Since the beginning of the Christian movement, God has commissioned His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to follow the commands of Christ (Matt 28:19–20, NASB).[1] These modest-yet-dedicated men and women bravenly stepped out into pagan wildernesses, experiencing the inherent dangers, abuses, and afflictions that naturally accompany sharing the divine light in worldly darkness (2 Cor 4:7–12), trusting that God would supernaturally guide and empower them to do His missional bidding in these foreign lands,—and that, in the end, God would make it right (Rom 8:28). As such, key practices and policies can be ascertained from various missionary testimonies and tales from China to India to North America.
Perhaps the one constant observed in all missionary testimonies and journeys is that of the need for the missionaries to expect and endure the trials, temptations, and tribulations that were sure to come—and then to embrace ways to recuperate and revive. Anna Nixon confesses, “With the faith and knowledge they possessed, they had to face the hard realities of diverse religions, cultural adjustments, illness, disappointment, hostility, and death.”[2] Succinctly, Ron Stansell concludes that the missions’ opportunity could be “a stunningly difficult job,”[3] but one that could be accomplished through reasonable expectations and implementations.[4] Yet, they did not despair or give up; rather, they remained devoted, driven, and determined—even though, like Christ, they might occasionally need to take break to recover or recharge (Mark 6:30–31). Nixon notes, “They often failed in dark times, but rose in the triumph of the cross to serve again.”[5]
Second, as Walter Williams asserts in Ohio Friends in the Land of Sinim, of primary importance for successful missionaries is one’s foundation. He writes:
Whether you will or not, there are to-day in China two types of missionary; on the one hand are those who believe and teach the Bible as the “Good News” its doctrines of human depravity, the vicarious blood-atonement and the bodily resurrection of Christ, the transforming power of the Spirit in regenerating and sanctifying the believer. On the other hand are those who, deceived by men with supposed “superior scholarship,” have put away the “faith of their fathers” and carry a mongrel message—a mixture of biblical teaching and human philosophy.[6]
Nixon affirms this when she shares, “Belief that Jesus Christ was sent of God in fulfillment of Old Testament biblical prophecy, that He taught, healed, was executed, and rose from the dead for every person's spiritual redemption is basic. His life, His word, His commands are normative.”[7]
Ultimately, to replace the biblical Gospel of Christ with any other secular or watered-down “changeling” philosophy dooms missionary work or efforts, just as the apostle Paul admonished in Galatians 1. Walter also warns people to avoid “the quicksands of theory and hypothesis”[8] and to embrace “the Christ of the Bible and [accept] His testimony to Moses and the prophets.”[9]
Third, Anna Nixon (and Arthur Roberts) affirmed the value of assisting the indigenous peoples in the development, training, and installment of their own ministers and missionaries. Nixon writes, “[The missionaries] inspired the Indian Church to develop its own program of village preaching, which did not cease in the hot or cool seasons or during the monsoons.”[10] Speaking of Quaker missions in Alaska, Roberts explains, “[From] the very beginning the Friends Church had emphasized indigenous leadership.”[11] He also adds, “The missionaries increasingly became supportive rather than directive in their ministry.”[12]
For missions to truly succeed, the seed of faith must be first planted in fertile ground and then tended, but nothing is as nurishing than personal investment, mature commitment, and optimistic trust. As Stansell suggests, the more insular or institutionally-dependent avenues are in missions work, the less successful people become.[13] Knox adds, “The truth is that the more you allow someone or something to do the work for you, the weaker and more dependent you become in that area.”[14] All must do their part in the Kingdom of God.
The apostles started their missionary churches across the Mediterranean region, discipling their congregations to grow and share their own faith with others (Rom 10:14–15). Their disciples were not spoon-fed platitudes nor just “managed,” but were valued and loved as precious children of the Lord (this might be principle #4)—regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. This aligns well with the apostle Paul’s encouragement—“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith . . . There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). In Christ, they were affirmed, accepted, and approved. Wise missionaries follow Christ’s example.
Throughout the history of missions, God’s ambassadors succeeded brilliantly; more often, though, they struggled, even floundered, in their own attempts to minister to the indigenous peoples—to sow, raise up, and harvest native ambassadors of Christ in their regions, or simply to establish a permanent and thriving ministry in those far-away lands so needing of the healing and holiness of Jesus. Arthur Roberts may sum it all best when concludes, “Vessels of clay these witnesses may have been, but they carried the Light. And that Light was with those who heard as well as with those who spoke.”[15]
Bibliography
Knox, John S. “A Tiny Truth Regarding the Use of AI in Formal Writing,” https://www.sacroegoism.com/blog/2025/3/2/a-tiny-truth-regarding-the-use-of-ai-in-formal-writing.
Nixon, E. Hanna. A Century of Planting: A History of American Friends in India. Canton: Friends Foreign Missionary Society, 1985.
Roberts, Arthur. Tomorrow is Growing Old: Stories of the Quakers in Alaska. Newberg: Barclay, 1978.
Stansell, Ron. Missions by the Spirit: Learning from Quaker Examples. Newberg: Barclay Press, 2009.
Williams, Walter.Ohio Friends in the Land of Sinim. Mt. Gilead: Friends Foreign Missionary Board of Ohio Yearly Meeting, 1925.
[1] All scriptures are taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (NASB):
[2] E. Hanna Nixon, A Century of Planting: A History of American Friends in India (Canton: Friends Foreign Missionary Society, 1985), ix.
[3] Ron Stansell, Missions by the Spirit: Learning from Quaker Examples (Newberg: Barclay, 2009), 137.
[4] Stansell, Missions by the Spirit, 173–185.
[5] Nixon, A Century of Planting, x.
[6] Walter Williams, Ohio Friends in the Land of Sinim (Mt. Gilead: Friends Foreign Missionary Board of Ohio Yearly Meeting, 1925), 181.
[7] Nixon, A Century of Planting, xiii.
[8] Williams, Ohio Friends in the Land of Sinim, 186.
[9] Williams, Ohio Friends in the Land of Sinim, 182.
[10] Nixon, A Century of Planting, 34.
[11] Roberts, Tomorrow is Growing Old, 373.
[12] Roberts, Tomorrow is Growing Old, 376.
[13] Stansell, Missions by the Spirit, 170–171.
[14] John S. Knox, “A Tiny Truth Regarding the Use of AI in Formal Writing,” https://www.sacroegoism.com/blog/2025/3/2/a-tiny-truth-regarding-the-use-of-ai-in-formal-writing.
[15] Arthur Roberts, Tomorrow is Growing Old: Stories of the Quakers in Alaska (Newberg: Barclay, 1978), 116.