How to Become a Witness of Christ to the Nations

Acts 1:8 is one of the most inspiring verses when it comes to becoming part of God’s mission. God wants to empower you to become a witness of Christ. That’s quite an honor. And for many, he wants you to take this beyond what is familiar and into other nations and countries.

But how do you do this?

In our day and age, what can a Christian do who wants to help reach the nations for Jesus but isn’t sure where to start? Maybe your church isn’t doing much in this area. Maybe you don’t have a good church right now (if so – please make every effort to find one).

No matter your current situation, this article will help.

We’re going to show you ten things you can do to position yourself and align your heart with God’s desire to reach the nations with the gospel.

10 Steps to Become a Witness for Christ to other Countries

First, let’s start with Acts 1:8 so we’re all on the same page. Here’s the text:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

As Christians, we have power to be his witnesses. That power comes from God, not ourselves.

In this verse, he was talking to his disciples. Notice the places. Jerusalem is the city they lived in at that time. Judea was the region. Samaria was a bordering region – like another country in today’s terminology.

See the point Jesus was making? Start local, and expand outward from there, until the remotest parts of the earth have heard the message. Just reading this far, you should already be a bit more inspired than you were before. But let’s keep going.

Here are ten things you can start doing today to position your life to be useful for God’s global mission.

1. Get Stirred Up about God’s Mission

God has always wanted to bring the message of reconciliation to the nations. It’s been on his heart since the time of Abraham, as these verses show.

For you to play a part in reaching the world with the gospel, you must first get your eyes off yourself. God cares for you and loves you – more than we can ever know. But he also loves the other seven billion people in this world. This is not all about us, and never has been.

Let God start to expand your awareness of how many people across the world need to hear the message of the cross.

2. Start Praying for other Nations

This is the fun part, and the most challenging in some ways. It’s fun because you can pick any country. Go look at a map of the world, and study it for a few minutes. Take your time.

Then, pick out one to five countries that seem to stand out to you, for any reason.

After that, start praying for the countries you chose. Do it every day or as much as possible. Write down things to pray about.

Start researching those countries to learn what problems they are facing, and add those needs to your prayer list. You can do this with conventional news sources. Who is their president? What system of government is in place? What do they eat? How prosperous is the nation? Have there been any recent wars or conflicts? What social issues and stresses are they facing?

The point here is to develop concern for these countries. If you start studying them, you will start caring about them and the people who live there. Your heart will expand, and eventually, God may choose to do something powerful through you.

Here are some ways you can pray for iBAM and what God is doing through us.

3. Start Reading about Missions Work in other Nations

iBAM has a printed and an email newsletter. Sign up for the email one here. When you do, you’ll get an eBook telling an incredible story related to our work.

Other global missions organizations have similar reading material. Sign up for more than one.

As you start reading about missions work God is doing around the world, your world will quickly expand, and your focus on your own problems and challenges will decrease. This isn’t to minimize any hardships in your life – not at all. Again, it’s simply to say that God wants to use you, and he wants to use you now, not after your life is all put together. Brokenness is not a hindrance to making disciples.

The sooner you start showing interest in the work he is already doing through global missionary nonprofits like iBAM and others, the sooner you will get inspired and get involved in some way.

4. Start Giving to a Global Missions Ministry or a Specific Missionary

God enlarges our hearts when we give to the things he cares about.

Supporting ongoing missionary work is often easier than actually going on a mission trip, and yet it’s vitally important. Missionaries cannot do their work without support. Even Jesus took financial support (see Luke 8:1-3), as an example for us to follow.

You may know of missionaries or missions groups through your church, or that a friend or relative supports. If not, choose another organization whose mission resonates most with you.

iBAM’s mission is about making disciples in other nations through business entrepreneurship. Why business? Here are 5 ways business as mission helps plant churches and make disciples.

And here’s a look at our process for multiplying disciples and churches using business.

If our mission resonates with you, now’s your opportunity to stand up and show God that you care about his desire to save people from every nation, people group, and language. You can give to ministry funds, regions, and specific missionaries who are working in other nations right now.

On our giving page, you’ll see several giving options in the dropdown menu under ‘choose support area for your donation.’ You can give a generous one-time gift, or you can make a commitment to discipleship and church planting through a monthly gift.

If some other branch of global missions inspires you more than ours, there are many other great organizations to give to. The point is – how we use our money speaks to what we care about. God is looking for people who care about reaching the nations. Start giving, commit to it, and see what opportunities come your way to serve God in the future.

5. Talk to People Who Are Different from You

Evangelism of any sort is inherently uncomfortable. No one gets saved in your comfort zone. You have to step outside of it. Global missions is no different.

The simplest way to do that, right where you live, is to make a point of initiating conversation with people who don’t look like you or talk like you. Find someone from a different country and talk to them. Look for someone who speaks more than one language and get to know them. Initiate with someone of a different race.

Why? Because all these things force us out of our comfort zones.

And that’s just the beginning. You’ll also learn about a new culture, and a different perspective on the world. And who knows, you might even make a friend. All of this will serve to broaden your awareness of the world and its needs, and how much it needs to know its Savior.

6. Host a Refugee Family

Your living situation has to make this possible, of course, but this is an outstanding way to expose yourself and your family to a different culture.

There are several nonprofits that help to resettle refugees. Many of these refugee organizations are faith-based, such as World Relief.

Most of the time, hosting a family requires anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, but it can stretch longer on occasion. Call up an organization and see how their process works, talk with your family about it, and decide whether you want to try it out.

No matter what happens, one thing is for sure – the experience will stretch you in ways you couldn’t imagine. And that’s a good thing, because it makes you more useful to God.

7. Go on a Short Term Mission Project

Again, there are all sorts of opportunities like this through various churches and organizations. Every Nation Churches & Ministries has an entire program called ’10 Days’ which is built around the idea of going on short term mission trips.

Why short term missions?

Because it’s a relatively light time commitment, but you’ll get to experience the process of raising support, going somewhere unfamiliar, and being part of doing a work of God.

The short term mission trip almost always ends up affecting you more than whatever work you’re doing. And again, that’s a good thing.

From that point on, you will see the world differently. You will see your walk with God differently. You will read the Bible and pray differently. You will be changed, because God will change you as you step out of your comfort zone, get your eyes off yourself, and do something risky because you want to see the world saved from sin.

8. Host Meals and Listen to Missionary Presentations

In your hometown church, if a missionary comes to the area, make a point to get around them.

This could mean inviting them to your home to host a meal and build a friendship. It could also mean attending a presentation or sermon they might be giving while in the area.

Simply being around missionaries will change the way you think about how God wants to use you.

9. Read Missionary Biographies

There are tons of these out there, and any one of them can have a profound effect on your faith and walk with God. Some good ones to start with include:

• • • Jim Elliot – Through Gates of Splendor – written by Elisabeth Elliot
    • Peace Child – written by Don Richardson
    • Amy Carmichael
    • Hudson Taylor
    • William Carey
    • Adoniram Judson

10. Study God’s Word on the Biblical Basis for Mission

Your church may have resources on how to do this.

One great resource you can use is a course called Perspectives. They have groups that meet all over the country. Learn more on their website.

Learn about Global Missions Work through iBAM

Joining a missions-based email newsletter is about the simplest step you can take toward exploring the mission of God.

Sign up for iBAM’s email list to stay in touch with us, and you will get an eBook telling an amazing story of a refugee turned business owner who started making disciples in his new land.

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