"God has not retained many of us as lawyers, but he has summoned all of us as witnesses."

As they flew from Amsterdam to Bombay, an Asian gentleman and a Western missionary shared a number of hours of conversation over the usual topics: the airline food, current events and world conditions, family and work. After a pause the Asian with a turban mentioned that he was returning home for the birthday of Guru Nanak, the last of the great gurus of Sikhism. It was an important date for him and his family and he returned home from London annually for the event. He went on to describe the basic tenets of the Sikh faith and how it permeated his entire life from the clothing he wore to the annual celebrations. Then, turning to look the missionary in the eyes, he asked, "Now tell me about Christianity. What do you believe?" The missionary reflected for a moment in prayer and replied....

How to Become a Missionary

Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee, in the territory of Gerasa. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, he was met by a man who came out of the burial caves there. This man had an evil spirit in him and lived among the tombs. Nobody could keep him tied with chains any more; many times his feet and his hands had been tied, but every time he broke the chains and smashed the irons on his feet. He was too strong for anyone to control him. Day and night he wandered among the tombs and through the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.

He was some distance away when he saw Jesus; so he ran, fell on his knees before him, and screamed in a loud voice, "Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? For God's sake, I beg you, don't punish me." (He said this because Jesus was saying, "Evil spirit, come out of this man!")

So Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

The man answered, "My name is `Mob' there are so many of us!" And he kept begging Jesus not to send the evil spirits out of that region.

There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the spirits begged Jesus, "Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them." He let them go, and the evil spirits went out of the man and entered the pigs. The whole herdabout two thousand pigs in allrushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and spread the news in the town and among the farms. People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who used to have the mob of demons in him. He was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the man with the demons, and about the pigs.

So they asked Jesus to leave the territory.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had had the demons begged him, "Let me go with you!"

But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, "Go back home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you."

So the man left and went all through the Ten Towns, telling what Jesus had done for him. And all who heard it were amazed. (Mark 5:1-20 TEV)

Think about this former demoniac who is now a "missionary" to his own people. What sort of tools or budget did this new "missionary" have? How much training did this new "missionary" have? What do you think he said to his family and friends? What were the two components of Jesus' instructions to him? How would these two components look in your story?

Your Own Story

Your story is as real, important and unique as the story of the healed demoniac. He could not tell the story of others, since he probably didn't know any. He probably was not even Jewish and had no part in the history of God's covenant people. Each person's story is unique, personal and an account of grace in action.

Remember that witnesses are allowed to tell only what they have seen and experienced. They are not teachers or specialists who are expected to be theological authorities. Remember also that secondhand information is never as reliable as firsthand. In court, secondhand information is never accepted.

You may be a convert with an amazing story of being rescued from a terrible life of sin. Or you may be a "born and bred Christian" who has never known a life apart from Jesus and has never even been tempted to wander from your allegiance to Jesus. Both of these stories are important, grace-filled, and part of the larger picture of what God is doing in this world.

Preparing Your Own Testimony
How do you prepare your own testimony? To get started, return to your life map in chapter 8 and reflect for a bit on who you are, where you have come from, and what you have been through. You may wish to redraw the spiritual "map" of your life with "geographical" events such as mountains for high experiences, deserts of despair, flooded rivers of trials, and gardens of delight. Bridges may represent people who have helped you over impasses. Remember, your experience and your life with Jesus are the basis for your testimony.

Here are some common components to a personal testimony:

• Where my story begins
• What my life was like without Jesus
• How and where I met Jesus. Who introduced me to Jesus? Any unusual features about the event?
• What changed when I met Jesus and invited Him into my life as Lord and Savior?
• How is my life different now than before I met Christ?
• What Jesus means to me personally and what I value most about the relationship? (Be as specific as possible here.)
• Specific biblical promises or passages that are very meaningful to me. All of this should take no more than 3 to 4 minutes to tell.

The objective of sharing this story is to make others "jealous" of your special relationship with Jesus and to create a desire on their part to have a similar relationship.

Contextualizing Your Story
Every story teller knows that each audience is different and that the story must be "tailored" to fit the audience. Language and style will change with each audience. We call this "contextualization" because each new "context" of telling the story calls for this reshaping of your story.

This suggests that you should seriously reflect on what you know about the faith and culture of the people to whom you are going? Its history? Its main figures and personalities? Its historic relations with Christianity and the West? Possible bridges between the host faith and Christianity? All of this will be important in contextualizing or reshaping your story.

Be careful, however. Bernard Joinet tells of a well-meaning missionary who, in his attempt to identify with the people to whom he had been sent, called all the people of the village together. He professed his love for them and his determination to be one of them. To dramatize his words and decision to break with his own people, the missionary took out his passport and burned it in front of the shocked onlookers. What was meant as an act of solidarity, however, was not seen that way at all by the villagers. For them he had repudiated his own family and people. He did not, in their minds, know the meaning of love. "He rejects and despises those who gave him life," they said, "who fed and reared him. We can't trust him. He has rejected his father and mother. Perhaps one day he will also reject us whom he calls his brothers!" ("I am a Stranger in My Father's House," African Ecclesiastical Review 14 (1972): 244-245.)

1. Write out the major details of your story. This will help you to choose your words carefully and make it engaging.

2. Now practice telling this story or "testimony." Share it with a Christian friend and ask for his or her reaction and help in perfecting it. Then share it with a non-Christian friend or family member and ask for his or her response.

3. From what you know of your host culture, rewrite your story to make it appealing in that culture.