,

we're going to England. I'm thankful I

don't have to have an interpreter for

the most part when I get to England.

Yeah,

>> it's a little bit different English

>> and we we struggle a little bit.

Especially some of the older crowd when

I get over there, they can't hardly

understand me and I can't hardly

understand them. But it is a form of

English. January, I'm going to Honduras.

They don't speak English in Honduras.

It's Spanish. I'm only going to be there

for a few weeks. So, Brother Charlie,

what I'm going to do is use an

interpreter. I'll be preaching in

Honduras. And I'll preach with an

interpreter. You can get by like that

for a little while, but if you're going

to go live amongst those people and

start a church there, you can't get by

with just interpreters. You're going to

have to learn the language. What you're

looking at, if you're going to a country

that speaks a different language, you're

looking at a good chance you may have to

take about six months

just to go to language school. Used to

be real popular. Now, what's more

popular and gaining more is going to the

mission field and hiring a tutor to

teach you when you initially get there

as long as it takes. But you've got to

learn that lang. That's a big obstacle

right there immediately for those of you

going to a place that don't speak

English. So, communication,

let me mention this one quickly.

Control.

You got to find out that government.

What what's that government going to

allow you to do in order to be a

missionary where God has called you? Let

me ask you this question. Can you go as

a missionary or are you going to have to

go into the country some other way to do

the work of a missionary? Give you a

couple examples. Right now, China,

you're probably not even going to get in

China as an American, much less as a

missionary. It's closed. Okay? There are

still missionaries in China. Some of

those are Americans that have been

married to a Chinese and they've worked

around some things and they're able to

do the work. Going in front in the front

as a missionary. It's impossible. India,

you're going to be able to go as a

missionary. Really can't go as a

missionary. You're going to have to go

probably as an English teacher or

something of that nature. And when you

get to India, you're only allowed to go

in for six months. After 6 months, you

have to come out of the country. They

will not allow any foreigner in the

country longer than six months at a

time. So, you're going to have to leave

a little while and then you have to re

reapply for your visa and go back in

again for another 6 months. You're going

to have to find out what you can and

can't do. You'd be surprised which

countries are considered or thought to

be open that not are not near as open as

you would suspect.

Mention we're going to England in two

weeks. Brother, often, Brother Charlie,

we'll take church groups on a mission

trip or youth groups on a mission trip.

Anytime we go, how many of you ever

flown out flown out of the country?

You've been out of the country before.

Got a few of you that have, you probably

a little bit familiar with some of this.

If you leave this country and go into

another country, number one, you got to

have a passport. And in most places,

even England now, this only changed

about two years ago, you have to apply

for a visa. There's different types of

visas that you can get. Long story short

is you've got to find out how to first

of all get in the country. Once you get

in the country, you're going to go

before a customs agent.

First thing when you land, before you

get out of the airport, probably even

before you get your luggage, you're

going to go before a customs agent.

You're going to hand them your passport.

They're going to look at your passport

and they're going to look at you and

make sure it's you. And then they're

going to ask you a question. Why are you

here?

Don't matter where you go. I go to

Honduras, they want to know why I'm

there. I go to England, they're going to

want to know why am I there. When we

take these groups, we usually tell our

groups, don't tell them that we're there

as a missionary.

We're not trying to be deceptive. We're

just trying to be wise. Okay?

What we usually tell them is, and this

is 99.9%

of the time true, we're there visiting

friends. We got a missionary already

there and we're going to go visit them.

So we'll tell them we're there visiting

friends. It's just even in England, it's

probably wise to do that. For an

example, four young preachers got

together, go to England on a mission

trip to have a missionary. They were

told this very thing that I'm telling

you. They go before the customs agent

and the first preacher says, they asked

why he's here. He said, "We're here

visiting some friends." They stamped his

passport and said, "Welcome to England."

The second one stood before the customs

agent. They said, "Why are you here?" He

said the same. They stamped his

passport, said, "Welcome to England."

Third, same. Fourth one was a young

preacher full of zeal and real excited.

Usually, I like that, but can't get you

in trouble. Third, the fourth one stands

before the customs agent and they said,

"Why are you here?" He said, "We here

preach Jesus.

Y'all forgot about him. We're here to

reintroduce him to you." I mean, that's

that sounds real spiritual, don't I

mean? Well, the customs agent kind of

lowered their glass, said, "Excuse me."

And he said it again and they said,

"Sir, would you step aside?" And he

stepped stepped aside and they found out

those other three preachers was

traveling with him. They pulled them

back, put them in a room together. This

true story happened in England, London,

England. put them in a conference room,

kept them there for about five hours

questioning them. Ended up put them on a

plane, sent them back to America, and

refused entry into England. It's where

we came from. Better find out what you

can and cannot do if you're going to a

foreign field to take the gospel. Can

you own property when you get there? Can

you get a driver's license when you get

there? Are you legally able to drive

when you get there? So many things you

better find out before you head off and

go somewhere. Every missionary has to do

this. Probably the best resource that

you would have is to find a missionary

that's already there and they can inform

you a whole lot about what you can and

cannot do. We have missionaries in

Scotland. We have found out that a male,

the daddy, the father cannot work while

he's in Scotland. It's not allowed to

work. They only keep jobs for their

people.

Sounds like a pretty good ideal to me.

But anyway,

the the wife can work, but the husband

can't. Isn't that strange? Got to find

out what you can and cannot do as a

missionary. You going to have to buy

land through somebody that lives there.

You going to rent a ve vehicle? Rent a

place to have church. So much you've got

to find out control. Here's a quick one

I want to deal with you real quickly.

What about cost?

I think that's pretty important. How

much is it going to take for me to move

my family wherever it is that God's

calling me to? Whether it's

Massachusetts or whether it's Africa or

China, where what's it going to cost for

me to move my family? not only move my

family, find a place to live,

transportation,

got to start a church. What's all that

going to cost? Keep in mind, when you do

start a church, you don't have a

congregation to take up an offering

from. If there's going to be rent paid

on a building to have a church, guess

who's paying the rent?

Missionary is. If you're going to have

song books, who's getting the song

books? The missionary is if there's a

power bill, who's paying the power bill?

The missionary is. Hey man, he don't

have a congregation he can take up an

offering from like we do here. It's all

on that missionary. You got to count the

cost. How much is it going to cost for

me to move, live, survive in another

place? A lot of times it's a whole lot

more than what we would think it would

cost.

Therefore, you got to take all this into

consideration on how much support you're

going to need. How many churches am I

going to have to be in uh introduced to?

How many how many do I hope is going to

take us on for support? All this going

to be involved in finding out what the

cost is. Speaking of cost, not

everywhere you go uses a dollar.

If you go to Europe, it's going to be

the euro.

If you go to an Asia country, it's

probably going to be the yen. If you go

to the UK, it's going to be the pound.

And the pound and the euro especially is

worth more than a dollar is. So, you got

to take all that into consideration.

Have a actually the missionary that

we're going to go fill in for in a

couple of weeks. He watches the uh

exchange rate about like a lot of us

Americans do watching the stock

exchange. I mean, it's real important.

And and it's amazing. Overnight, your

buying power may drop 20% overnight. So,

here's what's happening to some of these

missionaries. They're losing they're

losing support without any church even

dropping them because of the exchange

rate. Now, there may be a time when it's

stronger than what it is at other times,

but that's something else you've got to

consider. Cost. What's it going to cost?

Climate. That's pretty important.

Uh, who's going to Alaska?

This couple right back here is going to

Alaska. Hope y'all like cold weather.

Amen. Who's going to an African country

right here? Who's going to Bkina Faso?

Anybody got Bkina Faso?

That's y'all. I've been to Bkina three

times. Bkina Faso is a western African

country. The first time I went there, I

went there in October. My wife was with

me on that trip. And when we got to the

Bkina Faso, the average temperature in

October was 106.

It was every day. And uh so I hope y'all

like hot weather. Amen. That's pretty

big deal for us Americans that are

spoiled with air conditioning, is it

not? Uh there the missionary in in

Burkina Foso, still there today. Veteran

missionary Keith Shoemaker. I don't know

if y'all know him. Brother Charlie does.

Keith Shoemaker's a veteran. I mean,

he's topnotch. They only run our

condition at night. They can't afford it

all day long. They run at night just so

you can sleep, make it comfortable

enough to go to sleep. When we go to

visit, if we're staying at his house, we

get to turn the hour on after 9:00. It's

a real blessing. Amen. Uh, a lot of

times we go over there, we don't even

stay at his house, though. Sometimes we

sleep out under the stars. Totally

different story. So, you've got to

you've got to consider these things. How

about health care? I mentioned that just

a little bit earlier. Uh what kind of

health care is going to be available?

First time I went to Honduras, my wife

and I was being drove through town. He

was the missionary was showing us around

where we was. Drove us by the local

hospital.

When we drove by the local hospital, and

I don't mean this in a derogative way.

I'm not I'm not being judgment. I'm just

saying how it is. hospital's very

rundown building. Outside the main

entrance was a gurnie uh caught. Still

had sheets on it and it's covered with

blood, hadn't been touched, hadn't been

cleaned up. And I just looked at my wife

and I said, "Pray we don't have to go to

the hospital while we here."

I am a spoiled American, okay? I can't

help that. You got to find out what's

going to be available when you get

there. Uh I went back to I was in

Honduras last year and guess what I had

to do? I had to go to the hospital while

I was there. Uh had a had a large kidney

stone got lodged and anyway different

story. Uh what little was available? I

was thankful for it. All right. So you

got to find out what about medication.

If you're on medication, can you get it

there? Um

so many things 100 things going through

my mind, but you got to figure all this

stuff out before you go. Deputation

time. Any questions so far? It's a

little bit interactive. Told you it's

going to be different. I want you to

learn more about missions. Any questions

so far? Anybody?

Anybody? Feel free to ask. Let's talk

about deputation. You figured all this

out. You've got to get a plan together.

You've got to get a presentation

together. You got to get some meetings.

How you going to get meetings? In this

day and time, it's tough. Used to be we

had Yalla pages, had church listings in

it with church phone numbers. You'd call

them. Most time there wouldn't be nobody

answering, but you at least try. And now

we got cell phones. Nobody has landlines

anymore. And so you try to find out some

cell phones or some preachers. Uh there

are lists out there, brother Charlie. If

your name and number gets put on one of

them list, they probably a few call you.

However, in this day and time, I'm

hearing this from every pastor I go go

around, they're saying, "I don't get

hardly near the calls I used to. Just

ain't many going anymore." But you've

got to try to find a way to get some

meetings. Why? Because you're seeking

out support to help you to get where

God's called you to. Let me clarify

something for you. A lot of churches

have this mindset that these

missionaries, the only thing they're

interested in is our money. And a lot of

times they're looked at as machinaries.

You ever heard that word before?

Probably have. You'll be Baptist Church.

A lot of them look at them say they're

just a bunch of machinaries. They just

want money. They can't get to where

God's called them without some help,

without some money. And so, listen,

they're not really after our money as

much as we are ought to be after their

fruit.

>> Amen. We ought to look at it that way.

So, they've got to get these meetings

and try to find the support that they

need. You got to put a presentation

together. What are you going to say when

you get up in front of everybody?

I mean, you're wanting I don't mean to

sound like this, but you know about what

it is. It It's about like they got to be

a salesman.

>> Amen.

And they threaten their kids. You better

be on the best behavior that you can

possibly be. We don't want to go into

this church and ruin a chance of getting

supported. Y'all with me. Amen. And so

they're they're took from church to

church to church. They're in a different

bed almost every night. At least every

other night. When they go to church,

they have no idea what to expect. Every

church ain't like your church. Amen. And

they have no idea what to expect when

they get there. And so they get a

presentation together. They get a they

get a the thoughts. They get statistics.

Things like that to try to share with

the people that maybe put a video

together. Pictures do say a thousand

words. Used to be. It used to be the old

slide presentation. Now it's these nice

videos with music in the background and

everything. and they're trying their

best to get people on board with what

God has called them to do. And there's

challenges around every corner. I

mentioned this. Who got Hawaii back here

in the corner? Sister, can you imagine

God called you and your family to go to

Hawaii?

Put yourself in their shoes. Can you

imagine calling a pastor and saying,

"Hi, I'm so and so. We're missionaries

to Hawaii."

What just went through that preacher's

mind?

He He's human. He can't help it. He He

wouldn't say it, but it went through his

mind. Yeah, right.

You You want to go on permanent vacation

and have God's people to pay for it?

That's what you're after. That's what

went through his mind. And so, it's

going to be real difficult to get a

meeting. All right. If you get a

meeting, you get four people. You get up

in front of the people and your your

video that you play on the screen, it's

not little hungry African children. It's

beautiful waterfalls.

How you going to get support like that?

Ain't nobody want to jump on board and

send you to paradise.

It's going to be a challenge.

On top of that, if if this family was

going to Hawaii as missionaries, how

much money they going to need? How much

support's it going to take? Let me give

you a little idea. This when I done this

research, been a while, it's probably

changed. A one-bedroom apartment in

Hawaii about $2,500 a month. One

bedroom.

That's a lot of support right there.

Hopefully, you want to get a church

started. Nine times out of 10, it

probably get started in your living

room. Have a little Bible study. Get

some people interested. introduce them

to the word of God. Introduce them to

Christ. Hopefully, he's going to outgrow

your living room, though, and you're

going to have to have somewhere to meet.

Nine times out of ten, something like

that might start out in a conference

room in a motel. Maybe maybe the motel

owner might be gracious enough to let

you use it for free. Probably not.

Probably going to have to pay rent on

that. Hopefully, outgrow that. Going to

have to get into a building. How about a

storefront? If a one-bedroom apartment's

going to be $2,500 a month, how much is

a storefront building going to be to

rent?

I can't imagine all of that's going to

have to come out of your pocket.

How much support you going to need?

Transportation, gasoline, eight bucks a

gallon. You going to buy a vehicle? You

going to buy the gas? You're going to

depend on public transportation.

All this stuff's going to have to be

considered. And all of that's going to

be on that family. I knew I knew of a

couple that was missionaries to Hawaii.

But Charlie, they stayed on deputation

for actually several years and never

made it. Gave up.

I know it's tropical paradise, but let

me ask you a question. Does Hawaii need

a missionary?

>> You better believe it. From my research,

I think I don't remember how many

islands they are. Anybody know how many

islands there are? I can't remember

exactly. Out of all of Hawaii, I think

there's three when I best research I

could find three decent Bible preaching

churches in all of Hawaii.

Dire need there. But you talking about a

challenge talking about going to be

difficult to try to get support to go

somewhere like that. Alaska. Who's going

to Alaska? This couple right back here.

Talking back to the finances. My wife

and I got to go to Alaska. Was it last

year? Year before last. Year before

last. Got missionaries up there in

Cordova, Alaska. The Helms family. We

went up there and visited them a little

while there in Cordova. Cordova is a

fishing village. You don't drive to

Cordova. You either got to go by boat or

by plane. It's on the way in. And so we

went in by plane. There's there's two

grocery stores in all of Cordova.

And uh they took us to both of them. And

I'm I'm the typical tourist. I'm going

down the aisles in the grocery store

with my phone out taking pictures of

prices.

A gallon of water,

no name brand, just a gallon of drinking

water, clear b clear jug, $8.99

for a gallon of drinking water.

A 24 pack of bottled water, $39.99.

24 pack.

Bag of potato chips, $13.99.

Bag of potato chips. Everything has to

be transported in. They don't have

anything there. You can't grow nothing.

You can't make nothing. Everything's

brought in. shipping costs, gonna have

to have a lot of support probably to go

to somewhere like Alaska. All these

things going to have to be considered

before you start deputation. And then

you go into these churches and you're

trying to convince people to get on

board with you can be difficult. A lot

of things factor on how quickly you

raise your support. They tell me right

now the average time on deputation is

somewhere in between two and three years

of deputation.

Uh most of these missionaries, depending

on how far they go out, they're going to

travel probably around 40,000 miles a

year.

They're going to have to probably visit

over 200 churches to get the support

that they're going to need to get to

where God's called them to. Some might

be longer, some might be shorter. Again,

several things factor into that. Things

that you wouldn't think about. Uh, does

this family sing together?

Uh, do they have pretty harmony?

Y'all think I'm crazy, but I'm telling

you how it is.

Uh, there's a missionary family. They're

in Scotland right now. Love them dearly.

Uh, the Alverson family. Did they ever

come by here?

The Alverson family is missionary

Scotland. It's it's brother Howard

Alverson's the dad, his wife Rebecca,

and while they're on deputation, they

had three young ladies, three girls,

three teenage girls. Brother Charlie,

they sang beautifully. Wife played the

piano. The girls sang. It's this perfect

harmony. They got their support real

quick. They really did. God blessed and

mighty way. Brother Howard called me one

day and he's all excited.

I asked him, I said, "Why are you so

excited?" He said, "Preacher, you'll

never guess what happened." I said,

"What happened?" And he said a church

took us on for support without hearing

the girls sing.

That singing family was an advantage for

him. It helped greatly. If you're going

to Africa or somewhere like that, you

put videos up a little hungry youngans

that pulls on people's heartstrings.

People going to jump on board quicker.

Just a fact. Depending on where God's

called you is going to have a whole lot

to do with how quickly you can get

through deputation to get to where

you're going. Think of the weary nights,

long drives. Think of the coffee. Think

of all this that they're going to have

to think of the kids cooped up in the

backseat of a car or a van or something

of that nature. Up and down the road. Up

and down the road. Don't have any kind

of settled life. Why you saying all

this? If nothing else, if God don't

never call you to go anywhere, maybe

you'll have a little more compassion on

them that come by your place.

>> Amen. Don't tell them where they came

from. No telling what they've endured.

No telling what they've experienced in

churches that's supposed to love on

them.

>> No telling what they've experienced.

Deputation

is usually a dreaded word for those that

goes into ministry and have to raise

support. But deputation can be a

blessing when you have churches like

Meadow Baptist Church that love on them

when they come by.

Amen.

I hope this is helping you just a little

bit.

Deputation's a big part of getting where

God's called you to. All right, it's 20

after. I'm hurrying. Okay, you got

through deputation. Got your support

raised. I mean, it's almost like a

celebration for a family has gone

everywhere and done everything and

finally got enough support coming in

that they can go to the field. All

right, let me uh can I use y'all for an

example? Can I pick on you? What's y'all

names? Shane

>> Beverly

>> and last name

>> Grubs.

>> This is the Grubs family and they are

going to the Pit Caring Islands.

>> Okay. They got their support raised and

um they're fixing to pack up and leave.

Y'all got parents still living?

>> No. Both of them both of ours is gone.

But you got some still alive. You

talking about being tough having to

leave. Can you imagine how to be leave

your parents?

Some of them's getting on up in years. A

lot of times these missionaries when

they start to pull out, they don't know

what's going to happen in the next

little while.

>> Y'all with me?

>> It's going to be tough. Have to say

goodbye. Grandians or kids or brothers

or sisters, whatever the family might

be, having to tell them goodbye. Used to

be is looking about four-year period. Uh

some mission boards require their

missionaries to stay without an

emergency up to four years before they

come back on furlow. We don't have a set

time. We look at every situation

different. But uh you're going to be

gone for a while. So that's going to be

tough just saying goodbye. If the Grubs

family is going to leave and they're

going to go be gone, Peran Island is

going to be a small place. I'll say more

about that in a moment. Uh, what would

y'all like for people to in your church

and other churches you've been to? What

would you like to them to think about

y'all? You'd want them to think about

you, wouldn't you? Don't forget us.

>> But you know what? Out of sight, out of

mind.

Might be a prayer card laying around

with a picture on it. Might get seen

every now and then. And somebody, they

might be a couple real faithful gonna

pray for you regular basis, but they

ain't gonna be many of them to be

honest. out of sight, out of mind.

They're going to be saying, "Well, I

hope somebody reads your prayer letter.

We're taking time to write them."

There's going to be churches that's

going to drop us if we don't write them.

>> So, I hope somebody's going to read

them. Y'all with me?

>> Let me give you a little advice right

here. Don't drop a missionary family for

not sending a prayer letter when you

wasn't going to read it anyhow.

>> That's right.

>> Okay.

>> I mean, we're so strict in wanting them

to send them.

>> Why do we want them to send them? At

least read them. Amen.

>> Amen. I hope somebody reads them every

now and then. How about a How about a

remember me and communicate with me

every now and then.

>> You talking about excitement for a

missionary family that's been gone for

three years get something come through

the mail. Amen. Something like that you

don't think about, but man, it means a

whole lot to them. Amen. Now in this day

and time with all the modern technology

that we have, how about a how about a

FaceTime or a video over and that boy

especially you got family back home.

>> Amen. Just mean it's going to mean a lot

for somebody to think about y'all

and and maybe show a little act of

kindness along the way. Amen. Things you

need to think about. Come visit us, man.

We'd love somebody come see us while

we're over here. Amen. You ever took a

mission trip?

Let me give you a little encouragement.

Take one if you get a chance. Preacher,

it costs a lot. Vacations do too.

Won't you take one of them years of

vacation and all that money is going to

spend on vacation. Why don't you invest

that in a mission trip?

You You can make it a vacation.

Everywhere you go, there's something to

see. Do a little sightseeing. But I tell

you what's going to happen. you take you

a mission trip, it's going to make a

difference in you and your family.

>> And in the meantime, you're going to be

a real blessing to a missionary family

that's longing for a little bit of

conversation, a little bit of

fellowship.

>> Amen. You're going to hope somebody come

see me every now and then. There's a

missionary family I knew well down in

Santiago, Chile, South America. Down

there for eight years. missionary told

me with a broken heart. He said, "Nobody

in eight years has ever come to see us."

Eight years was it. That's all they

lasted. They came back off the field

whooped and discouraged, out of sight,

out of mind, and forgotten. Don't do

that. Don't forget them. And they're

going to say this, "Don't drop us."

It's amazing how many churches drop

their missionaries just over no little

reason at all. Now, if it's doctrinal or

they gone a different way and preaching

a different Bible or different Jesus,

drop them.

>> Drop them. Don't We don't want to

support that stuff. But if they're still

staying on the field, they're still

true. But say, "Preacher, ain't winning

nobody to God." How many of you winning?

>> How many of you winning?

>> They're going to be some of these places

these missionaries go and they ain't

going to get to write back big fancy

prayer letters that said, "We want a

hundred to God."

>> Yeah. They going to be some of them go

to England

>> and they going to write back and say,

"We ain't seen nobody saved in 6 months

or a year."

>> They going to be some of them that write

back and say, "We've been here for three

years and hadn't seen nobody saved." We

going to drop them for that.

>> Come on now. It ain't all about the

numbers. I know every everyone's a soul.

I know that. But I'm telling you, it's

about being faithful.

>> Amen. Faithful. God's got them there for

a witness. They may never win nobody to

God, but I still think that's pretty

good investment.

>> Don't drop us. A lot of times you'll be

amazed a new pastor comes in.

But I tell you, every missionary gets

nervous when they hear that one of our

church supporting churches gets a new

pastor. It happens so many times. Maybe

the pastor just don't know them. Comes

in, drops them all. Or maybe maybe he

don't believe in mission. I don't know

what it might be. But hey, before you

drop somebody, you pray about that real

hard.

>> Amen.

>> Think about that real hard.

Do everything we can to keep from

dropping one. Amen. Because when they're

on the field, they can't go out and pick

up support from another church just down

the road. They ain't going to be another

one down the road. It may be a while

before they get to come back off on

furlow. And it's sad. A lot of these

missionaries when they do get a chance

to come on furlow instead of getting to

spend some time with their family,

they're having to go into more churches,

try to raise support because so many

dropped them while they was gone. Y'all

okay?

>> I don't mean to be

fussing, but I'm just I'm trying to help

y'all. Amen. Help y'all. Picarian

Islands, tell us how many souls are in

the PCaring Islands.

>> 57.

>> Did you hear that? 57 souls. When I've

done this, that was the smallest country

in the world. I looked it up this week.

There's 195 countries in the world right

now. Changes quite often to be honest

with you. When I done this research and

all, that was the smallest one. There's

57 souls. Let me ask you a question. I'm

about done.

You think it'd be a good investment? You

think it'd be worth a family, let's say

the Grubs family. You think it'd be

worth worth them selling their home,

quitting their jobs, spending three

years on deputation,

saying goodbye to family, loved ones,

friends, elderly parents, what it might

whatever it might be. You think it'd be

worth a family moving? I mean, it's

literally in the middle of nowhere. It

used to be British controlled. I think

it may still be British controlled. A

little group of islands. I mean, out it

ain't close to nothing really. You think

it'd be worth a family going through all

of that? Listen, with the best hope of

winning 57 people,

I mean, if that's if everything goes

perfect, the best you can hope for is

win 57 people to God. You think that'd

be worth it? That's a lot of time and

effort and a lot of money. I listen, I

guarantee you this land ain't going to

be cheap when you get there. You talking

about finding a place to rent and live

and have a church? That's going to be

tough. You think that'd be worth it?

Why not? Let's go somewhere where

there's a billion souls.

Let me say this. I know it's only 57,

but can you put a price tag on one?

>> Well, if you lived in the Pit Car

Islands, hey, it's just by the grace of

God you where you're at tonight.

>> That's right.

>> Amen. 57 57 Look down there at the

bottom and tell us the religion. What's

the religion there in the pit carrying

islands?

>> Mormon.

>> Mormon. How much percentage?

>> 100%

Mormon. Let me give you a little

information. The Mormons didn't start in

the Pit Caring Islands. Somebody took it

to them.

>> That's right.

>> Shame on us.

Shame on us. They seen the need to go

and it worked 100%.

Wow. That's convicting right there.

Convicting.

What if God called you to be a

missionary? I hope I've not painted the

picture too black.

That was not my intent tonight.

Is there some darkness to it? Yeah,

there's some sacrifice.

Hey, some hardships.

Hey, some weariness. Guess what? There's

some discouragement going to come with

that.

But what an honor.

>> Oh, help me, Lord. What an honor to give

you life.

I'm reminded somebody gave their life

for me. What about that?

>> What an honor it be to give your life

for the one who died for you and and get

to go somewhere and introduce Jesus

Christ to a group of people that's good

chance may have never heard of him

before. Amen. and live a life of

sacrifice like that. You say, "Preacher,

it's going to be hope so hard, but think

about the judgment seat."

>> Amen.

Not every hero wears a cape.

>> Not every hero has a number on their

jersey.

>> Amen. Some of them carry Bibles and sell

homes and move their families halfway

around the world to tell somebody about

Jesus. [snorts] Amen.

>> That's my crowd. Amen. That's who I

honor. That's who I'm thankful for. They

may never do nothing for me except lay

some fruit up for me on the other side.

I think that's pretty big if you ask me.

What if God called you to be a

missionary? Man, that'd be a decision to

make, would it not? So many things to

consider. Well, God's still calling.

I just don't think many's answering.

>> But I want say thank God for them that

are.

>> Thank God for them that are. And I want

them to know they ain't it by theirel.

There's a group of people here in Walnut

Cove, North Carolina for them. Amen.

>> We love them. We're thankful for them.

We're going to pray for them every

chance that we get and we're going to

try our best to support them the best

way we can with our finances. Amen.

Amen. Because they sure are doing

something for God that we don't have to

do.

Well, if God called you to be a

missionary, Ezekiel said, I sat where

they sat was astonished for seven days.

I think it' been good for us tonight for

hour. Sat where they sat. Get a little

idea what they go through. See what they

see, think what they think, do what they

do. Just a little ideal of it. We got to

do it all here in an airond conditioned

building on a patty pew. Ain't that a

blessing?

>> Father,

help us to be more considerate. Help us

to try to have greater understanding,

Lord, what it would be like if God

called us.

Lord, what an honor it would be.

Lord, I've got three children and 10

grandchildren.

I've often wondered what it would be

like, God, if you called one of my young

ones to be a missionary.

And Lord, it would be it'd be difficult

for the flesh,

God, to see them walk away and move

halfway around the world or wherever it

might be and take my grandbabies.

But Lord, if I know my heart tonight,

what an honor it would be to know that

they're serving you

and gave everything for the cause of

Christ.

I know this, Lord. They'd be safer in

the jungles of nowhere

in the will of God

than if he's on my couch, in my living

room, outside the will of God.

>> Lord, I don't know what you're doing in

our hearts tonight. that don't know what

you're going to do in this meeting.

Lord, please help us to understand a

little more, maybe have a little more

compassion,

maybe even a little more zeal, God,

to see that these missionaries go and

get to where you've called them and

stay. And maybe, Lord, we know a little

bit better about how we can help in

that, Lord. whether it's finances,

praying, or communicating,

speak to hearts as only you can. And

we're going to try our best to thank you

for whatever it is that you do in Jesus

name. Thank you for joining our [music]

service today. We'd love it if you join

us in person the next time you are able

at Meadows Baptist Church. Our physical

address [music] is 2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times [music] are

Sunday school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday

morning worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday

evening worship at 6:00 p.m., and

Wednesday [music] evening Bible study at

700 p.m. For more information, visit us

at meadowsbaptisturch.com. [music]

Thanks again for tuning in.