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What does a missionary do?

The answer is just about anything and everything. The main goal is to fulfill the mission of making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus taught. Following are some of the ways that missionaries accomplish that. Many of these things (well, okay all of them) are the same things that churches do, but the difference here is that a missionary is going to somplace that is not "home".

Evangelism

Quite simply the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. This can take place in a number of settings and venues. It can be done inside churches, conferences, on the street, or just by living and getting to know people. It can be a full time occupation or take up only part of the time.

Church Planning

Okay, the evangelism worked, and now we have some people who have accepted the Gospel, now what? They will need a church home. Again, this can be full time or part time as the need arises.

Discipling

The word means to teach a discipline. Once someone accepts the Gospel, they need to be discipled, to learn the discipline of living a godly life. It is one thing to convert, it is another thing to grow. This can be within the framework of the church, or one on one, or even in a seminary setting, preparing local Christians to become leaders in their own home. It is a missionary's job to put himself out of a job.

Support

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and missionaries have to live somehow. Some missionaries raise support by periodically traveling home going to local churches and asking them up for support. Some missionaries have jobs where they have been sent and support themselved by working. Some belong to organizations that handle the support but require reports.

Agriculture and Medicine

Some missionaries help the local people to better their lives through agriculture or medicine. It is easy for ethnocentric Americans to think that they are "helping the poor unfortunates in xxxx country," but remember that what is actually happening is that they are simply sharing a gift that God has given them in order to build relationships to share the Gospel. Also remember that there are missionaries from other countried to America and from America to America to perform this same task.

There are other things that missionaries do, but these are the main ones. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Missions and me