Young Men with Purpose: Part 3

Meet Jonny B: young, intelligent, passionate, God-glorifying, purpose-driven. He grew up in West Sussex in England, and is now serving as a missionary in the Gambia of West Africa. 

I had the privilege of interviewing him recently, and hearing about what God is doing halfway around the world. Here is what he wrote...

Q: Can you describe a bit about yourself and your vision?

My great desire is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God my Father has made that possible for me by adopting me, and saving me from my sin and his judgment through his wonderful grace in Jesus Christ. 

I was hugely blessed as a teenager and young adult to be exposed to faithful and clear teaching of God’s precious word, the Bible. This has given me a deep sense of the loveliness, beauty, power and importance of accurate communication of the Scriptures to all people - both for true saving faith to be enjoyed and for God’s people to be kept and to grow in his love. 

I spent 4 months in the Gambia during a Gap Year and then had the opportunity 4 years later to return to lead another Gap team. Between the two I had 3 years at university where God was maturing me and giving me a longing to teach his word faithfully. I had no idea where it would be or what it would look like - I just wanted to have a Bible in my hand and be faithful. 

During that second trip to the Gambia a Christian worker shared with me: “We Africans have so much zeal and enthusiasm, but we need to be shown how to teach the Bible faithfully.” I couldn’t resist! But I knew I had to seek wise counsel and get some more training and experience, so that became my focus over the following 6 years, whilst working with a Christian camp and school ministry. Eventually God led me, in October 2015, to board a ship to come to the Gambia where I am now teaching at a small and modest Bible School, offering grassroots training to pastors and others in biblical theology and discipleship.

Q: What are the biggest needs where you are serving?

There are enormous social, medical and educational needs here, as in so many parts of the world. Above all, and the fuel for meeting any other need, is our spiritual need for relationship with God himself in Jesus Christ. For that to be met, people need the word of God to reveal the love of God, the grace of God, the truth of God, the justice of God, the wisdom of God and the hope of God. Then life – both before and after death – will be transformed.

That will only happen if pastors are trained to teach God’s word accurately. At present the vast majority of pastors here have had no or very little training. Preaching is commonly just powerful rhetoric and stirring exhortation, but very loosely connected to the truth of God’s word. It leads to all kinds of confusion and error and problems. 

So to me, the greatest need seems to be training local pastors in how to understand and teach God’s word. Wonderfully, that’s exactly what I’m privileged to be involved with.

Q: Do you see many young men going into missions, and if not, what are the setbacks for them?

I’m thrilled that my church in England and my sending mission society are both very committed to missions - to reaching the unreached with the gospel and to training trainers for gospel work to multiply and grow. But even so, there are only 2 other couples of friends from my university peer group whom I know are serving the Lord overseas (though a lot of others are doing great work in the UK). 

I can’t help but feel we’ve weakened compared to previous generations. The rally cries of the great 19th century missionaries for more workers were often met with remarkable results. And their sacrifice was incomparable to the small challenges most missionaries face today. If we’re honest, I think we’re all (myself included!) pretty pathetic in comparison.

My church has about 20 mission partners and I’m one of about 100 from my sending organization. Many are under 40 years old (I’m definitely wanting to extend “young” into the 30’s!). But there are very few others who are single guys. (Hats off to the single girls, of whom I can think of several.) I think there’s a common feeling amongst young men of “I couldn’t possibly do it alone” - meaning, "I need to get married first, and soon!" But that’s a lie. I’m not here alone. There are wonderful co-workers here and of course marriage is a gift from God, but so is singleness (1 Cor.7). Above all, we have God himself. So whilst I’m often lonely, I’m never alone - God is in me by his Spirit! 

Q: How can we best mobilize young people back home to catch a vision for using their lives in Kingdom service?

The key has to be the gospel itself - the compelling beauty and wonder of God’s redeeming love. If churches consistently and faithfully proclaim the gospel, then God’s people - young and old - will give themselves to wholehearted kingdom service whether at home or crossing cultures. “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices…” (Rom.12:1) 

Of course there’s also a need for pastors to keep the vast needs of the global church on their minds and on their lips as they preach and apply God’s word. We are a body - a global body. As real as needs are in the West, we really are so blessed and privileged. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48)

Jonny’s Missions Statement: “To treasure God’s word and teach it faithfully, and to help others treasure God’s word and teach it faithfully, so that many from all nations will delight in knowing God and his salvation in Jesus Christ."