22 Christian Missionary Work - The Challenges

AMOS AFFUL
1
Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are
taken from the New King
James Version of the Bible.
CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY WORK- THE CHALLENGES
©2023, Amos Afful
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used

or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in
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of the Author. The only exception is brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Email Amos Afful:

Isaacamos33@yahoo.com
(+233)201097834
(+233)244981116
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ISBN
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to thank my Lord Jesus Christ for giving me the

grace to write this book.
My gratitude also goes to Lady Pastor Esther Afful, Mr.
Julian Godwin Owusu and Ms. Farida Laryea for your
support in making this book possible. May the Lord bless
you.
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my dear wife Lady Pastor

Esther Afful. You have been my partner on the mission
field. Thank you for your enormous support. I love you.
May God bless you.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
Dedication
Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 What is missions and who is a 11

missionary?
Chapter 2 The problem of spiritual opposition 15
Chapter 3 The challenge of strange customs, 19
religions, languages and social
practices of natives of the mission
fields.
Chapter 4 The challenge of the new 23
environment
Chapter 5 The challenge of change in 27
climate
Chapter 6 The challenge of loss of 29
missionaries to ill health and death
Chapter 7 The problem of cultural shock. 35
Chapter 8 The problem of inadequate funding 41
Chapter 9 The problem with receptivity 45
Chapter 10 The problem of racism 49
Chapter 11 The problem of closed doors 53
Chapter 12 We can overcome 57
Bibliography 63
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THE GREAT COMMISSION
The Lord Jesus Christ before His ascension into

heaven gave his followers and indeed all generations
of Christians what has become known as the
Great Commission. In this great commission, He
instructed His followers to go and preach the gospel
of salvation to all nations. After the ascension, these
followers started sending out people from within
their fold on mission trips. This practice has lasted
to date. The work of missions is supposed to be the
main assignment of the church. Although people
have been involved in missions since the first century
and have chalked great successes on the mission
fields, there are still billions of people in our world
today who are not saved. There is still more work to
be done. Some Christians feel that missionary work
is no more needed because of recent technological
advancements that have made things like satellite
television available in most parts of the world. They
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argue that there is no need for the physical presence

of missionaries since many people can be reached
via electronic media.
The great commission is still in force today. But it

is missionaries who start churches and disciple new
converts. Their physical presence is still very much
needed. We must find all creative ways to reach
the unreached, preach the unpreached and tell the
untold.
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Chapter 1
WHAT IS MISSIONS AND

WHO IS A MISSIONARY?
Mission is the sending out of a person or group
of persons to perform a special duty. The word ‘
missionary’ comes from the Latin word ‘mitto’ which
means ‘to send’. The term missionary can therefore be
defined as a person sent out by his church, a Christian
body or by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to preach
and make converts in a foreign land.
A missionary is one who is called by God to a full-time

ministry of the word and prayer and who has crossed
geographical and/or cultural boundaries to preach
the gospel in areas of the world where Christ is hardly
known. A missionary can therefore be sent to internal
mission fields or he can be sent to missions abroad.
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ARE YOU A MISSIONARY OR AN APOSTLE?

The word missionary does not appear in the Bible;
what is seen is the word ‘Apostle.’ Apostle comes from
the Greek word ‘Apostello’ which also means ‘to send’.
Coming from the same root word, we can safely say
that the word apostle can also be interpreted to mean
missionary. Both terms refer to people who are sent
out either by direct instruction from the Lord or by a
body of Christians to preach the gospel to the unsaved
and to disciple new believers in the faith.
THE FIRST MISSIONARIES

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the originator of
missionary work.
‘Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and
High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
who was faithful to Him who appointed Him,
as Moses also was faithful in all His house.’
(Hebrews 3:1-2)
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In the above scripture, Jesus is referred to as an Apostle.

This is because He was sent to the earth by the Father
on a redemptive mission.
‘And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,

‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven
and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age’ (Matthew
28:18-20)
Moments before His ascension into heaven, the Lord

Jesus gave his followers and indeed all generations
of Christians what has become known as the Great
Commission. In this great commission, He instructed
His followers who He had taught and trained to go and
preach the gospel to all nations.
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After the ascension, these followers started sending

out people from within their fold on mission trips. This
practice has lasted till date. Although centuries have
gone by since the early Apostles began missionary
work in the first century, the core task of missions has
not changed; modern day missionaries are still sent to
do the same thing that Paul, Barnabas, Peter, Silas etc.
were also sent out to do-preaching the good news to
the unsaved.
The work of missions is the main assignment of

the church. Although people have been involved in
missions since the first century, there are still billions of
people in our world today who are not saved. Though
great successes have been chalked on the mission field,
there still remain many challenges that are hampering
efforts at winning the world for Christ.
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Chapter 2
THE PROBLEM OF SPIRITUAL

OPPOSITION
The missionary enterprise is not just a physical
one. It involves turning people away from Satan’s
kingdom of darkness and leading them into God’s
kingdom of light. This means that the task of soul-
winning which is the basic goal of every missionary
is actually a battle between two kingdoms. Satan
who is the God of this world has blinded the eyes
of the people of the world in an attempt to prevent
them from coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ.
‘But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled

to those who are perishing whose minds
the god of this age has blinded who do not
believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory
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of Christ, who is the image of God, should

shine on them.’ (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Missionaries who set out to convert people often

face stiff opposition from Satan and his cohorts.
This opposition comes in many ways and varies
in intensity. Spiritual opposition may take any
form from calm rejection of the gospel to the
criminalisation of Christian preaching. Missionaries,
therefore, ought to confront these forces of darkness
by the power of the Holy Spirit and overcome them
so that the people can be free to accept the gospel.
Allan R. Tippett in his book, ‘The Holy Spirit and

Responsive Populations’, observed that in the
early days of Christian work in the South Pacific,
the turning point for the acceptance of the Gospel
usually occurred when there was an encounter
between the spiritual power of the Christian God
and that of the traditional deity or spirit in which it
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was demonstrated that the power of God is greater

than that of the lesser deity.
Jesus Himself, while on this earth, was fully aware

of the opposition that Satan put up against the
proclamation of the Gospel so His entire ministry can
be seen as a massive power confrontation between
the power of God exercised through Him and the
power of Satan-the enemy. No wonder Edwards C.
Pentecost in his book, ‘Issues in missiology’, wrote
that ‘without engaging in spiritual warfare, the best
techniques of communication amount to nothing.
The best laid plans of evangelism and most basic

church growth principles dissolve into utter fancy.’
This is so because unknown to many, Christian
missionary activity no matter how small is actually
a spiritual warfare. The enemy does not tolerate
any attempt at plundering his kingdom. So it
is not man but Satan and the forces he deploys
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to fight the missionary in his work. As a result,

many challenges that missionaries face often have
spiritual undertones. The host of these anti-God
powers works against the missionary because they
are working against God who is their sworn enemy
and His purposes for man.
So it is common for missionaries to come across

extremely difficult situations in their work or even
hateful or hardened people who may /seem to be
disruptive to the missionary agenda and such people
are often possessed by some demonic entities who
are not happy about the spiritual light which shines
brightly through the gospel that the missionary
brings. Every missionary can therefore be described
as a spiritual soldier who is under attack on the
frontline of a spiritual battlefield.
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Chapter 3
THE CHALLENGE OF
STRANGE CUSTOMS,
RELIGIONS, LANGUAGES
AND SOCIAL PRACTICES OF
NATIVES OF THE MISSION
FIELDS.
A missionary who arrives in a foreign land for the

first time may find that he cannot communicate and
nothing that is being said makes any sense to him.
He may not be able to read signs on the street and
in shops. Suddenly he will have to quote figures and
pay for goods and services in a different currency.
He may notice that people dress differently and he
may look like the odd one out of hundreds of people.
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He may notice that even vehicles moving around

may have strange colors on their number plates and
bear unfamiliar brand names and models, etc. This
feeling is quite awkward. One time I was invited to a
program in Lome, the capital city of the West African
nation of Togo.
A day after my arrival I walked into a shop, very

confidently to purchase a few items. But I was
unpleasantly surprised that the lady in the shop did
not understand a word of English; she spoke only
French which I also did not understand. For several
minutes I tried unsuccessfully to communicate with
her through gestures what I wanted. In the end, I
thanked her and left in frustration.
The challenge of strange customs, religions,

languages and social practices of natives of the
mission field often can cause a missionary to feel
lost and out of place on the field. The only way to
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relieve this deep-seated feeling that often leaves

one in nostalgia is to constantly remind himself of
why he’s there in the first place. He must also try
to make some friends, begin to learn the language
and attempt to make some changes to his wardrobe
so that he can gradually blend in. These may not be
very easy to do especially at the very beginning but at
least they are worth a try.
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Chapter 4
THE CHALLENGE OF THE

NEW ENVIRONMENT
One of the first things to strike the missionary in the
new environment he finds himself in is the sheer size
and strength of the non-Christian religion. Now don’t
get me wrong; he knew they were there, he may have
read about it in books, magazines or on the internet
before arriving, but he somehow didn’t expect them
to be so powerful and so pervasive.
The Christian’s presence suddenly resembles a tiny

island surrounded by a sea of Hinduism, Traditional
religion, Buddhism or Islam, depending on where he
is. For the first time he realizes that he has become
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part of a Christian minority that is weak, poor,

despised, and sometimes persecuted. Mosques,
temples, shrines and pagodas may outnumber
churches in a ratio of a hundred to one (100:1) or
even two hundred to one(200:1) They are big and
beautiful while the churches are small and plain and
the congregations are numerically insignificant.
In African countries, one of the realities that may hit

a foreign missionary or even an African missionary
who has hitherto lived all his life in a big cosmopolitan
city is the fact that many of the Christians in the rural
areas or smaller towns are still somehow tied to the
Traditional African Religion and it’s superstitions in
one way or the other and seem to practise what can
best be described as a hybrid of Traditional African
Religion and Christianity concurrently, oblivious
that they are in error. The missionary who hails
from a big city with all its luxuries may suddenly
find himself in a small village on another continent,
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far away from all he knows. This village may not

even have a health care facility, electricity and all the
gadgets of convenience, internet, Wi-Fi, asphalt or
tarred roads, a functional school for his children or
even potable drinking water.
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Chapter 5
THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE

OF CLIMATE
When a person is born into a certain climate, the
body adapts to the climatic conditions and adjusts
to it in many ways. When one is suddenly removed
from his climate of usual residence and thrusts into
one that is very different from the one he is used to
back home, he faces many challenges.
For instance, African missionaries who leave the heat

and humidity that they are used to in the tropics are
faced with the extreme cold and struggle greatly with
the winter for years in other parts of the world. In
like manner, Europeans and others born and raised
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in temperate climates that are sent to the tropics or

third world countries are immediately confronted
and slapped with heat and intense humidity,
mosquitoes and the malaria they bring.
Most Swiss missionaries who were sent to the Gold

Coast (now Ghana) and other countries along the
West African coast at beginning of the 19TH century
died of malaria. The situation was so bad that the
Europeans back home nicknamed West Africa as
‘The white man’s grave’. It takes quite some time
for missionaries to get used to these changes and
this difficulty often slows down missionary activity.
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Chapter 6
THE CHALLENGE OF LOSS OF

MISSIONARIES TO ILL HEALTH
AND DEATH
Health is happiness as they belong together. Both
are essential to a successful missionary career.
No one can be truly effective over a long period of
time unless he is basically happy in his work and
happiness depends to a large degree on good health.
It has been said that ‘the greatest Saints are the
greatest sufferers.’ This is often true especially in the
early days of missionary work. There are a few cases
where people were able to rise above the challenges
of ill health and had done exploits for God, but this
is the exception rather than the rule.
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A missionary who is travelling far from home to

places that he hardly knows about should be strong
mentally/psychologically and physically. We pray
and work better when we are well. A missionary who
is physically weak and unhealthy cannot achieve
much for God.
Many missionaries around the world are exposed to

a series of health hazards. Here in the third world
where a huge number of people ( a chunk of the
population) are not educated and do not know much
or even care about germs, good sanitation, personal
hygiene or how to prevent illness. So if care is not
taken, one can easily be exposed to contaminated
food and polluted water especially in the rainy
season when flooding is common.
In most third world countries and in some African

countries where governments are struggling with
issues of poor sanitation, improper disposal of solid,
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liquid and even chemical wastes from industries

and illegal mining, vegetables like lettuce, carrots,
onions, tomatoes etc. that are grown along these
streams and rivers, are likely to be contaminated
with all forms of wastes because farmers often use
water from these same contaminated streams and
rivers to irrigate their crops. In such places even tap
water that is supposed to be treated cannot be fully
trusted because of damaged or aged pipelines.
In some rural areas in Ghana and other countries

where many people don’t have access to tap or
borehole water, the situation is so appalling and
bitter as drinking water is mostly sourced from
streams, rivers or ponds which the natives often
share with their livestock. On such mission fields,
there is one rule that must not be broken: do not
drink water that has not been boiled or purified.
A missionary on the field will do well to obey this
simple rule or he will suffer dire consequences for
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his actions or in-actions when he goes down with

typhoid fever, cholera, diarrhea, tuberculosis or
some other diseases. In some countries, hospitals
and other health facilities are located only in the
cities. This leaves the small towns and rural areas
without proper medical facilities and staff so locals
depend largely on traditional medicine, witch
doctors and herbalists for their health needs and it
is a daily show to see locals going around looking for
certain herbs to pick for medicinal use.
The missionary who gets to such areas may soon

discover that he has to be his own doctor and perhaps
a doctor for his flock too. So it pays to learn some
basics about health care, first aid, health danger
signs, home remedies for common illnesses, etc.
before embarking on missions to such areas. The
missionary will also have to learn all he can about
divine healing and how to apply it in daily life and
also how to pray for the sick.
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Many missionaries die every year on the mission

field through various circumstances. Many are lost
in persecution. This is a major problem because the
missionaries that are killed are very experienced and
have spent a lot of time to learn the languages of the
local people and also developing strong relationships
among locals. When they are lost, their places are
filled by less-experienced people and this leaves the
mission work in jeopardy.
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Chapter 7
THE PROBLEM OF CULTURAL

SHOCK
What is cultural shock?
The problem of cultural shock is real for all
missionaries who travel from their home countries to
distant countries for the sake of the gospel. Cultural
shock is a great feeling of alienation that one gets
when he enters an unfamiliar culture and this occurs
whenever a missionary migrates from one culture
to the other. Cultural shock, however, varies in
intensity, and as such the farther a missionary is sent
from his home country or familiar environment, the
more sense of shock he experiences.
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One major factor that I believe contributes to cultural

shock among missionaries is language barrier. The
effectiveness of a missionary depends to a large
extent on his ability to communicate in a language
that the masses speak and understand. Missionary
work can therefore not be very effective over a long
period of time without at least a working knowledge
of the most widely spoken language or languages of
a country, a city or in an area the missionary work is
to be executed.
Learning the language helps the missionary in many

ways. It helps him to create rapport with the local
people. Without rapport, it is quite difficult for the
nationals or local people to see him as a friend or
someone who is a part of their community. It also
affords him an insight into the culture of the people.
Because language and religion form a big part of
any culture, any missionary who wants to convert
people to Christianity must at least have a working
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knowledge of the local language(s) so that he can

have a better understanding and fair perspective of
the culture of the people.
The missionary has to make an effort to learn the

language in a formal way as he cannot just pick it
up as a child would. This task can sometimes prove
quite difficult as Mildred Cable and Francisca French
explain in their book, ‘Ambassadors for Christ’ ‘In
some countries like Zaire (now Democratic Republic
of Congo) where the official language is French,
the missionary may discover four trade languages,
one of which he will have to learn. In addition, they
will have to learn a tribal language if they are to
communicate effectively with the local people who
know only the tribal dialect’.
They go on to explain that the educated people speak

French, the businessmen and traders speak one of
the four trade languages and the rest of the people
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speak one of 250 tribal dialects. In cases like this, the

missionary may have to learn at least three different
languages. Missionaries encounter similar problems
in countries like Mozambique, Angola and Brazil. To
make matters worse, some missionaries sometimes
find that the languages they have to learn are very
complex.
One of such languages is Chinese. Most Chinese

words are made up of two parts: the radical and the
phonetics. There are 214 radicals and 888 phonetics
which must all be learned. Again, some languages
are tonal. An example of this is Cantonese which has
nine tones in all.
This means that the same word spoken in 9 tones will

have 9 different meanings. These factors mentioned
make the learning of new languages a very
challenging task for missionaries. Having at least
a working knowledge of the language or languages
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of natives of the mission field will help reduce

the culture shock as he may be able to have a fair
understanding of the life of the people, explore their
anti-Christian world views and the belief systems
that influences them and learn a lot from the arts
and culture of the people through their folklore,
entertainment, music etc. that often tell a lot about
the way of life of a people.
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Chapter 8
THE PROBLEM OF
INADEQUATE FUNDING
Missionary work is a very expensive venture; it takes
thousands of dollars to take care of one missionary
on the field. Funds available for missionary activities
around the world are often not enough. Some
missions operate more economically than others.
Some also have more generous support for their
missionaries than others.
In America, Europe and other western countries, the

average local church seldom sees a live missionary
from one decade to the other. Therefore, they are
likely to stop supporting somewhere along the way.
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For some churches, support for missionaries is given

on a personal basis. To get this kind of support, a
missionary has to appear in person from time to
time, spend a weekend or two in the church, share
his testimony and try to build some kind of personal
rapport with the members through interaction and
telling them about his work.
In this way, he wins the confidence of the church

members who continue to remember him as a
personal friend and not just an unknown missionary
and continue to give to support his work even in his
absence.
Many churches do not make any effort to go on

missions of any form nor do they support any
missionary on the field.
Here, in Africa, many churches prefer to do

missionary work by training members themselves
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and then sending them on the field in much

anticipation of winning and converting the lost and
organize them into branch congregations. Some also
send out their pastors to target areas as pioneers.
The funding for such missionary work often comes

from the ‘mother church’ or ‘sending church’ as they
are sometimes called. Such funds are often meager
and sometimes are delayed due to administrative
bottlenecks and bureaucracy, leaving missionaries
and their families struggling for survival.
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Chapter 9
THE PROBLEM WITH

RECEPTIVITY
Many missionaries go out to the mission field
expecting to meet people who are hungry and thirsty
in spirit and waiting expectantly for the arrival of the
missionary. Some missionaries therefore expect to
meet people who would see them as the bearers of
the good news they have always been longing for.
This, however, is not often the case. The missionary
upon arrival may quickly realize that the people
among whom he is going to work are not as hungry
for the gospel as he might have anticipated. In fact,
they may not see themselves as a dying people who
need the message of the gospel to pull through. There
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are varying degrees of responsiveness of different

groups of people at different times. A careful search
of the Bible especially the New Testament reveals
that the common people were more receptive than
the Pharisees.
The poor were more responsive than the rich and the
Galileans were more responsive than the Judeans. In
modern times, missionaries still face the problem of
lack of responsiveness. For instance, after many years
of missionary activity in Thailand, the percentage of
professing Christians in the population was only 0.1
by the year 1982. Some of the factors that may cause
people to reject the gospel are insecurity, pressure
from family and peers, fear and sometimes politics.
In some places, the rejection faced by missionaries is
not necessarily of the message, but a rejection of the
‘communication and the communicator’.
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Certain groups of people do not accept anything

coming from another group because they are either
being brainwashed by historical doctrines based
on past events or for some political reasons. For
instance, the American Indians are often not very
receptive of the gospel when it is presented by U.S.
missionaries because the Indians harbor a deep-
seated resentment for the white man for taking away
their land and livelihood.
In the same manner, some Africans reject the gospel

when it is presented by an European, American
missionaries or anyone they perceive as ‘white’
because of the distrust that some Africans have for
them as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
and colonialism.
It has also been established that people who are

healthy, prosperous and seem to lack nothing in
life are more likely to reject the gospel because they
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don’t want to do anything to threaten the stability

that they enjoy. Missionary work is often an uphill
task because of the lack of receptivity on the part of
the unsaved masses.
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Chapter 10
THE PROBLEM OF RACISM
Although God has given the church the mandate

to reach out to the whole world, the underlining
canker of racism cannot be overlooked. The Basel
missionaries arrived in the then Gold Coast (present-
day Ghana) to reach out to the nationals. But the
indigenes of Akropong were very difficult to reach.
This was partly due to the differences in complexions.
In modern times, one realizes that when missionary
people of color are sent to places like Europe and
North America or Asia, they are not successful in
reaching other racial backgrounds. For instance, in
the city of London, a great part of the population
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is unchurched and many buildings that were once

churches have over the years been converted into
coffee shops, casinos, restaurants etc. while some
have been put out for sale. I once saw a picture in a
newspaper that saddened me. It was the picture of a
church in England that had been turned into a café. All
these are the repercussions of the drastic reduction in
missionary activities in Europe as a whole.
African churches in recent years have seen the need

to reach out to the people of the nations that braved
the odds to serve as missionaries to the African
continent a few centuries ago. However, when these
African missionaries arrived, they found out that the
whites had no interest in their messages.
Missionaries are therefore limited on racial grounds

in their quest to reach the world with the gospel.
In America, it is said often that Sunday is the most
segregated day of the week because most churches
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are all black, all white or all Hispanic.

According to Eric S. Fife and Arthur F. Glasser, in
the 1960S and 1970S, many missionary boards in
America did not send out many black missionaries
into certain areas.
There are several difficulties associated with the

use of black missionaries because they thought
that there was always the possibility that the black
missionary, when corrected for perfectly normal
shortcomings, will feel he is the victim of racial
persecution.
Things have improved greatly in recent times but the

stain and stigma of racism still exists and it continues
to impact negatively on missionary work.
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Chapter 11
THE PROBLEM OF CLOSED

DOORS
There are many countries in the world that are still
largely untouched by the lifesaving Good News of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The majority of
these countries are located in what is now known
as the 10/40 window. According to Luis Bush, this
‘window’ extends from ten to forty degrees north of
the equator and stretches from North Africa through
the Middle East to China and Japan.
Some of the countries in this bracket are Iran,

Burkina Faso, Senegal, Israel, Taiwan, North Korea
and Yemen. Others are Lebanon, India, Sri Lanka,
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Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, Brunei etc. There are about

fifty- three countries in all and these countries
together account for more than 3 billion of the
world’s population. The 10/40 window is also the
birthplace of the three most resistant non- Christian
religions in the world namely Islam, Hinduism, and
Buddhism. Many of the countries that fall within
this bracket do not allow missionary activity.
In fact, in Muslim countries, direct missionary

activity is deemed a criminal offense and anybody
convicted of working to convert the populace is
given a prison sentence. This makes the work of
missionaries extra difficult as they are usually forced
to work undercover.
Missionaries are however finding new and innovative

ways of entering these countries. They are getting
in as professionals in other fields and as they work
in secular organizations they are able to escape the
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searching eyes of security officers and hostile

state operatives. In that way, they are able to
propagate the gospel unofficially to the people they
come into contact with in their daily activities. In
the 20TH edition of the Nida ul Islam magazine,
Amir Abdullah quotes one missionary working
in Malaysia whose husband works officially as a
horticulturist as follows: ‘The company that hired us
is owned by Muslims, but there are some Christians
on the Board of Directors who helped us get in. A
Muslim- owned company has opened the way for us
to spread the Gospel in Malaysia’.
Missionary work in these countries is not easy and

the dangers of persecution, prison and even death
are always as real as the ground the missionary
walks on. The following quote by Amir Abdullah
who is a Muslim gives a clear view of how Muslims
think missionaries ought to be treated - ‘the
biggest deterrent is to come down hard on these
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Apostates. Just like drug dealers pushing drugs in

our neighborhoods, the missionaries are pushing
apostasy and one finds that whilst the effects of drugs
are limited to this world, the effects of apostasy will
carry a person to hellfire’. His views give us an idea
of how the Muslims see missions and how they are
prepared to treat the missionary with contempt.
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Chapter 12
WE CAN OVERCOME
Looking at the challenges so far, l am of the view that

the church must continue to uphold its mandate
to create awareness of the very purpose for which
Ecclesia was born. The Church exists for one common
goal: to send the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to
the ends of the earth. The church therefore cannot
afford to substitute its core mandate for any other
activity in this world. This means the onus is on us as
children of God and as disciples of the Lord Jesus to
keep the priority of the church in perspective.
Missionary work is the core mandate of the church

and must be addressed with all urgency. Apostle
57
Paul addressing the first- century church said, ‘Woe

is me if l preach not the Gospel’. We need to conform
to the same belief. Woe is the church if it does not
send missionaries to preach the Gospel. The world
is becoming more and more porous and availing
to the anti- Christ web. There is therefore the need
for a synergistic strategy to win the lost at all cost.
This requires our unflinching financial support to
aid missionary workers and their families so that
they can continue to push the Gospel to the untold
around the world.
The gospel is free but its propagation is so expensive.

Taking the Gospel around the world involves the
injection of substantial funds. This is how we ought
to assess the missionary work and the field of souls.
Missionary activity is expensive and unfortunately it
is underfunded. The sooner the church appreciates
this fact and takes bold steps to address this all-
important issue, the better for us as a universal family.
58
AMOS AFFUL
In Mark 8:36, Jesus said, it is not worth losing a soul

to gain even the whole world. This statement means
the soul is worth more than everything in this world
combined and we must do everything in our power
to invest in missionary work which is directly aimed
at soul- winning.
.
PRAYER AS A KEY FOR MISSIONS
With the challenges that have been discussed in this
book, it is clear that missionary work is not for the
faint heart. To be able to overcome these challenges,
we need a helping hand that can push us forward,
make a way where there seems to be no way and
break through barriers that may be set by the enemy
to stop the flow of the gospel to the untold world.
There are two scriptures that point out a person who
will ultimately assist us and influence situations for
breakthroughs on the mission field.
59
‘Then He said to His disciples “The harvest

truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into His harvest.” Mathew
9:37-38.
Here, the Lord Jesus is telling us that there is someone
called ‘The Lord of the harvest’. This means the field
of souls is willed to this ‘Lord’ who is in charge of the
harvest and who can grant you access to the field. He
is in charge of human souls, hence when He decides
to convict a sinner, the sinner has no option but to
obey.
So the Holy Spirit is your boss on the mission field

and if there is going to be a success, it must come
from Him. We must court his relationship, call on
him and pray for His help. He will answer and give
us victory over all the challenges we will encounter.
60
AMOS AFFUL
THE HOLY SPIRIT: OUR SENIOR PARTNER

ON THE MISSION FIELD
‘Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all
the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to shepherd the church
of God which He purchased with His own
blood.’ Acts 20:28
This scripture indicates that if there is anything
concerning the church and its administration, the
person who plays the key role must not be ignored.
The Holy Spirit is the wisdom behind anything ever
created. He knows the right instrument to press,
making it convertible to suit His taste and interest
in the world.
He has answers to our heartfelt prayers. The Holy

Spirit has been sent to us by God the Father and God
the Son who is the Lord Jesus. He can also sometimes
be described as the ‘sending one’ because He is the
sender of the congregations and their members as
61
He sent Paul and Barnabas in the book of Acts. It

means that no missionary can do his work effectively
without Him. To have a successful missionary work,
the Holy Spirit of God is the right catalyst for the
moments of decisions.
Anyone involved in missionary work of any kind

must therefore see the Holy Spirit as a senior partner
and strive to build a very close relationship with Him
through prayer and the study of the scriptures in
order to be able to access His power, gifts, wisdom
and directions for success in their endeavors.
62
AMOS AFFUL
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berkhok Hendrikus.(1962). Christ and Power.

Scottsdale, PA: Herald press.
Bush Luis (1990). Partnering in ministry: the
Direction of the world Evangelism. Downer Grove,
III. Intervarsity press
Bush Luis, Getting to the core of the core. The 10/40
window. San Jose. Calif. Partner international.
Cable, Mildred and Francesca French. (1935).
Ambassadors for Christ. Chicago: Moody.
Dayton R. EDWARDS.(1969). Medicine and
Missions. A survey of medical missions. Wheaton,
IL: Medication Assistance Program.
Fife S. Eric and Glasser F. Arthur. (1962). Mission in
Crisis. London: Inter-varsity fellowship press.
Hiebert .G. PUAL(2001). Anthropological insights
for missionaries. Baker book house press
John.E. kyle. (1984). The Unfinished Task. David
Bryant; inter-varsity Christian Fellowship.
63
Jan A. B. Jongeneel. (1992). Pentecost, Mission and

Ecumenism. Frankfurt am main Berlin
Kane J. Herbert. (1980). Life and work on the
mission
field. Deerfield, Illinois: Baker house press. Luzbetak
J. LOUIS.(1970).The church and cultures: Techy, IL:
Divine word publication.
Murray Andrew.(1979). Key to the Missionary
Problem. Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature
crusade.
Neil STEPHEN.(1970). Call to missions. Philadelphia:
Fortress press.
Nida ul Islam Magazine 20TH edition 2010.
Osward J. Smith.(1989). The challenges of missions.
London: Richard clay press.
Pentecost C. Edwards.(1982).Issues in missiology.
U.S.A: Baker house press.
Pollard Nick. (1997) Evangelism made slightly less
difficult. London: inter-varsity press Tippett.R.Alan.
(1987).The Holy Spirit and responsive
64
AMOS AFFUL
Populations. Pasadena, CA: William

Carvey.
Troutman Charles. (1976).Everything you want to
know about the mission field. Downers Grove, IL;
intervarsity press
www.indcatholicnews.com
65
OTHER BOOKS BY THIS

AUTHOR
Available at Challenge bookshops across Ghana. Also

available in both kindle and paperback versions on
www.amazon.com and www.spritreignchapel.com
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AMOS AFFUL

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY WORK- THE CHALLENGES

©2023, Amos Afful

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used

Email Amos Afful:

I wish to thank my Lord Jesus Christ for giving me the

This book is dedicated to my dear wife Lady Pastor

Chapter 1 What is missions and who is a 11

THE GREAT COMMISSION

The Lord Jesus Christ before His ascension into

argue that there is no need for the physical presence

The great commission is still in force today. But it

WHAT IS MISSIONS AND

A missionary is one who is called by God to a full-time

ARE YOU A MISSIONARY OR AN APOSTLE?

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES

In the above scripture, Jesus is referred to as an Apostle.

‘And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,

Moments before His ascension into heaven, the Lord

After the ascension, these followers started sending

The work of missions is the main assignment of

THE PROBLEM OF SPIRITUAL

‘But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled

of Christ, who is the image of God, should

Missionaries who set out to convert people often

Allan R. Tippett in his book, ‘The Holy Spirit and

was demonstrated that the power of God is greater

Jesus Himself, while on this earth, was fully aware

The best laid plans of evangelism and most basic

to fight the missionary in his work. As a result,

So it is common for missionaries to come across

A missionary who arrives in a foreign land for the

He may notice that even vehicles moving around

A day after my arrival I walked into a shop, very

The challenge of strange customs, religions,

relieve this deep-seated feeling that often leaves

THE CHALLENGE OF THE

The Christian’s presence suddenly resembles a tiny

part of a Christian minority that is weak, poor,

In African countries, one of the realities that may hit

far away from all he knows. This village may not

THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE

For instance, African missionaries who leave the heat

in temperate climates that are sent to the tropics or

Most Swiss missionaries who were sent to the Gold

THE CHALLENGE OF LOSS OF

A missionary who is travelling far from home to

Many missionaries around the world are exposed to

In most third world countries and in some African

liquid and even chemical wastes from industries

In some rural areas in Ghana and other countries

his actions or in-actions when he goes down with

The missionary who gets to such areas may soon

Many missionaries die every year on the mission

THE PROBLEM OF CULTURAL

One major factor that I believe contributes to cultural

Learning the language helps the missionary in many

knowledge of the local language(s) so that he can

The missionary has to make an effort to learn the

They go on to explain that the educated people speak

speak one of 250 tribal dialects. In cases like this, the

One of such languages is Chinese. Most Chinese

This means that the same word spoken in 9 tones will