A year ago, I wrote an article pleading with you to pray to the Lord of the harvest for new members to be added to the South Sudan mission team. I heard from a number of you about the impact that article had on you and your prayers. We had people come to us who expressed a willingness to be considered for the work, in part due to that article. But one by one the Lord made it clear that those individuals, couples, and families were not being called to the work (at least not at this time).

As 2019 was headed into its fourth quarter we had one last name on our list—the Hanna family. A call had been issued, and the Hanna family was wrestling with all the implications of this call. The calendar moved from September to October, and we were still awaiting their final answer.

While I was maintaining a confidence that they would accept the call, as South Sudan sub-committee chair, advancement committee chair (responsible for recruitment), and executive director of RP Global Missions, I was feeling the weight of the possibility that they could say no. If they said no, we were going to be facing big questions that I for one was not ready to answer. Within these questions included the possibility of shutting down the mission in South Sudan, handing it over to some other organization, or parsing out the various parts of our ministry to various organizations. While it is our hope that the work there will not long require a missionary presence, it did not seem to anyone involved in South Sudan that our work was completed. And as we continued to await the Hannas’ response, my heart grew heavy with the weight of all of these things.

But during this time the Lord reminded me again and again that this is His work, that this was His burden, and that He knew answers that I did not know. I found myself daily—no, multiple times a day—going back to these assurances.

Then the Hannas’ email came on Oct. 3: “We accept the call. Please pray for us.”

For a euphoric moment I felt relieved of the weight of this long-awaited reply; I felt like I was breathing for the first time in a long time. But then something unexpected happened. As soon as those burdens fell, I was overcome with another equally heavy weight. We were sending two families—the Smiths and the Hannas—to a land I knew very well. It is not an easy place to serve. There would be adjustments and sacrifices made. Grandparents and other extended family members would be separated from them for long periods of time.

While we rejoice in their acceptance of the call, there are others, ones who love these families dearly, who would be impacted by it and even some who would disagree with their decision to go. There is a congregation that would once again be sent into a season of searching for a pastor. In a single moment my heart and soul were conflicted inside me—rejoicing at this long-awaited answer to prayer and grieving for those who will be impacted by it in difficult ways.

Sending missionaries is a weighty thing—from the asking for laborers, to the calling of said laborers, to the sending of the same. It is something that we do with great privilege, joy, and expectation. It is also something we do with a keen awareness of the many risks, tribulations, and trials that are awaiting them. There is disruption in the sending of missionaries. Lives are altered; emotions and fears are unearthed. But as I reflect on these things, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Any other way would rob the whole endeavor of the glory. There is no majesty in the status quo.

Why do we admire missionaries? Not because they have super-human spirituality. Most of us know better than that. It is because they have done something difficult that most have not done or would not do. It is because they have sacrificed and toiled in ways most find unimaginable. It is because they have loved the kingdom of Christ more than their own comfort, their own families, and their own lives.

So, as we are looking to send two families to South Sudan in 2020, I invite you to keep praying.

▶ Pray for the Smiths and Hannas as they prepare to go.

▶ Ask the Lord to remove any doubt from their minds and hearts. Pray for the families they are leaving behind—that they would increasingly grow in the support for this work their loved ones have been called to.

▶ Pray for First (Beaver Falls, Pa.) RPC as they are engaged once again in a pastoral search and shift the pastoral care to the other elders among them.

▶ Pray for the many transitions the Smiths and Hannas—adults and children alike—will be experiencing in the coming months.

▶ Pray for more laborers who would answer the call to go and serve with this team, particularly in various diaconal-type roles.

▶ And pray that the Lord would prosper the work in South Sudan, growing His church for His name’s sake.

Let us not forget to also rejoice with tremendous thanksgiving! The Lord has answered our prayers. He has called these ones to the honorable task of carrying the gospel of truth to a dry and barren land. He is advancing His kingdom and magnifying His glory even through their act of saying yes to the call.

So, thank you for praying with us this last year. The Lord heard and answered and will continue to do the same.

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Finding Your Calling through Short-Term Service

by Emily Hoffman

Seminary graduate Joshua Giesler reflects on his time with RP Missions, and how service (both local and abroad) guided him toward the pulpit today.

Through RP Missions, young people have had the unique opportunity to experience firsthand how other congregations around the world are serving the Lord. Many have returned home with a better perspective of kingdom work and better equipped to live missionally within their hometown. This was the case for Joshua Giesler, recent graduate of the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS), who looks back fondly on his time with RP Missions.

“It was really good to meet people around the world and share the faith of Christ with them,” he said. “[RP Missions] gave me a better understanding of what is going on in churches in other areas and gave me a heart to pray for these people around the world.”

Giesler first heard about RP Missions in 2012 while studying Christian ministries at Geneva College. Thanks to a friend who introduced him to Matt Filbert, founder and director of RP Missions, he quickly became acquainted with the Reformed Presbyterian Church and discovered an interest in serving God through short-term missions. After returning from a semester abroad in Scotland, Giesler left that summer to serve in Kobe, Japan, and in Cyprus.

When asked how his trips abroad cultivated his walk with Christ, Giesler shared how God used these experiences to mold his future goals, eventually leading to seminary. Though one of the most important aspects of short-term missions is encouraging other, smaller congregations, he found that a big part of a short-term mission trips is just learning more about yourself and how God is using you for kingdom work.

For example, serving in two different cultures that summer helped Giesler realize that not all mission work looks the same. Sometimes service is exciting and rewarding, and other times it can be slow and challenging. Working closely with kids in the vacation Bible school program and evangelizing door to door in Cyprus was a rewarding experience for him, as he loved working with youth and seeing their enthusiasm for the gospel. However, his time in Kobe proved a little more challenging. The idolatry and unbelief he saw in Kobe was difficult for him to grapple with, and he found himself discouraged by the spiritual oppression in Japan.

“Christianity is not always welcome there,” Giesler shared. “That was one of the most challenging aspects of that trip. Here in America, we celebrate individualism, but that is not the case in Japan. The group spirit is what is valued, and right now the group spirit does not welcome Christianity.”

The need to evangelize in Japan is great, as Giesler discovered. However, after going on more mission trips over the next two years in Fresno, Atlanta, and Ohio, Giesler realized that service abroad was perhaps not God’s ultimate plan for him. Looking back, he appreciates how God used these multiple trips to highlight areas of strength and weakness in his own ministry, the areas where he excelled and the areas where he needed more direction. Those summers were formative years for him, and he remains grateful for lessons learned on each trip.

Having just graduated from RPTS and now awaiting a pastoral call, Giesler is thankful for how RP Missions helped him realize where God was directing him after college. Of short-term missions, Giesler said: “There’s going to be a time [in mission work] where you are not only helping others, but you are also learning a little more about yourself. Sometimes you go to someplace, and you realize it’s not for you—but you’re going to learn in some aspects how God is calling you to ministry in some way. It’s not just an experience to learn about the church, but also [an opportunity to] learn about what God is calling you to do.”