Curried Missionary - Part 15

A few posts back I put up a poll about this series I've been doing for a while now. The results so far are that four people have voted and three out of four have no idea what Curried Missionary is. So, here it is, this is Curried Missionary and below are the links to all the other parts of the series.

In this part I look at Spiritual Warfare, I hope it's helpful (I am by no means an expert on this subject by the way, these are my thoughts on this subject in relation to encouraging missionaries).

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Pic: My mum Estelle with my nephew in PNG

"A Note On Spiritual Warfare

If you are planning on encouraging a missionary then you are making a choice to be a part of their spiritual battle. As soon as a missionary starts to prepare to go to the overseas or home mission field, Satan begins his attack. By encouraging missionaries we are fighting as part of the Lord’s army against this constant battle. It doesn’t matter if you decide to only post parcels or letters or whether you start a prayer meeting or distribute prayer letters, you are part of the battle!

As part of this battle it is vital that we put on the Lord’s armour as Ephesians 6:10-18 discusses and not take these verses lightly. The spreading of the message of Salvation begins with your support and encouragement and this is what the devil hates the most. He is the master of discouragement and will do his utmost to make a missionary return to their home country for the wrong reasons. So, before you start to take part in this missionary encouragement ministry you will need to put on God’s armour. The reason is clearly set out in verse 12;

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers f this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

Prepare yourself daily for this battle by making sure that your personal devotional and prayer life is on track and make sure that you are fully aware of its reality.

Missionaries encounter spiritual warfare in their everyday lives openly. They are often more aware of it’s reality whereas in the western world it 'seems' to be more subtle and hidden. It is vital that we understand fully the reasons why a missionary can become discouraged so that we can be most useful in this encouragement ministry."