Encountering Missions in the Scriptures

Encountering Missions in the Scriptures

Introduction

Outreach Missions and the work of missionaries reaches far back into world history. The basis for missionaries is primarily religious, and all branches of religions seem at one time or another to be represented. In recent years, the type of work traditionally done through missions is being carried out by a wide variety of organizations not necessarily under the auspices of an organized religion.

One of the earliest known missionary efforts was led by Paul of Tarsus in the 1st century c.e. Paul has been characterized as a “missionary extraordinaire” and is reported to have done extensive work in Turkey, Greece, and Europe. Paul's work is recorded in the writings of Luke and Paul's own letters in the Bible. Notable as well is the work of Patrick of Ireland, a missionary to Ireland in the 5th century. His work is recorded in the text The Confessions of Patrick.

1. Leaders of Outreach Missions

In the 12th century, Raymond Lull, a medieval scholar and missionary, traveled to North Africa and worked with the Muslim population. Lull is noteworthy for going to a region that no one else was willing to visit and is reportedly the first missionary to the Muslims. David Brainerd was an 18th-century missionary to native people in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. His many journals were read widely in the colonies and his writings informed the colonists of life among the indigenous Americans.

William Carey served as a missionary to India during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Carey founded the English Baptists Missionary Service and is considered by many historians to be the creator of modern missionaries. Another prominent early 19thcentury missionary to India and Persia was Henry Martyn of Cambridge University. Martyn is described as being humble and self-effacing, bright and spiritual, and a strong advocate of the people he served.

Ann Hasseltine Judson is reported to be one of the first missionaries from America to work overseas. In the early 19th century, she and her husband represented the American Baptist Mission in Burma. Another American missionary of the late 19th century was Hudson Taylor, who traveled to China and is credited with founding the China Inland Mission.

A review of the activities of the missionaries over the past few centuries reveals three important points: 1) the number of missionaries has increased significantly over time, 2) the reach of missionaries has expanded to every continent, and 3) the focus of their work has gradually shifted from primarily conversion to Christianity to the direct alleviation of poverty in all its forms—hunger, education, employment, housing, and virtually all of the socioeconomic deficits experienced by the poor.

Mother Teresa

Foremost among individual missionaries in recent years was Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, a group who cared for destitute people in Calcutta. Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work and Pope John Paul II beatified her in 2003, an act that will eventually lead to her canonization as a ...