You feel called to cross-cultural ministry. Now what? When should you start inviting others to pray with and for you as you embark on this new journey of becoming a missionary? Now!
If you feel a tug in your heart to pursue cross-cultural missions work, gather a trusted, committed, and prayerful team who will intercede for you through the journey of discerning God’s leading.
This will not only serve as an encouragement to you, but it will also build the faith of those supporting you in prayer. As you discern God’s leading in your life, He will open doors of opportunity, close other doors, and guide you as He’s promised. As people intercede on your behalf, they will witness the Lord’s faithfulness and be encouraged to persevere in their intercession.
As your prayer support grows, you might consider communicating more frequently with a smaller group of individuals. In your communication, you can relay more personal details to a trusted group that prays specifically for your daily needs.
Keep all your prayer partners informed of how God is working, what you see Him doing, and how the Lord answers. Perhaps meet weekly to share these answers to prayer and to pray together. God could use these prayer meetings to lead someone else into missions, spur another group to pray for unreached people groups, and even champion different missionaries supported by your church.
Here is a great article that shares additional prayer tools about cross-cultural missions and unreached people groups: What are some tools to use to pray for the nations?
Wherever you are in your journey of exploring cross-cultural missions and becoming a missionary, the time to pray is always now. Prayer partners can deepen your spiritual walk, broaden missionary vision, provide emotional and spiritual support, and enhance your prayer life. The mutual commitment to pray for one another fosters a strong bond and can bring blessings and growth to everyone involved.
Charlie T.
Director of Prayer and Celebration