Working for a company is a very interesting way of life.  When you get a job you have the ability to negotiate your worth by the salary that is offered and talked about with you and your employer.   If they feel that you could be a strong asset to the company they might be willing to offer you more money just to get you to join their team.   So they look at your work ethic, experience, dedication, and any other factors that could excel the company to succeed financially.  It basically comes down to a trade of your time for the money they have to offer.  But the expectations are that you would be able to come in and make the company more money.  What you do can be measured by the amount of money that you help the company bring in.  Whether it is a supporting role or a front line role.   So the harder you work the more money they could make and your job performance normally is judge according to what effect you have on the company.  So the question is, are you worth the money that the company is willing to pay you?  Do you deserve that salary?

But what about full time ministry and missionary work?  How can you tell if what they do is worth the amount of money given from supporters?   This seems like it would be an important question, since the people who do not receive anything for giving their hard earned money to send missionaries out, don’t always see what happens behind the scenes, right?  But how do you measure the unmeasurable?  No matter how hard they work, you can’t fully measure the fruits of their labor.

So being in this situation, I question all the time if what I do is worth it and wonder if being out here in New Zealand is a good investment for those people who support me?  Would it be more beneficial for me to go back to America and jump back into the work force supporting myself?  Is what I do really worth it?  Well I guess that question has to be answered with seeing what I actually do.  Can what I do really be measured in a tangible way to compare the cost?  Or is it beyond things of this world and an eternal investment?

So what is it that a missionary and pastor really do?

Most of what I do isn’t shown tangibly.  It starts with leaving everything that I know, the comforts of my life and walking daily fully having to trust God, not knowing what tomorrow will bring.  Giving up my future, my worldly dreams, the people that I love most and living a life that is fully sacrificial for other people.  It is training people and encouraging them in the faith.  It is sharing with people the good news of Jesus Christ and countless testimonies of how He has changed my life.  It is guiding people to the cross showing them how to lay down their life for the gospel.  It is being a friend to those who need a shoulder to cry on.  It is trying to be the best example I can be so that people get excited to spend time with God.  It is giving insight to those who are searching for the truth.  It is supporting those who can’t do things alone.  It is teaching people and empowering them to change the world for Christ through the gifts that God has given them.  It is being a cheerleader when people are doing great things for the Lord.  It is praying for the sick and bringing supplies to those in need.  It is raising up the next generation of youth to be ready to take over the church.  It is giving an ear when somebody needs a person to listen to or giving them advice when they don’t know where to turn.  It is being available 24hours a day 7 days a week.  It is given them hope by being honest and transparent when they fall.  It is being a family member to smile with, to cry with, to laugh with, and to live life with.  What I do is hard to measure because it is all based on what God does through me sacrificing my life so that others can fall deeper in love with Jesus.

So how do you measure giving up your life for Jesus Christ and compare that to the financial support that is given?  Maybe we can’t.  Maybe we will have to wait till heaven to see if the money invested was actually worth the souls that were saved.  To be able to see them face to face and worship Jesus together for eternity because of your financial sacrifice.  So for those people who have supported me and other missionaries around the world through prayer and finances are investing into the most important thing life has to offer; changing lives eternally for Jesus Christ.  The treasure they will receive by their giving will be far greater then those who were looking for some sort of tangible measurement with no action.  The joy we have in building the kingdom of God together far outweighs, the worth of man made money!

Ministry is a lifestyle and how we live can’t be measured by a matrix.  Sometimes we can see the fruits of our labor but many times we wont see anything until we meet up with those people again in heaven.  So if you are serving in the ministry keep pressing on and do everything you can to do the best of your ability because in everything we do, we do out of obedience to the Lord.  We have the honor of building the kingdom of heaven and one day we will hear those amazing words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

I really do want to thank you all for your support and I hope you are encouraged to live your life as a living sacrifice, to be part of what God is doing.  What an honor!  This world can never understand the importance of sending missionaries all over the world, but the Church can!  God bless you.  🙂