Expert: Mrs. Priscilla Lyons - 3/26/2009

Question
Mrs. Lyons,
Could you please give me your view on missions / missionaries? In your opinion what are the 4 most important things that missionaries do?
If you were to try to persuade someone to go on a missions trip what would you tell them?
Thank You so much for your time.
Lori

Answer
Dear Lori,
   I believe all Christians should be missionaries, encouraging others to accept Jesus as Lord of their life and Savior from their sins.  Each Christian should use his/her unique abilities and opportunities to influence others toward God wherever he/she lives.  
   With such a variety of communication technology today, and the gospel available in written form in so many languages, I don't see as much need for expensive traveling to evangelize foreign countries.  If a Christian has a strong desire to travel, and feels that travel expenses can be justified more than offering that amount of money to native Christian work, then that may be God's plan.  Otherwise, I would encourage each person to work where they are, using long distance communications with other countries.