Lessons from the Mission Field: Encouraging Words

Is there someone in your life who you can speak encouragement to, to help them grow, and to help them become more like Jesus?

Lessons from the Mission Field:
Encouraging Words

This week's devotions are written by my friend Becky Dean, missions director at Great Hills Baptist Church.

- Pastor Danny

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a good word makes him glad."

(Proverbs 12:25)

Anyone who has ever been to another country knows that one of the challenges can be a language barrier. Short-term mission trips are nice because there are almost always people with the team to help translate, whether it's missionaries or local pastors or church members. On our recent trip to Asia, we had several people who helped us, including a few college-aged students.

These young adults were incredible, with servants' hearts, and two of them felt called to ministry. They started off the week nervous and unsure about translating in public. While students in this country often study English in school, they don't get many chances to practice or use the language, especially with native English speakers—and especially not in front of crowds at churches or schools. Translating is difficult, because it requires not just knowing the words, but the meaning and how to convey it best.

But these young people did great! We could see them growing in confidence as the week went on and even starting to do more than directly translating word-for-word, but also leading on their own. We did our best to encourage them, to thank them, and to tell them how well they were doing, and we could see what a difference our words made.

Even though we weren't with these young people for long, we hope this experience helped them as disciples, encouraged them in their callings, and gave them chances to use their gifts, before we left them to continue the work long after we were gone.

This is how Jesus worked too, bringing his disciples with him, giving them chances to serve and grow, and eventually leaving the work of the ministry to them. In Matthew 28, He tells them to go and make disciples and to teach others everything they learned from Jesus. This is a commission to all believers. We're all called to make disciples. While it's great to pour into someone for a short time like we did with our translators, every Christian has a chance to do it long-term in our everyday lives as well. Are you discipling anyone? Who are you pouring into? Is there someone in your life who you can speak encouragement to, to help them grow, and to help them become more like Jesus?

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"

(Matthew 28:18-20)