I’ve been reading through a collection of letters from pastor, professor, and author, Jack Miller (The Heart of a Servant Leader). In a letter to a young missionary, he outlined 7 lessons for new missionaries (pp. 43–45):
1. You are first His work, and we praise Him for that.
2. Make sure you are enjoying yourself and not taking your work too seriously. You don’t have anything to prove to us or the world. The work is finished at Calvary, and that work alone has unlimited meaning and value.
3. Help others relax and enjoy the work.
4. Major in giving thanks for what has been accomplished and don’t spend more than one-half hour looking at your sins.
5. Do some evangelism with someone every week. Watch out for the saying, ‘There is a lion in the streets, and therefore nothing can be done today.’ Don’t wait till it’s perfect, just go.
6. Remember the only real leader you have is Jesus Christ. Unless you are daily taught of Him you will not be able to make the right decisions. . . . Prayer is not full and effective unless it adds up to our learning to wait upon the Lord for Him to make known His will. He needs to break down our tendency to cry out in prayer, ‘Your will be done,’ and then to get up and still try to impose our will on circumstances.
7. In working with other churches, take the time beforehand to get to know the territory, wait on the Lord, and don’t form any hasty covenants with the Gibeonites. . . . We must love the dear sheep for whom Christ died and not, if at all possible, leave them to the tender mercies of hirelings or wolves.
