Category: John Wilburn Missionary to Melbourne

This probably sounds really strange coming from a Missionary, but I have very weak faith.

For those who aren’t sure what faith is, it’s a belief or trust in the goodness of God (especially in times of hardship).

My faith isn’t always weak of course [1] but recently I’ve been reminded the circumstances of life can take a persons eyes off the goodness of God. Often when this happens our first response is to ask the Lord for His presence or blessing so faith can be strengthened.

While asking the Lord for help is not a bad thing this views faith as a “feeling” and taken to the extreme won’t obey God until we “feel confident.”

The point is Faith isn’t an emotion that we feel…it’s an action that flows out of conviction and belief that God is Loving even when He feels miles away.

A few weeks ago I flew home after teaching Theology at a Bible College in Bangladesh with a great desire to disciple Believers in foreign Countries with the Gospel of Christ. My heart was filled with faith (emotional confidence) that the Lord would open doors for me to do this almost immediately.

Yesterday ended up being pretty rough for me (got back into running this week which means my body is pretty sore, Satan enjoys attacking me with discouragement since I’m already in a weakened state) and around 4:00 in the afternoon I took a walk asking God to restore my faith…but the word “faith” could have been easily replaced by the word “emotion” since I wanted the Lord to bring back that emotional high from Bangladesh.

Instead of giving a feeling the Lord challenged me to act in the faith that I didn’t have [4].

So this morning I began writing out notes for evangelism and leadership classes in notebooks (much easier to carry in a foreign Country than a laptop) and edited my Bangladesh notes into material that would be used to share the Gospel with people all around the world.

While at the same time a part of me FEELS like I’ll never leave Pfafftown NC.

Did you notice the emphasis on feels?

I’m not saying that God never fills our hearts with confidence and faith (there are spiritual mountaintops as well as valleys) but if we wait till the emotion of faith comes before acting in faith our will accomplish very little for the cause of Christ.

It’s much better for us to do the work God has given while focusing on His nature….and not be surprised when our heart is filled with peace.

Dearest Friends,

A few weeks ago I sent an update after returning from teaching Theology classes in Chittagong, Bangladesh.  One of my requests in that email was that you pray with me about short-term opportunities God may open while the visa process continues, well this week I would like to share with you how God answered those prayers.

The permanent residency application is moving along and I’m being encouraged by friends in Melbourne to just be patient because the process takes time.  I totally understand that, however while being patient on that end (Australia) the Lord won’t allow me to be patient on this end (US while the application is completed).

Because of that I came to the Baptist Mid Missions Annual Conference last week and spoke with my field-director as well as other Missionaries about possibilities for what they call “short-term placement”.  This is an extended short-term ministry that would typically last six months to a year.

Praise the Lord as a result of those conversations three mission fields were brought up as possibilities for short-term placement!  One opportunity has already been offered to help teach a class on the book of Romans in October, and another field is praying about how the Lord can use me with Church planters on their field.

Just to clarify these ministries will not replace my work in Melbourne.  I wrote to my fellow missionaries in Australia Saturday saying “let me absolutely clear that this doesn’t replace Melbourne, or my call to the Australian people.  Trust me when I say returning to be with you is my greatest desire.”   Instead of a replacement these are opportunities to share the Gospel with those around the world who don’t know Christ while the visa is finalized.  

Obviously there are some specific prayer requests so please join me in praying:

1. That God would open the right door, and I would clearly see His direction
2. That if it’s the Lord’s Will this ministry would last at least six-months
3. That the Australian visa process would continue while I’m serving overseas
4. And that if none of these ministry opportunities are God’s Will, He would provide new ones

Thanks so much for all of your prayers as I become actively involved in short-term placement ministry.

In Christ,

John Wilburn
www.wilburninmelbourne.com

Last week as I committed myself to active involvement in short-term placement Missions opportunities my mind was filled with lots of things that would be missed.

1. Family and friends
2. My Church family
3. My own car
4. Walmart

What surprised me was one of the things I would miss most (after family) was my running partners.

Running has been important for many years since it helped me get into shape for the first time in my life after graduating from College. However in the last two-years it’s become something much more important  because I got involved in training programs with other runners [1]. Training with friends who are passionate about running has in turn made me extremely passionate about running.

Last week during a hike with missionaries one of them asked me how my running was going [2]. This led to my talking excitedly about runkeeper, pace-times, garmin watches, what to eat the day of a race, and the awesomeness of GU [3] [4].

Now there’s nothing really wrong with being passionate about running since physical fitness is an important thing. The problem arises when running becomes THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of my life [5].

The thing we care about most (find our self-confidence or purpose in) is what we worship or submit to in life. There are many things people “worship” but the only thing worthy of worship [6] is a relationship with God through Christ.

Matt Papa in his book “Look and Live” describes it this way

The triune God is the only thing large enough and interesting enough to bear the weight of glory, and ultimately worship. Anything else will break your heart [7]

The point is nothing can truly bring fulfillment, so mankind is destined to go from one source of worship (or idol) to another never finding happiness.

Does God hate the fact that runnings important to me? Of course not! But if running, and the relationships with my training partners become something that I worship then there’s a serious problem [8].

This doesn’t mean God wants me to burn all of my shoes and running gear in the backyard. Instead this means I hold running (and everything else I’m passionate about) with an open hand willing to give up if the Lord leads me to.

Next month the new training programs starts and for the first time and for the first time in two-years I won’t be there. Honestly that makes me a little sad because it means spending less time with friends, and there are a lot of things about the training programs I’ll miss.

But I know this opens the door for me to share the Gospel in other Countries, so it’s definitely worth it.  And while I’m at it, I will probably tell them how awesome GU is as well.

As a single male in my late-thirties I more than most people realize the need for what Justin Taylor in a blog post earlier this month referred to as a “theology of singleness” [1]. Without going too deep into the subject, he used messages from Tim Keller and John Piper to share a very powerful truth…it’s okay to be single all your life.

Kevin Deyoung in his excellent book “What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality” describes that truth in an incredibly beautiful way.

”A spouse and a minivan full of kids on the way to Disney World is a sweet gift and a terrible God. If everything in Christian community revolves around being married with children, we should not be surprised when singleness sounds like a death sentence.” [2]

The point these men are trying to make is single people can still be used by God. And if you will allow me to go even farther, singleness is a BLESSING FROM GOD!

Honestly given a choice I would rather not be thirty-nine and single. I told a group of campers last year my choice would a wife and station wagon full of kids, but that isn’t God’s choice for me [3]. The truth is the Lord gives Grace or strength in these situations so most days being single doesn’t bother me at all. However there are moments when it’s hard.

This comes from living in a world where being single is looked upon as “a death sentence” because so many people find their identity in the approval or love of others instead of Christ. In those moments of loneliness the thought “man there’s a lot of things God can do in my life if I was married” will usually pop into my head.

Now I’m not saying that God doesn’t do awesome things with married couples…but there are some very awesome things He can do with singles that (guess what) it’s almost impossible for families to do!

Yesterday I started communicating with mission fields about serving in short-term placement ministries for six-months to a year while my visa to Australia is completed. In my situation (a single missionary) that process includes three steps.

1. Step one: Get confirmation from the missionary family and buy a ticket.
2. Step two: Get short-term visa
3. Step three: Pack bags and leave
4. The whole process can take as little as two weeks

Now imagine how long it would take a family to do that?

Yes it’s true that one person from the family can go on a trip alone, but who wants to leave their wife and children for six months to a year?

In this way singleness is viewed as a gift because it allows me to do ridiculous things for the Gospel like throw my clothes in a bag one day, and be in another Country living for six months the next.

Will there be moments of loneliness?

I can guarantee those moments will come (I’ve felt them), but don’t worry, they are greatly outnumbered by the awesome ones.

Last week I had the opportunity to spend five days at the Annual Conference of Baptist Mid Missions [1] in Elyria Ohio. It was an absolutely amazing time that the Lord used to encourage my heart.

1. Through strong Biblical preaching
2. Through workshops that gave practical help for challenges Missionaries face
3. Through fellowship with other Missionaries
4. And opportunities for short-term ministry placement while the Visa process is completed [2].

What encouraged me more than anything though was the knowledge that other people have struggles like mine

You see Missionaries are “unique people” [3] who therefore face “unique challenges” that few people will understand except for other Missionaries

Unfortunately missionaries have little opportunity to discuss those challenges, and how God helps them since all of the time is spent ministering to others. This becomes a problem because over time Satan can make us (missionaries) believe that we are the only ones who struggle with those challenges.  And of course this leads to our acting as if everything’s fine when it isn’t.

Something like the Annual Conference allows us to step away from work for a few days and become honest about some our needs, which always reveals we aren’t the only ones struggling.

Thursday morning I ate breakfast with some missionary friends from India who had never eaten a “french toast stick” (poor souls). As we finished one of them asked why my return to Australia was delayed and I spent about five minutes giving an answer. Once I finished she looked at me and said “that’s exactly what’s happening to us!” [4].

That simple phrase had an incredible impact because Satan loves to tell me that I’m the ONLY ONE who EVER experienced a delayed return to the mission field…and that’s just not true.

Thinking about that breakfast reminds me of the Prophet Elijah in the Old Testament who in discouragement complained that he was the only one who still stood for God in Israel [5]. God responded by telling Elijah there was there still 7,000 people faithful people in Israel [6] and soon provided Elisha as a prophet to continue Elijah’s ministry

It is true that most people haven’t gone through the unique challenges I face, but that’s okay, because each of you go through struggles I couldn’t comprehend. We can praise God however that there will always be individuals who can not only understand that challenge, but share how the Lord brought them through it.