Navigating the Path to Personal Ministry as Goer or Remainer, John & Betty Stam,

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Key take aways

"God is a missionary God, and the entire Bible talks about it."

 "There's a job for you in getting the gospel to the world."

"Time alone in prayer, time in meditation, time listening to the Holy Spirit - that's what it's going to take to last as a missionary."

Country of the Week, Pakistan
Book of the Week, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya
Verse of the Week, Genesis 9:17
Person of the Week, John and Betty Stam

Embark on a journey through the heart of world evangelism, where the promise of God's covenant from Genesis stretches out to the furthest corners of the Earth. As we traverse the challenging yet fertile fields of Pakistan, a nation thirsting for the Gospel amidst severe persecution, we uncover the profound need to spread God's word. Drawing on Ruth Tucker's "From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya," we delve deep into the rich tapestry of Christian missionary history, offering both insight and inspiration. The personal story of my friend David Maddox's solo mission trips serves as a stirring example of the individual impact one can have in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Feeling that tug on your heartstrings, that call to serve? This episode is a treasure trove of encouragement and guidance for those discerning a life in ministry. My booklet "Are You Called?" provides a navigation tool for young people to evaluate their readiness across personal, financial, and spiritual spectrums. It is more than just a conversation; it's a lifeline for those who yearn to train others in the ministry and find their identity in Christ. Join us, share your faith journey, and be part of a community that's passionate about igniting a global spiritual awakening. Together, let's celebrate the transformative power of sharing Jesus's love across the world.


and empower you to do exactlywhat God's calling you to do.
My heart goes out to you.
As a young man just finishinghigh school or finishing college
, you are so hungry to be usedof God, so I want to be here as

(00:27):
best I can to be your friend andyour mentor via the podcast or,
if you want to get in personaltouch with me.
I want to help you be all thatGod has called you to be.
I am here for you from thebottom of my heart.
I'm excited that each time weget together, we look at a Bible

(00:47):
verse, and I'm all the way backin Genesis, in chapter 9, in
verse 17.
And the Bible said and God saidunto Noah this is the token of
the covenant which I'veestablished between me.
Here it is me and all flesh, meand all flesh that is upon the

(01:08):
earth.
Now, all the way back in thebook of Genesis, chapter 9, the
God of heaven was making apromise, a covenant between him
and all human beings.
God loves the world.
We know that from the NewTestament, but did you know that
all the way from the verybeginning.
We started with the book ofGenesis, 1 and verse 1.

(01:31):
God created us, and now we'reall the way to Genesis 9, and
the flood has taken place andGod's still saying I'm here for
all people.
He's going to say that all theway through the Bible.
What a missionary verse.
I challenge you, young person,to take the time to study that
verse and to realize that God'snot here just for your country

(01:53):
and just for your people, but heis honestly concerned and in
love with everybody on theplanet.
So that's our verse for the day.
Now I'm going to be bringingyou through the Old Testament
because I just want you to knowthat the Great Commission is not
the reason we do worldevangelism.
In all honesty.
It's an entire Bible truth, anentire Bible time.

(02:16):
All the Bible talks about it,and I'm going to give you 150
verses, probably before it'sover.
It'll take me about three yearsto get through it, but anyway
it ought to challenge you toknow that our God is a
missionary God, and so thesecond thing I want to look at
with you today is our country ofthe week, and our country of

(02:37):
the week is Pakistan, and thatis the fifth largest country in
the world, so I just thought I'dlet you know.
That is the fifth largestcountry in the world, so I just
thought I'd let you know.
India is now the largestcountry in the world, by over 3
million people and growing everyday, and China's in second
place, united States in third,and then Indonesia comes in at

(02:58):
fourth.
Now to number five.
I may have said four a whileago, if I did.
I'm wrong.
Pakistan is the fifth largestcountry.
Now let me give you someinteresting facts.
I've got pulled up over onanother screen here.
Pakistan is 95.8% Muslim.
We have got to pray about howto get the gospel to the Muslim

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people of the world, about howto get the gospel to the Muslim
people of the world.
Operation World, which, as youknow, is where I am going to go
for my statistics.
I challenge you to get signedup for their daily email and to
use them.
What a great job they've donegetting all this material
together for us from all overthe world.
53% is unevangelized, but grabthis.

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2.5% is all that says they'reChristian, and only 6% 0.6%,
less than 1%.
0.6% is all that claims to beevangelical.
Now, 35% of the population onein three is a child under the

(04:15):
age of 15.
That's a great thing.
It is a very difficult country,obviously, because when you
talk about the persecutionranking, it is number seven.
Operation World only lists thetop 50 most persecuting
countries in the world andPakistan made it to the list as

(04:36):
number seven.
Now I would like to introduceyou to a book and you probably
have heard of it, but if youhaven't heard of it, I want to
challenge you to get your copyof From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya.
It's a biographical history ofChristian missions.
It was written by Ruth Tuckerand it is actually my favorite

(05:00):
because it's more like laymanmissionary reading story after
story and you can read it andlearn all about such good things
there.
Now it's a larger book.
You know some people shy awayfrom big books.
This is 528 pages, but it'scovering everything from the
time of Christ till today inworld evangelism.

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Now you might not likeeverything about the book, but
you're going to like a whole lotmore than what you don't like.
So if you haven't got a copy ofFrom Jerusalem to Injaya, I
hope you'll get a copy of it andI hope you'll dive into it.
Read it from cover to cover, getexcited that God is in the
missionary business, and healways has been.

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You're a young person andyou're trying to figure out
exactly where God wants you andwhat God wants to do with your
life.
I can promise you this Godloves the world and he wants the
whole world to be saved, and soI hope you'll pray and think
about going as a missionary tosome part of the world.
There are so many ways you canbe involved.

(06:06):
I just met with my friend,David Maddox today for lunch and
we talked about his trip.
He took a month-long trip andwhenever he reaches the modern
age and I can get him set up onsome equipment, I'm going to
have him Zoom with us and youcan hear about it.
He spent one month.
He went to Cambodia andThailand and he went to I can't

(06:27):
remember where else and to PapuaNew Guinea and he had a great
time all by himself, nobodythere, and met with almost no
American missionaries, and hewas out there just digging in
and learning about what God'sdoing in the world.
And we talked at lunch God hasa plan for you.

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And he met with his children.
His son-in-law is a missionary,a helicopter pilot, with Ethnos
and they're the Wycliffe Bibletranslators there in Papua New
Guinea.
I just want you to know there'sa job for you.
I am pushing, I push churchplanting, but right now Ethnos

(07:10):
is looking for doctors andnurses.
They're looking for a CPA,they're looking for people that
help with the Bible translation,who just so much need.
I want you to know there's aplace for you around the world.
I want you to know you can beinvolved in getting the gospel
message to the world.
So don't leave without thinking.
I can take the next step, andmaybe you're a little nervous

(07:34):
about it, but I'll be more thanhappy to help you via email or
Zoom or in-person meetings,because you can take that next
step Now.
I always like to tell you astory or introduce you to
somebody that God is doingsomething really special with,
and so today I have looked upwhat God's doing with John and

(07:58):
Betty, or what God did with Johnand Betty Stamm.
I'm sure you probably know alittle bit about them, but
here's just some interestingfacts for you to take home.
Now.
He's really kind of ourgeneration Well, not you younger
people, the ones I'm reallytalking to.
He was born in 1907, and my dadwas born in 1929, so he was

(08:22):
only born 22 years earlier hewent to Moody Bible Institute in
Chicago and prepared to be amissionary, and Betty, his wife
and John separately, found thatGod wanted them to be
missionaries and they went tothe mission field and they
didn't get married until theywere in China serving God there
under the China Inland MissionIn December of 1934, they were

(08:47):
captured and they had a littlegirl named Helen Priscilla.
She was just a few weeks oldwhen they were captured by the
communists and it's a sad story,to be honest with you, but a
glorious story.
They were executed in 1934, inDecember.

(09:09):
The story is told that theysaid if he wouldn't renounce
Jesus, they would cut his headoff.
And his wife said Honey, standfor Jesus, even if it means our
lives.
And he stood for Jesus and hedied.
And then she was killed almostimmediately after that.
They knew what was reallyinteresting is they knew the

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trouble was there.
They knew that the communistforces were moving.
They knew that the conflict wascoming.
They didn't try to escape.
Instead they trusted God andwhat God would do, and so on.
The night before they wereexecuted, betty John's wife
managed to hide a letter she hadwritten to the CIM office China

(09:56):
Inland Mission office and sheexplained about their capture
and she expressed their faith inGod and God's plans, and that
becomes a tremendous testimonyto who they are and what
happened in their lives.

(10:16):
Well, the baby was left allalone, but there were Chinese
Christian believers and theyfound her and they rescued her.
And so John and Betty Stamm,and they rescued her.
And so, John and Betty Stamm,what challenging people God has
raised up for us to look at andthink about and pray for and
believe that God could dosomething great in our lives.

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Do you realize that right now,in the countries that we've been
able to cover in these fewshort weeks that we've been
doing this, right now we havetalked about, the greatest
percentage of the world'spopulation are in need of the
gospel, and God wants to callyou, and God has a plan for you
and God will work in your lifeand God will do something big

(11:01):
with you if you'll just trustHim.
I want to stop just real quicklyand offer you a copy of Are you
Called?
Now, when this podcast comesout, I will be in Arequipa, Peru
, and so you can't expect me todo what I'm about to say

(11:21):
immediately, but if you arewilling to help me to promote
what we're trying to getaccomplished here, and you will
put a post online.
And this is just a littlebooklet, just a little booklet.
You'll put a post online thatsays, hey, you liked it, you're
learning something that God'sworking in your life, that I'm
going to send you a free copy ofthis little booklet.

(11:43):
It's a little booklet, but itis pretty powerful.
And so because what I've donehere, I wanted to help all you
young people that are listeningright now, and so what I've done
is put together in the book achecklist for your personal life

(12:04):
.
That's just one example, andunder that checklist for your
personal life, I've listed 10things that you ought to
consider.
So you see, you want to knoware you called?
And then you want to know areyou ready?
I probably should have namedthis are you ready for your call
, but I didn't.
For example, number one can yougive a clear, confident

(12:28):
testimony of your salvationbased on the written word of God
?
Do you know that you're savedand are you able to articulate
that?
So you want to get where youcan do that.
And then the second checklistthat's prepared for you here.
They're just very short becausethey're meant to take quite a
while Not a lot of reading to bedone, but a lot of thinking and

(12:49):
praying to be done.
And the second one says can youexplain and defend your
fundamental doctrinal beliefs?
See, if you're going to be amissionary, you've got to teach
the Bible.
If you're going to be amissionary, you've got to be
able to help people.
And can you sit down withpeople and explain to them
exactly what you believe and why?
How do you get saved?
Is it salvation by grace,through faith, and not of

(13:11):
yourselves?
It's a gift of God.
If you had to explain baptism,could you explain baptism?
And could you show them theBible verses?
How prepared are you to be theperson that would share the
ministry?
Now, a lot of the guys the onesI really want to talk to you may
not be married yet, but you'regoing to be.
So I got this in here how doyou and your family make

(13:32):
significant decisions?
Because in marriage you'regoing to have to figure out how
you make decisions, and soyou're going to work through
that.
What's your practice withfamily devotions?
Have you explained to yourspouse what the expectations are
?
That's a really goodconversation thing.
This was not written to be abook you read.

(13:52):
It was written to be aconversation you have.
Then there's a checklist foryour financial life.
You ready, hang on.
What's your credit score?
What's your credit score?
Do you have a savings plan forretirement?
Have you studied Bibleprinciples about money and the

(14:13):
relationships between them?
So I want to challenge you.
We talked about the treasureprinciple in the last podcast,
and so that's a good book to getstarted on that.
The next checklist is about yourchurch life, and I start off
very simply for you to thinkabout.
If you're going to be amissionary and you're not
faithful to church, you probablyaren't going to be involved in

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church planning.
Are you?
Are you faithful to your localchurch?
That means all the regularservices and any special
services.
Do you take part in a church'sevangelistic outreach?
So you're going to answer abunch of questions.
There's 14 questions there foryou to consider, and then
there's a checklist for yourpublic ministry.
See, I tend to work on a plan inmy head Be, do, serve, train

(14:59):
and be is who you are.
It's the hidden you, it's youridentity in Christ, if you
understand that, but it's thecharacter.
It's you in private.
It's the you that no one knows,but you Because, you see, once
we get up and go public, we puton makeup, we put on one of our
masks and we walk out into thepublic.
But the most important part ofyour life you could ever work on

(15:22):
is your B-level, who you are,who you are and what's your walk
with Christ like.
Then you have your do-level andit's still private, but I call
it your personal level becauseit's how you live out who you
are.
You see, we don't do to be, wedo because we are.

(15:43):
And so then, above that, youhave your public level, and
that's how you're known.
He's a Christian, he's a Sundayschool teacher, he's a bus
worker, he's a missionary, he'sa preacher teacher, he's a bus
worker, he's a missionary, he'sa preacher.
Whatever it is.
That's how you're known and howyou're looked at.
But you know you can easilykind of fake that part, can't
you?
You can pretend to be whatyou're not if you're not careful

(16:07):
.
And then the last level is whatI call the priority, and that
is that you'll train others.
So I base the questionsbasically on that who are you?
Personal level?
What do you do?
How's your public life?
How's your church life?
And then are you going to train.
So the last one is your publicministry, and is there anyone in

(16:30):
the church serving God that youled to Christ?
Can you identify clearly andconfidently and express your
call to the ministry?
So 14 more questions.
I want to offer that to you.
If you'll just go on socialmedia, I'm only on Facebook and
Twitter.
I'm on Facebook and Twitter andInstagram and LinkedIn.

(16:54):
If you're going to any of thoseand you will just make a
comment, a good, positivecomment, about the podcast and
tag me in there, then I willcome.
I will send you a free copy ofthe booklet as soon as I land
back on American soil.
I just want to get that to you,but not that much money.

(17:16):
I mean honestly, it cost me alittle over $3 to get it printed
, but it still, I think, couldbe a help to you and I want to
challenge you to do that.
I want you young people tolisten just briefly to me.
God has a plan for you and Godwants to do great things in your

(17:42):
life.
I know because at one time Iwas young and I was intimidated
and I was nervous.
I felt like I couldn't everadmit to anyone that God might
have called me to preach,because I felt like I don't know
.
I don't know if I measure up,it's kind of like the imposter
syndrome.

(18:03):
I don't know if I can reallysay that's who I am or say
that's what I do.
And so I just want you to know,as you listen to me today, that
I love you and the WorldEvangelism Podcast hosted by
Austin Gardner we love you andwe want to help you in your walk
, and I'd love individualcontact with you.

(18:25):
I can walk you from the day youknow you're called or if you're
thinking about the call, allthe way through to help you
learn the language and learn theculture and get set up.
I am more than willing to helpyou, excited to be a part of
helping you and what you'redoing.
So I just want to be a part ofthat.

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I want you to know someone's inyour corner and someone will
believe in you and someone willhelp you.
Now I'd like to say this tothose of you that you know
you're the senders, you're thesupporters.
You don't feel that God hascalled you to go to the mission
field.
You are a stayer, and there isnothing wrong with that at all,

(19:11):
because as long as we're doingwhat God wants us to do, then
we're doing the right thing,aren't we?
But if you are one that stayshere, can I challenge you to be
a friend and a counselor and amentor and a helper?
There in your local church areyoung people that God would have
in the ministry, but they don'thave anyone who takes a

(19:34):
personal interest in them.
They need someone they canlearn to pray from.
I remember going into PastorWillard Willis' office first
church I worked in as a staffmember and every Sunday morning
Brother Willard was a countryman, what a man of God.
And he'd say, hey, let's haveprayer, and we'd get down on our

(19:56):
knees at two chairs in hisoffice and sometimes others
would be there and he'd justlead in prayer and I'd listen
and, boy, he touched heaven.
He was just such a sweet man ofGod.
It did a work in my heart, awork in my life.
I prayed, he prayed, andwhoever else was there.
That's how you learn to pray.

(20:16):
You know how you learn towitness to people.
You go with somebody who'sdoing some witnessing.
Do you know how you learn toshare your faith?
By being with somebody sharingtheir faith?
I had another friend that wasjust a dynamic, outflowing,
excited gospel sharer,outflowing, excited gospel
sharer.
And he helped me tremendouslyto learn how to do that.

(20:38):
How do you learn to give Peoplethat give and you get to see
them giving, you get to see it.
Man, they write that check,they fill out that envelope.
Whatever it is they do, they'reinvolved in giving.
So I think if you're a stayer,you have a massive work that you
can do, and that work is thatyou can show genuine interest in

(21:01):
the young people, listen tothem, share your heart, share
your love.
And I'll just say this Ifyou're staying, you ought to be
giving.
If you're staying, you ought tobe praying.
If you're staying, you ought tobe preparing others.

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If you're staying, I want youto know there's no negativity
meant by this at all.
When our United States militarygoes to the field, when our
United States military goes tothe field, a small percentage go
and the bases that taught themhow to do it, trained them on

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how to do it and showed them howto do it.
They're still here and they'restill doing the same work
they've always done and they'restill keeping up the work.
And that's what we're going todo.
We don't quit, we don't walkaway.
The base has to be strong.
You know, the most powerfulthing you could do to destroy
any work would be to destroy thehome base.

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So you need to be strong.
You need to be strong.
So I challenge you to do that.
I challenge you.
Then I'd like to say just abrief word to the missionaries.
I want you to know that peopledo love and highly respect you.
But you're going to have tolearn what it's like to be alone

(22:24):
with God.
I cannot explain to you what itwas like when I arrived in
Adikipapuru back in 1988.
Social media didn't exist andhow in the world I couldn't stay
in touch with people.
A phone call was $3 to $4 aminute from the states down and
much more from Peru up.
My support wasn't enough to beable to pay that.

(22:47):
But you know, you got to learnto stay on Jesus.
Learn to your stayed on Jesus.
You got to learn that the mostimportant part of every day is
separating time to spend alonewith the Lord Jesus in prayer.
If you don't do that, you won'tbe strong.
You can't live off of others.

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I was home on furlough and Iwas in a meeting and this
missionary stood up and said Icouldn't have made it much
longer if I hadn't have gottenhere.
I needed what's going on inthis meeting and without a doubt
you might need what's going onin the meeting.
But I thought to myself wecan't live on what we get from

(23:28):
other Christians.
We got to live on what we getfrom the Holy Spirit of God and
the Word of God in prayer as heworks in our lives.
So I just want to challenge youto make deep Spanish is about
to come out profundidad to makea deep relationship with the
Lord Jesus.
Time alone in prayer time, inmeditation time, listening to

(23:52):
the Holy Spirit, time beingsensitive, because that's what
it's going to take to last as amissionary.
You must walk with God.
That's the most crucial thing.
I love having the WorldEvangelism Podcast because in
the World Evangelism Podcast,each week I want to share with
you the country of the week,which is Pakistan.

(24:15):
I want to share a passage ofScripture with you, which is
Genesis 9-17, where we'retalking about how God is making
a covenant with all flesh, andwe've talked about John and
Betty Stamm, people that fargreater spiritual life than I've
ever dreamed of and gave theirlives.
We talked about a fantasticbook From Jerusalem to Idianjaya

(24:37):
and we talked about helpingyoung people as senders and as
goers.
You've got to be stayers too,because the key is going to be
to how well you will stay intouch with the Lord, how well
you will let Him work in yourlife, how well you'll let Him
make a difference.
Now, as I close, for today, I'min the country of Arequipa, peru

(25:01):
, well, in the country of Peru,in the city of Arequipa, and I'm
offering you this book.
Are you Called?
But for you to get that, youneed to go to social media.
Put out a post.
You, to get that, you need togo to social media.
Put out a post.
Please recommend us and help usget people with us on the World
Evangelism Podcast.
Help us on the YouTube channelif that's where you're watching

(25:22):
by giving us a like and sharingit, and I will send you a free
copy of this little booklet.
It's just a little booklet,just a little booklet.
Only got like 38 pages in it,and I'll send this to help you
in your discussion and in yourwalk with the lord.
Now, my name is austin gardner w.
Austin gardner, william.
Austin gardner w.
Austin gardner.
The w stands for my well,that's my initial for william,

(25:45):
and I am guillermo in spanish,and I am delighted to get to
spend some time with you and Iwould just please give us a like
, please give us a share, pleasecomment with others, help us,
help young people be motivatedto carry the gospel message of
Jesus Christ around the world.
Isn't that the goal?
World evangelism sharing thelove of Jesus with people all

(26:08):
over the world.
God bless you and thank you forbeing with us today in the
World Evangelism Podcast.