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Modern-Day Missionary
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230 pages3 hours
Summary
Time is short. Today’s generation of Christians has the responsibility to proclaim the gospel to unbelievers. You can play a huge part in the work of God, whether through prayer, financial or moral support, or an open door to rise up and go.
This book will change your life forever—you will receive a deeper revelation of the call of Christ through:
• Knowing that God is calling you!
• Growing in confidence while listening for God’s voice
• Overcoming obstacles to starting and fulfilling your calling
• Living an exciting, adventurous life—radical for God
• Sharing your faith more effectively
• Embracing what God can do through you
• Impacting the world for Jesus
Christians have 2,000 years of missionary history, including modern-day harrowing and heartwarming stories of those who have devoted their lives to the mission field. Matthew Needham’s personal story of preaching the gospel to the poor, to Hindus, Buddhists, Animists, Communists, and Muslims will motivate, encourage, and awe you with his tremendous passion for Christ and His mission to seek and save the lost.
Publisher: Evangelista Media srlReleased: May 30, 2018ISBN: 8868801051Format: book
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Modern-Day Missionary - Matthew Needham
Author
Foreword
Fundamentalist Christians are dangerous,
an unbeliever once told Matthew Needham. I do hope so! Dangerous to the devil, and dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. If we are not, we have missed our main calling as disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
JF Ministries has been teaching healing for many years. Physical healing is a wonderful gift of God—He wants us all to be well. But in Matthew 18:9, Jesus says, …It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
If a person has the whole world, and yet spends eternity in hell, what has been gained? Or is fully healed, but not saved, what profit is it?
Jesus thus declares His priorities. If we have His heart, we must share His priorities too.
There is no greater adventure on earth than Christian mission. Some of Matthew’s stories are hilarious—others scary! But through it all, the Lord’s faithfulness shines like a lighthouse, guiding, reassuring, providing. I believe every Christian should do at least one missions trip—we will never discover how faithful God is until we deliberately put ourselves in a place where we need Him.
When my wife, Bron, and I first said Yes
to the Lord, we were farming in the United Kingdom. In a vision, I saw a small village church on a hill surrounded by beautiful countryside. But on the left side of the vision, all was black, grey, and red. In the black sky was a huge silver cross. I had a choice: comfort and convenience, or challenge and adventure. I chose the cross, and within two weeks we were invited to join Reinhard Bonnke’s Christ for all Nations ministry. We traveled the world organizing great crusades, witnessing millions come to Christ.
Today we are privileged to be part of the explosive growth of the church in Nepal. We teach healing, because 90 percent of those who come to Christ come because of healing. Whether we are serving, teaching, comforting, praying, or paying, our ultimate goal must be to win the lost. That’s why Jesus came.
No one can read this wonderful blend of exhortation and experience without being challenged, even provoked, into a heart-change toward the pressing urgency of winning the lost. Never has the need been greater, the time shorter, nor the opportunities wider. Matthew’s heart and wisdom shine through the whole book.
His final challenge that each of us aim to win a million souls seems impossible. Ridiculous even. Of course! But nothing is impossible with God
(Luke 1:37). We don’t have to hold great crusades, although those are wonderful. One couple saw nearly two million come to the Lord in ten years, simply by training believers to win the lost, one by one (see A Discipleship Re-Revolution by Steve Smith and Ying Kai).
Whole nations are turning to Christ. Praise God! But others are still in desperate darkness. There are still only a few thousand Tibetan believers. What about North India? Or Europe? Every generation presents another challenge, and another opportunity.
Are we willing to be part of the solution?
John Fergusson
JF Ministries, New Zealand
www.jfministries.org.nz
Introduction
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him… (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Do you qualify to be strengthened by the Lord so that His power is mighty in your life? His eyes are looking throughout the earth for those who are not satisfied with things as normal or average. The kingdom of Heaven is advanced by those who arise and do great exploits. God is looking for those who take steps of faith and put His Word into action. The Lord longs to find people who unite with the desires of His heart and stand firm with the ability to persevere and overcome. As you pursue this path, it will clarify your spiritual vision so that you can fulfill the high call of God for your life. This will help you to become a person of extraordinary faith.
Knowing Your Purpose
As a teenager, I didn’t know what my purpose in life was going to be. Thankfully I had an encounter with the Lord in 1990 and immediately the call of God overwhelmed my heart. This strong feeling continued for some months, and in 1991 I headed off to join my first Christian outreach team in the South Island of my home country, New Zealand. I was from the North, so I had my first plane flight into my evangelistic calling.
As I was about to leave, my mother gave me a prophecy, which came to her in a dream. She saw a young colt that had lots of potential. It was ready to go, but it couldn’t be allowed out of its pen because it would shoot off in any direction. This young horse was kicking up a lot of dust as someone was trying to break it in. He had to put a bit in the horse’s mouth and teach it to obey his command. Its uncontrolled temperament had to become submitted to the master. I was that horse that wanted to run off to faraway mountainsides, but the master put a bit in my mouth to train and discipline me.
While on this first evangelistic team, I become good friends with a young man who had a strong prophetic gift. As we were traveling by boat between the two main islands and had some time to fill, I suggested that we should preach a message to each other. I gave him a nice message about seeking God with all your heart from Jeremiah 29:13; he gave me a message about a young horse that needed to be trained before it could go to faraway places. I knew that God was speaking very clearly and powerfully through my friend because he repeated the same message I had been told earlier by my mother. God has a way of getting our attention.
I wanted to go to the nations to preach the Word of God, but first of all I had to learn to follow Christ where He had already positioned me. I had to be trained by the Master so that I would follow His voice and obey His teachings. The years ticked by and finally I found myself going on my first missions trip toward the end of 1996. There I found that I still had a lot to learn and I returned home almost in defeat. Yet God’s grace was with me, and missions trips began to multiply as God sent me to nation after nation.
In my previous book, To Live or to Die,¹ I shared my encounter with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and calling as a street and nightclub evangelist. That was stage one of my calling. In this book I continue with stage two, taking a look at my life as a missionary—an unknown evangelist who had little money, yet simply believed I could shake whole nations with the gospel.
After numerous missions trips, my mother received a vision in 2011, which was twenty years after her initial dream about me. Each day my mother went to a rest home to look after my ill grandmother who was unable to feed herself. As my mother was driving home, she was contemplating the book I was working on at that time, which was about the end times and Bible prophecy.² Suddenly she clearly saw a man with flowing hair, intense eyes, and a sword between his teeth. He was on a horse charging straight ahead on a mission.
At first my mother thought it was me and that I was carrying the Word of God, but then she realized that the man wasn’t Matthew—Matthew was the horse! That realization was a special revelation to her and she felt tears come to her eyes; for she was reminded of the dream she had years ago in which I was a young, untrained colt who wouldn’t take the bit. He was utterly frustrated by the barriers placed around him and was twisting and turning to get free from the restraints being put on him.
When my mother perceived that this horse carrying the man with the sword was that same colt, she found herself saying, He’s ready! He’s ready!
This horse still had all the vigor and fieriness of the young colt, but it was controlled and obedient to the rider’s touch, just like the Spanish horses of the Conquistadors.³ He trusted the rider implicitly and held no fear. If I could name him,
she said, I’d call him Courage.
When God calls us, He says, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go
(Joshua 1:9).
Like the donkey that carried Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Mark 11:1-11), I have the privilege of carrying the King of kings and Lord and lords, and to make way for His triumphal entry. Jesus is the Lord of the harvest and the Conqueror of nations. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Bright Morning Star. The light of God’s glory shines from the face of Jesus Christ. The sword is the Word of God from His mouth, and He is on a mission.
After that vision, some of my best missions and evangelism trips have taken place. I have the assurance that Jesus is with me, and He is riding across the land to destroy the works of the devil. You never know where God will take people when He calls their names and gives them a fire in their hearts to preach the gospel. When people have perseverance, and don’t give up, they will see incredible things. Their witness for Christ will advance the kingdom of Heaven here on earth and many lives will be touched.
God is looking for those who are willing to go on amazing adventures with Him. Have confidence in the promise that the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus has a mission for you! He’s been training and preparing you for a long time. Laugh at the impossible, for the time has come for a new release of God’s power and a heavenly breakthrough. The Lord Jesus has given us a job to do. It’s time for you to be strong and courageous!
The aim of this book is to proclaim the call of God so that it burns within your heart and stirs you to live wholeheartedly for the Lord. As believers, we have to discern the dealings of God in our lives and allow His gentle voice to lead and guide us, step by step, into our Promised Land.
I believe that I will preach the gospel to the multitudes and shake whole nations for Christ. There is still a greater harvest for me and a greater harvest for you. As you read the stories of my small beginnings as a missionary, be encouraged that no experience goes in vain.
God is teaching us every day. Life is good and life is amazing. Rejoice in the Lord, for the best is yet to come! Be trained and equipped, for God is calling you!
The Lord is with you!
Endnotes
1 Matthew Needham, To Live or to Die—The Life and Love of a Street Evangelist (Italy, Evangelista Media, 2015); http://www.amazon.com/To-Live-Die-Street-Evangelist/dp/886880039X; accessed December 9, 2016.
2 Matthew Needham, The End of the World—What You Should Know about the Last Days, the Antichrist, the Judgments of God, and the Glorious Return of Jesus Christ (Italy, Evangelista Media, 2012); http://www.amazon.com/End-World-The-Antichrist-Judgments/dp/8897896332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353347361&sr=8-1&keywords=matthew+needham+the+end+of+the+world; accessed December 9, 2016.
3 Horses of the Conquistadors,
Andalusian Horse Articles, Skyhorse Ranch and Kennel; http://www.spanishvisionfarm.com/Articles/History/conquistadors.html; accessed December 9, 2016.
Chapter 1
Called to Be a Missionary
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen (2 Timothy 4:17-18).
Jesus Is with You
The key to becoming a powerful missionary or evangelist is knowing that God is with you. You have to see Jesus standing at your side to give you strength, so that through you the good news of the gospel will be fully proclaimed. Jesus said that we are to go and make disciples of all nations; and as we do this, He gave a special promise that He is with us always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus Christ is with me. This is the confidence I have when I preach the true message of salvation.
Jesus stands with His people who are on the frontline of missions and evangelism to give them strength, because they will go through various evil attacks and hardships—at times it will feel like they are in the lion’s mouth. The apostle Paul despaired for his very life on numerous occasions as he was faithfully doing God’s work (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). Obeying God’s will can be hard and there can be vicious opposition. Paul was constantly on the move and he worked hard for the Lord (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). Evangelism is hard work, but it has an eternal reward that is far beyond whatever difficulties we may go through.
We need faith and motivation to preach the gospel so that everyone can hear it. There will be obstacles at every turn to such widespread preaching, but no matter what attacks we face, Jesus is going to bring us safely into His heavenly kingdom. These words from the apostle Paul have been a great encouragement for my ministry; because to fully proclaim the gospel to the multitudes, we do need to see Jesus standing at our side. Our eyes have to be fixed on Him, for without Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5).
Are You Listening?
God speaks to us in various ways. The question is: Are you willing to listen?
It wasn’t until I was baptized in the Holy Spirit that I was awakened to the wonderful and deeper reality of God’s presence. I knew Jesus as my best Friend during my childhood and teenage years, but when I experienced His power, the stories of the Bible became alive like never before. I will never forget that day.
A man was sharing his testimony, and it was a fantastic story of a changed life. As he was speaking, a strong pressure came upon my chest, and I knew that this was my time to receive a touch from God. When I went forward for prayer, it was as if I had stepped into God’s sovereign presence. I saw a bright, shining light somehow from within me and overshadowing me at the same time.
When I was prayed for, an amazing kind of power and electricity went right through my body like a wave from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. It was like a bolt of lightning from Heaven. I cried uncontrollably for about half an hour. I didn’t really understand what had happened, but I look at that day as being the time when the call of God for missions and evangelism was released in my life. I didn’t have any idea where this would take me, but straightaway I went into street witnessing with another young person who had the same fire of God burning in his heart.
When I started street evangelism, I felt so weak. At first, walking up to total strangers to share with them about the Lord Jesus was not easy, but by God’s grace I somehow continued. After sharing the gospel with someone, I then felt happy and found that there is an unexplainable joy that comes when seeking to lead people to the Lord. We have to learn to do what pleases God. As I shared with people the message of how Jesus had died on the cross for our sins and what we must do to be saved, I knew that God was pleased with me.
First Call to Leave Everything and Go
Over the next few months, I began to feel God calling me to leave school and begin preaching immediately—that I would have to set myself apart for full-time ministry. My parents understood this because they had seen the change in my life and my new seriousness for God. I left school because I knew that God was calling me to preach the gospel. My parents provided some part-time work as I sought the Lord for my next step. I still didn’t know where I would go, but there was a substance of faith inside me that God would open the way.
My father had been a dairy farmer, milking cows, but by this time my parents had shifted focus and now had an orchid farm, exporting the flowers to Japan. I had to tie up the orchids so they would grow up straight. We weren’t making enough income from this venture, so my parents also planted courgettes, also known as zucchini. As I picked courgettes and tied up flowers, I prayed, God, I left school to become an evangelist. Why am I a gardener, picking flowers and vegetables?
Actually, I hated gardening and had no interest in horticulture.
A short time after that I received a letter in the mail telling me about a ministry team at the other end of the country, in Timaru on the South Island of New Zealand. This was the answer I was believing for, so I immediately accepted it and headed off to join that team. During that time, God confirmed to me again that my calling was to be a preacher and that I was to tell people the full message of the new life
we can have in Christ (Acts 5:20). For the next six years, I was in a moving-around type of evangelism, serving whatever churches or opportunities that came. My first call was to travel throughout my home country of New Zealand doing evangelism work.
What laid a deep burden upon my heart for overseas missions work was a documentary I watched on television about the New Age movement and its roots in Hinduism. At one point in this film, there was an Indian man who had dug a hole in the
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