A labor that is not in vain
by Jon Konnerup, BBFI Mission Director
How well I remember deputation — the miles driven, the churches visited, and the new friends made. Having grown up as a missionary kid, I was accustomed to the idea of deputation and the new opportunities and excitement it provided. As an adult missionary, I didn’t necessarily enjoy making all the phone calls; however, God allowed my family and me to see His amazing handiwork in our deputation.
The verse I often referred to on deputation was 1 Corinthians 15:58:
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
This verse talks about being:
STEADFAST — firmly fixed in place, determined, faithful to the end
UNMOVABLE — unyielding, unshaken, solid as a rock
ABOUNDING — to excel, never stop, keep going, walking to please God
God used these words to encourage me to stay focused and work hard to finish deputation to ultimately arrive where He was going to use my family as missionaries.
Deputation is the first major opportunity missionaries encounter following their approval. While deputation is a difficult task a new missionary will undertake, God can use it in three ways.
First, He builds the missionary’s faith and character. This was vitally important to me as I learned to completely rely on the Lord instead of placing my faith and trust in pastors or churches. Had I not learned to depend on Him while on deputation, I would have quickly crashed and burned when I encountered difficulties on the field. Over the years, I have met people who felt the call of God to be missionaries, but were afraid to take on the deputation task and refused to surrender. D. L. Moody believed faith meant not only doing something, but also believing something saying, “I show my faith when I go to men and state the needs of the Lord’s work, and then ask them to give to it.”
Second, deputation stimulates and motivates the burden for missions within the local church. The excitement and passion of a new missionary motivates others to give, pray, and even go.
Third, deputation is a time of preparation for the missionary’s field of service. Missionaries not only learn from pastors and churches they meet, but they minister alongside the churches visited and plan ahead for what they will encounter on the foreign field.
While some may see deputation as a time to endure, it should really be a time of endearment, as God’s magnificent power is displayed in providing all one needs to serve Him — new friends, prayer partners, and supporting churches.
To read the entire September 2016 Global Partners, click here.