This handbook deals with many facets of missionary preparation. The most basic qualification for the missionary is knowing God. This is not the same as knowing about God or even doing the work you believe God sent you to do. Knowing God involves an intimate personal relationship with the living God and his son, Jesus Christ.

The most important thing you can do to prepare for your service is to take the time to seriously think about this relationship. For your own sake and for the sake of your mission, please prayerfully and thoughtfully consider your current walk with God and what you can do to strengthen it.

• How much time do you spend in devotional time, e.g. prayer, meditation, Bible study, devotional reading, journaling, etc.?
  
• Is the time you spend adequate or inadequate?
• Why?
  
• What would you like to see happen in this area of your life?

• Busyness, duties, work, school and the stress of modern life tend to squeeze out the spiritual.
• The whole lifestyle in the West—including Christian education—has emphasized the material and scientific rather than the spiritual.
• Many of us have a religion which emphasizes facts, doctrines, and abstract philosophical truth rather than the practice of God's presence and practical issues of relationships.
• Many expect mission service to be a benefit to their spiritual life. In some cases it can be, but in others it can put enormous stress on spirituality.
• Many of us will find that those we go to serve have or appear to have a deeper experience of God than we do. That can be depressing!

Principles to Strengthen the Spiritual Life

What can be done in the face of all this? Certain basic principles exist which, if followed, can begin to renew our spiritual life.

Make the spiritual life a priority.
What is most important in your life? What do you do first? Is your spiritual life in that category? If not, why not?

Make a specific time commitment.
Time is the basic stuff of life. What is really a priority for us we make time for. Scheduling to make time for the spiritual life is an act of obedience and commitment. What specific time of day will you commit to God? Choose a time that fits your temperament. Make sure you give God a time when you are awake!

Live and act as if the spiritual realm is real.
Many fail to pray for themselves or others because they are afraid their faith is weak. Others don't share their faith because they are not too sure about their own relationship with God. Faith comes through exercise. The way to grow and build faith is to simply act as if God will do things. Pray for that person who asks for it. Give God a chance to show what He can do.

Be honest about your life and spiritual condition.
Hiding who you are and your relationship with God never works. You can deceive others and maybe yourself for awhile, but you can never deceive God and eventually you and others catch on. God has abundant forgiveness and others understand. We can grow if we are honest.

Be willing to risk and experiment.
I'm not talking about doing something non-Christian! Some people get stuck in the mud in their devotional and religious life. They never pray, study, or worship in new ways. There are hundreds of appropriate ways to communicate with God, but we often get stuck on a few of them.

Share your spiritual life with others.
Many of us are too private and individualistic in our spiritual life. Christian fellowship is important to spiritual health. We benefit if we share our joys and sorrows, our triumphs and defeats, our hopes and dreams with our Christian friends.

Practices to Strengthen the Spiritual Life

Outside of these basic principles there are specific practices that can be of benefit to our spiritual life. These are suggestions. Don't try to do them all—especially at once! Try various ones as the Spirit leads you.

Become part of a small group for prayer and/or Bible study.
The need for fellowship and mutual caring and encouragement is met best in small groups. Become a member of one if it is available and if it is not, think about starting one. Many different types of materials are available to get you started including the Serendipity Bible which will be mentioned later.

Keep a journal.
A journal is a record of your walk with God and your important experiences. Many people have recently rediscovered the value of journaling and have been helped by it. Especially during your time of mission service you will be helped by keeping a journal of what happens. We all forget more than we realize and a journal can help you later recapture the highlights of your mission experience. God's blessings and answered prayers are easily remembered if they are written down.

Learn new ways to pray.
One of the best ways to enliven your devotional life is to try new ways to pray. If you are entirely satisfied with what you do now that is O.K., but new horizons can be very helpful. Try praying out loud instead of silently or prostrate yourself as people did in Bible times. Use a verse of scripture as your prayer or pray over the phrases of the Lord's Prayer using them as your subject. Try conversational prayer with friends.

Try silence, quietness, and meditation.
Many of us are so used to talking to God that we fail to listen to the still small voice. Try being silent before Him or quietly meditating on a verse of scripture. A reverent listening to God and to our own soul is really a form of prayer.

Try fasting.
In the Bible, prayer is often tied to fasting. Fasting from food is usually meant, but other forms of fasting can be helpful as well. Many of us would benefit by fasting from TV or the radio. Fasting from shopping may benefit others. Fasting for the sake of others is a special form of caring.

Attend worship even if you don't understand the language.
You don't need to understand the spoken language to understand the language of the heart. Listen to the faith and commitment of the people you worship with. Relish the presence of God which comes when people worship together. Don't let your differentness keep you from missing a valuable experience.

Use music and art in your religious life.
If certain types of music speak to your soul, bring tapes or music along. Share the music with others. Music that speaks of our relationship with God is a form of prayer. Use it as part of your devotions. If a certain picture or poster speaks to you powerfully of God, take it along as well.

Give generously to others.
Learning to share what you have (money, clothes, time) with others will change you. Give with a joyous spirit and you will be blessed.

Read your Bible and devotional books in new way.
Read the Bible in a new translation or find a new devotional book. Don't read for speed. It is better to have read one verse thoughtfully and reflectively than two chapters hastily. The Bible is not designed for speed reading. Write a prayer based on a key verse or memorize a verse and internalize it. This practice truly fixes the Bible in the mind and is more valuable than a ritual reading.

What about You?

How you structure your time with God depends partially on your temperament. It is OK to be yourself. You can find out more about your uniqueness through the Myers-Briggs Temperament Inventory (see books by Keirsey and Goldsmith on page 56). Remember that people can eventually tell if you are real or not. People who are genuine before God can be genuine before people as well. A true relationship with God based on time with Him will not only sustain you when the going gets rough, but it will communicate to others as well. That is the essence of being a missionary.

1. How do I experience Jesus' continuous presence in my life? What disciplines am I currently using to reinforce my friendship with Jesus?

2. Which of the suggestions given above do you find helpful for your devotional life? Why? Are there other practices that have been of benefit to you? What are they?

3. What would be a realistic, sustainable devotional life plan and schedule for you? Outline it below and commit yourself to following it.