International (MNN) – In addition to simple resolutions, the new year often causes people to evaluate bigger life choices. This is especially true when people hear stories of how God has moved mightily through His church.
In November 2024 Trans World Radio (TWR) released Lifted, a documentary about the Schoen family’s ministry to the two tribes in Suriname. The story is inspiring and some who have seen it might question if they also are called to missions.
Receiving a Call to Missions
Clay Perry with TWR notes that a call to missions can look vastly different person to person. “I do think the Lord calls people in the missions in in various ways. There’s stories like this, like a testimonial that calls people into missions because they can relate to and they see one family’s obedience, and they say, ‘Hey, why don’t I be obedient in the same way?’ I think others are just called from reading Scripture. It’s very clear that Jesus wants us to go into all the nations proclaiming His gospel and usher in the kingdom. And I think others will wrestle with it for a while.”
Perry also served as a missionary for a time. He says that his personal journey included prayer, understanding God’s heart for the nations and then taking a step of obedience, knowing that God would equip him.
“He calls us to big things, but he’s a big God that gives us the necessary means to either raise the support or get the necessary training, or just the necessary boldness to go and trust to go.”
A Powerful God: The Impetus for Missions
Whether the call is instantaneous or requires time and discernment, Perry notes that the theme of God doing the big work should be consistent for every missionary. The goal of going into missions is not to demonstrate your own greatness, but to make God great among all people. This theme is central to Lifted and should be true of all God’s people.
(Photo courtesy of TWR)
“I do think when folks watch Lifted, you will not walk away from the film thinking, ‘Wow, the Schoen family is a really unique, powerful missionary family.’ You will walk away thinking, they serve a very powerful God. They make that super clear in the film that it’s not them who has caused this great awakening among tribal peoples. It’s the Lord, and they just happen to be the vessels who were there and they were faithful enough to go.”
If you feel God calling you to missions be encouraged that God will equip His people to answer the call. Click here to learn more about how you can get involved with TWR.
Header photo courtesy of TWR.
