What is missionary success? It's not measured by time on the field
By Joel Barkman — Before we left for Spain, we went through extensive training to prepare us for life and ministry abroad, and the people I met on SEND’s Michigan campus challenged my ideas of success in missions.
Many of the people who led sessions and worked at the home office had lived overseas. Some served for many years; others served for a short time in one country only to be directed by God to move elsewhere. A few had prepared for long-term ministry overseas only to return home after a year.
Which of these careers were successful? Were some failures? I found that I’d been subconsciously defining a successful ministry career as being on a field for 30 or so years, then retiring. I was thinking of people who returned after one year, or even after one term, as failures, and God really convicted me of this during our time in Michigan.
What is our job?
If our job is to raise 100 percent of our support, that’s easily definable; if it is to serve in Spain for 30 years, that is measurable. However, I don’t believe that is the job description God gave us when he began leading us down this path toward cross-cultural church planting.
None of us know the exact path that God has for us. What does our life look like in a year? Four years from now? He could direct us anywhere. For us to measure our success based merely on years in one ministry location can easily turn into idolatry.
Our number one priority is to faithfully follow God, wherever he directs us. Though he’s graciously allowed us to move to Spain, he hasn’t promised that we will remain in Spain for 30 years. God only asks that we remain faithful every day. If he directs us to another field, or back to the States, that is up to him, not us. He is the one who measures our success, not fellow man.
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