Letters

Mission Frontiers magazines have been a tremendous blessing and inspiration to me and members of the missions department of my church. This magazine has really enlightened me to Godâs work on a global scale. The various articles and topics are highly informative, educational in presentation and great motivators for the emerging missionary.Deanna Armstrong
Brooklyn, NY

Kindly enter my subscription for Mission Frontiers. I am on the World Evangelism Commission for our church and I find it an excellent mission magazine. It should be helpful to us as we plan our mission programs or for the library.

Helen McClellan
Lenox, MA

As I have been observing mission strategy for several years, I have noticed that a missionary is a professional person. Missions, in practice, is for the economically and educationally advantaged. Even "tent-making" is primarily for the professional "making it" individual. When you talk to the ordinary churchgoer he understands that missions is a career for special people, not an obligation laid on every Christian. But the Great Commission is directed to all of us.

It seems to me this is a serious flaw in mission strategy: recruiting only from certain social classes. Recently in a missions-oriented Bible college, there was one black man, one with a Spanish surname and no Orientals out of several hundred students. Surely there's a place for the poor and the uneducated. When I look at the ads in your paper I feel like the little pauper with his nose pressed against the glass of the bakery window.

Since it seems obvious that one of the major needs overseas is more workers, itâs a mistake to neglect to send us disadvantaged types. Many of us are already living in physical hardship, but we want to obey Christ too. I mean this to be constructive criticism. With prayer, you thinkers can come up with something that will work to mobilize all American Christians. I want to goad you into action.

Anne Callaway
Grass Valley, CA

(We appreciate your comments, Anne. The, Great Commission is for all believers! In our culture, we do seem to require missionary candidates to be educated and thus have the economic means to obtain such training. We ought to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit's gifting than that. But even if recruiters continue to enlist only college-educated people, this does not mean that other Christians cannot have a significant part in Christâs world mission. Those who go as "missionaries" are just a small part of the missionary enterprise. Far greater in number are the essential support personnel who pray, give, equip, assist, etc. at the home base. ö RC)

Enclosed is a check for a subscription to Mission Frontiers. I feel lost without it....Would you believe a New Zealander out here gave me an issue?

My husband and I are here to train a Fijian to administrate our Bible college.... Our students are very fine, mighty men of God whom we believe God is going to use to evangelize the islands around Fiji in this South Pacific area....they will be ideal missionaries in their neighboring is-lands....We believe God has His hand on Fiji to be a center for the spread of His Gospel in this part of the great harvest field. It is a country that does seek to honor God. Would you believe the stores and shops are closed on Sunday?

Alvera Farrand
Suva, Fiji

We in South Africa do not often have access to such up-to-date and comprehensive information on world missions and I was therefore thrilled to read about what God is doing. It would be of benefit to receive your [magazine]. We would therefore appreciate it if you could include us in your mailing list.

M. Gratjios
Gospel Recordings, Inc.