The Cost and the Beauty of World Missions
June 7, 2021 • by Beverly Chao Berrus
Lined up were dozens of women dressed head-to-toe in Abayas, the traditional black robe worn by women in the Gulf region of the Middle East. With no knowledge of the Middle East except what I had deduced from sensationalized news and bad action films, I arrogantly said to God, “I will never live in a country where women have to wear that."
Six years later, I learned to “never say never” as I boarded a one-way flight to the United Arab Emirates with my husband and baby. We moved there for the sake of ministry, but we were the ones who were served in the end. To this day, our family still feels nostalgic about our years in that beautiful desert oasis and the privilege we had of witnessing God’s work among the people.
It’s scary for many of us to consider the possibility of a move like that. We don’t like the idea of leaving the familiar or comfortable, even if it is to bring the gospel to people who need it. It makes us anxious to think of the unknown. Not having control makes us feel unsafe. I have certainly felt this way. Yet nothing could be further than the truth.
In The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom details how her family endured the horror of Nazi occupation in Holland. She recalls a time when she complained about their trials only to have her sister, Betsie, say, “The center of His [God’s] will is our only safety—Oh, Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!”
Think Globally
Whenever I meet like minded people, I find there’s a special bond we share. We swap stories that bear that same refrain, “The center of God’s will is our only safety.” We have experienced his protection and care in the places we never dreamed we would go.
According to Joshua Project, a resource on people groups and gospel resources, there are 17,470 people groups. By their estimation, 42% are still unreached. Meaning, 42% of the world’s people groups have little to no exposure to the gospel and God’s people. 42%!
We must rejoice over the 58% that have been reached! Jesus took a few ordinary people and lit the world on fire. Paul and Barnabas took the gospel to Gentiles. I’m a Christian today (2,000 years after Jesus came) because a whole lot of Christians were faithful with the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20) across continents, languages, and millennia. God is good!
And yet my heart breaks for the 42% yet to be reached. As Christians, we have the extraordinary gift of the gospel, God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ for sinners like us.
His gift of grace is the anti-Pandora's box. Once opened, we find the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! God’s saving grace is not a paycheck for work completed. It’s a gift we didn’t deserve and could not earn (Rom. 4:4,24-25).
Reason According to God’s Grace
When it comes to missions or even living sacrificially, fear often keeps us from considering the nature of the gift we’ve been given—a gift that must be passed on. Fear of the unknown can keep our minds from reasoning by faith. It’s spiritual paralysis when we fixate only on what it costs us rather than on the reward that’s awaiting us.
To think according to God’s grace is to keep our minds stayed on the Lord. It is the practice of constant consideration over God’s character and all that he’s accomplished in Christ. It is longing for that day when God will be glorified through the worship of his gathered people from all tribes, tongues, and nations in every age. It is meditating on Jesus’ cosmic mission trip whereby he left his throne, becoming poor for our sake so that we might become spiritually rich (2 Cor. 8:9).
Like a good braise that’s been simmering for hours, reasoning according to God’s grace creates the distinct aroma of Christ wherever we go.
So, whether you go, stay, or support those who go (which I hope you do), remember that the mission is the same for all and it starts with reasoning according to God’s grace.
Count the Cost and Consider the Gain
Bringing the gospel to places where Christ has not been named or known will be costly, but the rewards are unimaginable. In Mark 10, Jesus says:
“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
How true we found Jesus’ words to be. We left family and home to move halfway across the world, but in doing so we gained more than we could have imagined.
My friend Karen once said, “It’s God’s kindness to be so sad about moving because it means we’ve been so loved and had so much love for the people there.” It’s amazing how we could be so sad about leaving a home that once was not our home, but that we made our home because our hearts were fixed on our better home in heaven. Only a holy God could bring that about.
“My local church became my family, and I lacked no mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers.”
Go Make Disciples of All Nations
At 19, I attended a missions conference where I literally cried at the very thought of God sending me to the Middle East someday. (Notice a theme?) Even then, I was scared of leaving home and family behind. I know now that God was giving me a decade-long head start on the idea.
In God’s sovereign kindness, a country that was once foreign to me became my home. My local church became my family, and I lacked no mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. The tears I once shed about moving away from America were replaced by tears for having to return. The center of God’s will was and is my only safety and I pray that I may always know it.
The harvest is plentiful, and the workers are few. I’m praying, like my Savior before me (and as I hope you will too), that the Lord of the harvest would send out faithful workers into his fields. If you’re afraid to pray because you’re afraid you will be the answer to that prayer, then turn your heart to the things of God, consider the gain, and trust him. And pass along God’s grace-gift to others right where you are. He will always do far more abundantly than you could ever ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20).
““The center of God’s will was and is my only safety and I pray that I may always know it.””
Beverly Chao Berrus lives in Southern California with her husband, Jason, and their three children. Bev is passionate about helping women in the local church grow in their love for God, his word, and his people. She enjoys reading, watching shows with her husband, and learning how to cook food from different cultures. Her writing has been featured on The Gospel Coalition, Risen Motherhood, 9Marks, and ERLC.
MORE FROM JOURNEYWOMEN
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen articles are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select writers each week, articles shared on the Journeywomen website do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the authors or any other resources mentioned.
