There are some types of people whom you come across only very, very rarely. Whose commitment to God, depth of character, qualities of personality, abilities, strong principles, Kingdom vision, and overall amazingness puts them in a different category and you’re left with a profound gratitude to simply have the privilege of knowing such a person.

Meet Michael. (Not his real name)

Committed. Interesting. Loyal. Kind. Steady. Fun. Strong. Musical. Missional. Well-respected. Skilled. Purposeful. Traveled. Well-loved. Awesome. And above all, sold out to God: even when that means uprooting, saying goodbye to family, and giving up just about everything Americans take for granted in everyday life. 

Michael works among the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico; this means living in a small cinder block house in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity, no air conditioning, no running water, no grocery stores, and no church full of like-minded friends.

Sacrifice? Yes. Privilege? Yes. But only a man with the quality of character Michael possesses could actually see the unutterable privilege masked in so much sacrifice that it would make most church-going Christians (even in the Bible belt of Texas) run for their lives. 

I recently had the opportunity to interview Michael and hear his words of wisdom. I hope they inspire you to live your life more fully consecrated to God, more focused on His glory, more committed to the plans He has for you. Spending your life in the service of our King may not be easy, but it is always worth it.

Q: What is your vision, and how did you determine where God wanted you to be?

Even as a young boy I was always fascinated with new places, new languages, and new people. I was also raised in a Christian home. Ever since I can remember, God had welded together the desire to serve Him and the fascination with other peoples, cultures, and languages. From about 10 years old I felt the desire to serve God in cross-cultural missions and He continued to press that on my heart in the years to come.

I always felt a call to Mexico. Just after I finished Paramedic school, a friend from school, who was from Mexico, invited me to come down and visit him and, knowing I was interested in missions, offered to introduce me to a team that worked with the Tarahumara Indians. I stayed in Mexico for 2 months and got to know the mission team very well and was very encouraged by their work. Right from then I began praying that the Lord would show me if this might be where He wanted me to serve. Through prayer, the counsel of others, and the opportunity to visit the team several more times, I decided to begin specific preparations to join this team a little over 3 years after first visiting.

My vision (and ours as a team) is to see a church planted among the Tarahumara Indians that will continue to replicate itself in other areas of the mountains. And that the Tarahumara will come to know the Lord and that those that believe will share with their own people of God’s salvation.

Q: What did you do to prepare for life on the field?

There were many things that I did to prepare; much of that was seeking to gain experience in many different practical skills: carpentry, mechanics, Paramedic school, and things of that nature.

I think the biggest thing I did in preparation was to find a mentor who helped me to grow in my relationship with Christ and in my knowledge of Him and His Word. A little over 2 years before I began missions in Mexico, I asked an older man if he would be willing to mentor and disciple me. He helped me learn how to read and study my Bible better and with purpose, kept me accountable in my spiritual life, shared from his experiences and knowledge, and was a trusted source I could go to with questions and doubts about anything. 

Growing and preparing myself spiritually was by far the most important and valuable thing I did to prepare for missions. 

There are many things that would have been great to have learned or experienced, but they can be learned later. You can never replace time and energy spent growing in your relationship with Christ with anything else to prepare you to serve Him.

Q: What is your top piece of advice for someone going to the mission field?

Prepare yourself spiritually. 

I don’t mean learn how to give sermons, learn how to lead a Bible study, learn how to quote word perfect the plan of salvation. I mean prepare yourself spiritually. Find a spiritual mentor, study your Bible personally and for your own personal benefit and growth, learn to pray, learn to fight spiritual battles within your own person, and learn to love Christ more. Maybe it sounds selfish, but if you aren’t prepared spiritually, how do you expect to do effective battle against the enemy in a fight for the eternal destiny of other’s souls?

Q: How do you stay strong in your relationship with Christ when the going gets tough?

This answer comes back to my top piece of advice for going on the mission field. The years leading up to me going on the field were spent in growing myself in the Lord and through that time He taught me many, many things and gave me Scriptures and experiences to look back on that point me back to Him in difficult times. I’ve always enjoyed journaling, and being able to go back through my journals and remember how God brought me through other difficult times in my life helps me take my eyes off myself and fix them back on Him. I would highly recommend keeping a journal where you can record what God is teaching you. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Just something you can look back at to remind you of His faithfulness.

I also utilize my brothers and sisters in Christ that surround me here. A community of believers is so important to staying strong as an individual. I have to be the one to ask for and accept help from them, but maintaining close relationships with other believers here help point me back to Christ when it is hard for me to do so alone.

Q: Have you found coping strategies to deal with stresses or discouragements?

Being someone who needs to express my emotions outwardly in some form or fashion, there are three main things that I end up doing when I’m feeling discouraged: talking to someone I trust about it, writing it down in my journal, or releasing it through my piano or violin. When I can express to a friend my discouragements, they can help put things in perspective and point me towards Christ. With my journal, I like to write my discouragements in the form of a prayer or even conversation with the Lord. And with my music, I like to pull out the hymnal and play and sing my favorite hymns. Again, like a prayer and expression to the Lord of my discouragements, hurts, and needs. Each one helps me to bring whatever I’m discouraged about or stressed with to the top where the Lord can skim it off and relieve me of the burden of carrying it alone.

These are definitely personal strategies of mine but I seek to be very purposeful in doing one or all of them in times of discouragement because they are the ways in which I feel I can release the burden and cast my cares upon Him. (1 Peter 5:7) 

Q: What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day can be difficult to describe, but each day for me, at this time, is spent focusing on learning the tribal language and culture. While I am fluent in Spanish and some of the people speak a little, they only speak enough for getting what they need. When conversation turns to deeper things, it must be done in their language and with an understanding of their culture. 

Every morning I enjoy getting up early to have a quiet time by myself with the Lord before the day starts. As a team, we pray together for an hour or so each morning as well. After praying together the regular day starts. Daily chores include bring water from the well a couple of miles away, preparing and having food ready for visitors that come knocking any time of the day, and of course fixing miscellaneous water leaks, broken doors, generators, or vehicles.  

Outside of everyday chores, some days I will spend the whole day hiking and visiting with native friends in their homes, spending time with them in their homes practicing my language and observing their daily lives. I always carry a little notebook with me to write down new words or observations I've made about the culture and then organize that information in the evenings when I return home. There is also a young man that comes over every other day to help with language specifically. I practice conversing, ask him about new words I've learned, or ask him questions about the culture. 

Much of any given day will be hosting visitors and friends that stop by to say hi or share a meal. People are more important than projects so some days I simply spend hosting our Indian friends in my home. If fact, while writing this I have a visitor in my home that has been here for six hours just visiting, chatting, sipping on coffee, and looking at the pictures in the National Geographic magazines I have.

"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. 

Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. 

I never made a sacrifice.” – David Livingston

 

Standing Firm against the Secular Tide: Part 4 of 5

Meet Tyler S. This picture is not of him - I won’t be posting one, as he is heading into a life of service on a dangerous field, and having his identity associated with “missions” could easily result in his being denied a visa (or worse). Which means you shall just have to imagine him: a dynamic, 23-year-old guy with impressive skills, an enthusiasm for the outdoors, cooking, and working on any puzzle life throws at him, and an undying passion for bringing the Gospel to those who have never heard it.

An engineer by trade, Tyler is passionate about using his skills as an inroad to working among Muslims. By all rights he could be highly successful in the secular world that values fame, money, and the kind of zest for life that is so attractive to unbelievers yet so rare in our culture. But Tyler is aiming for a different kind of success: that which lasts. 

Q: How are you planning on using your skills in a missions context?

The vision that God has given me over the last few years is to use my professional skills as a platform to go places, and build relationships with locals in the kind of way that "traditional" missionaries can't for one reason or another. One factor missionaries face when going somewhere is applying for a visa. In many countries a missionary can't just go as a non-profit worker or as a religious minister; you must have or work for a profitable business. With an engineering practice I will be able to get into almost any country in the world. 

After spending time with some beloved friends who are actively serving on the mission field, my friend shared with me how envious (in a good way) he was that I was getting a professional degree. Initially I wondered why he would say that – being a seminary graduate and someone who was hired by a mission agency specifically to do ministry – why would he want a professional degree? 

He explained that working as a professional within a community of lost people is such a fantastic way to build relationships and show people Christ through the way I live. 

As a professional I will have the opportunity to show people Christ every day through the way I live and what I talk about. I don't want my ministry to stop at work, but hope to invite my coworkers' families into my home to share good meals and the great news of the work of Christ.  

Q: Have you always seen yourself in missions someday? 

 
The knowledge that God is calling me to missions goes back years ago to when I was fifteen. At the time I had no idea what that would mean or what it might look like in the future, but over time God has grown the feeling of being called to "go" into a deep ambition to take the Gospel to the unreached. For several years I believed that I didn't really have the character or the skill set of a missionary. I had read a lot of missionary biographies and in my foolishness I believed that I just didn't have what it took. What I thought was humility was really a lack of faith, and a lack of understanding that it is God who does the work and God who provides everything that’s needed. 

The only quality a missionary really needs is deep and abiding dependence on God.

 

Q: What is it like to be a purpose-driven Christian in the secular-culture-soaked atmosphere of engineering school?

I have had a few opportunities to speak about God’s faithfulness in my life. A simple concept that helped with that was not shying away from speaking with an unbeliever about God's faithfulness in the same way that I would with a Christian brother.

A unique opportunity I had last semester was to spend time with international students (mostly from the Middle East) that were in an intensive English program at my school. At the recommendation of a friend, I spoke to the directors of the program and asked if there were any ways I could be involved in what they do. To my surprise, I was welcomed with open arms to join the students in weekly sports activities and was asked to speak in front of a class about the engineering program at my school. Talk about access! 

Following some of those activities I was immediately invited to some of their apartments and was asked dozens of questions about language, culture, religion, myself and my family. They asked about the meanings of Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, which opened the door to share with them what Christ has done for us and why those holidays have special meanings for Christians.

Something the Lord taught me through all that is this: Though we take our witness with us everywhere we go, we should pursue opportunities to share and show the gospel in depth with those close to wherever God has planted us.

 

A quote that has impacted the way I think of and pursue ministry is this: "Lost people must become your family." (Nik Ripken, Insanity of Obedience) If we want to reach the lost, we must live with them and commune with them regularly. God certainly uses ways like street evangelism, but making disciples is what we were called to do, and that always happens in the context of relationships. 

In applying that principle, a friend and I are currently pursuing ways to mobilize ourselves and our church to reach out to international students who attend a college campus located right in the heart of where many of us live and work. A concern that might be raised is, "If each us work where we are planted, who is going to reach the lost in areas where there are no believers?" In answering that I would encourage you to ask whether God is calling you to plant your life in a new context. A new context might be a geographic move, or it might mean engaging those who already live in your city.

Standing firm against the secular tide: Part 3 of 5

Beecher P is dynamic, skilled, driven, and totally committed to following Christ. He has an undeniable flair for creativity, a solid grasp of God’s call on his life, and a rare strength of character – which makes him the perfect candidate for this series.

 

To truly stand strong against the tide of popular culture – not as a milk-toast Christian who looks and talks like everyone else, but as an actual world-changing witness of a radically different life – isn’t an easy road. Especially when you’re completely immersed in the culture, and working in the arts scene where Christian values aren’t exactly the norm.

That’s where Beecher excels. I recently had the privilege of interviewing him – here are his words of wisdom.

Q: How do you stay strong in your faith and principles, when you’re immersed in secular culture?

A: I’ve found that for me it comes down to how much I value something and the priority I put on it. 

And realizing that Jesus doesn't accept or love me for what I do or how often I read my Bible, but he accepts me and loves me because of his unconditional love, mercy, and grace. For example, I used to let it get me down if I missed reading my Bible one day because I was so focused and concerned about my Christian performance and how I was doing compared to others. 

I've slowly come to realize that being so honed in on performance can turn Christianity into a habit or methodology rather than a relationship.

 

That said, it is super important to me to stay in the Word (especially when life gets hectic) even if that means opening up the Bible app on my phone at night to read a Psalm and say a prayer. When I'm out of town and working, I make sure to get some alone time with the Lord because if I want to be a light to others, how am I going to be successful if I haven't been to the light source?

 

And I make sure that I'm not trying to be someone I'm not - just being myself and not catering to other people's pressure or expectations is a big deal.

Q: What does “not looking like the world” mean to you personally?

A: Not looking like the world to me means more about what we value and stand for than how we dress or act. Obviously our standards should align with the Bible, but Christians are all over the map on dress or language or what they listen to or watch. 

What's really important is that we recognize truth and moral standards in the Bible, how God calls us to behave or act, and that we follow them.

Q: The arts/fashion scene is not exactly Christian – how are you able to be a light in the darkness?

A: I'm able to be a light in the darkness because of point #2 above - I know what I believe, I have a moral code I follow, and it makes me different. The arts can be a brutal workplace - people are treated like cattle, cutthroat, a dog-eat-dog industry. But as a Christian it's high on my list to love others, and that's something that stands out in a place where every person is out for their own good.

It's easy to be self-centered, but when we're others-centered we'll stand out. That goes for any area of life, not just the arts.

I've heard it said that St. Francis' quote "Preach the Gospel, and when necessary use words" is wrong. That you have to speak the Gospel; you can't preach the Gospel simply through your life. I disagree. There's a fine mix of both. Being in the arts arena (and often being able to work with a great team), we've had many, many people comment about how great it is to work with us, how we treat people and each other, and the list goes on. 

Occasionally there's an opportunity to share the why behind our work ethic - that would be the love that Jesus demonstrated for us, which in turn makes us want to love others. 

If you live differently, people will take notice. 

And that can open unimaginable doors for sharing Jesus' love with others.  

Head on over to Beecher’s website at www.beecherproch.com, where he sells an awesome collection of creatively hand-painted clothing... And be sure to sign up for his updates – his store is expanding and you don’t want to miss the latest!