What is a Missionary – Identity

What does it actually mean to be a missionary? It sounds simple — until you're standing in a foreign country wondering how you got there and whether you're doing it right.

Christi and Bill are joined by Amy Jacobs, serving in Malawi, to unpack one of the most foundational questions in missions. Drawing from a missiologist paper, they dig into a definition that goes far beyond geography or job title — into the heart of calling, identity, and truly crossing barriers for the gospel.

They explore the difference between the mission of all and the calling of some, the identity crises missionaries face on the field, and why clarity of calling is the anchor that keeps you steady when everything else feels uncertain.

Reflection Questions:

1. How would you define a missionary today?

2. How has your understanding changed since your first term?

3. Where do you feel clarity—or confusion—about your calling?

4. How do you distinguish between your role and the mission of all believers?

5. What barriers are you currently crossing?

6. Where might you be avoiding deeper engagement?

📎 Full paper is linked below:

DEFINING MISSIONARY…Identity and Function

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Hi, this is the Journey Podcast where we take myology off the shelf and bring it to life because you deserve to be equipped for the call. My name is Christy Trimper. I'm here with Phil Snyder and Amy Jacobs, and we want to thank you for being here with us for this first official episode with the Journey Podcast. And so in our introduction, we talked about why this podcast exists, that it's formed for formation, not just content. You're not required to listen to this, but you get to. And so we're excited that you are. But we are going to start with the most foundational question: What is a missionary? So, Bill, you want to tell us a little bit about why we're discussing this?

SPEAKER_00 0:49

You know, we uh this paper was written over 10 years ago by the missiology group that was formed by Greg Mundus. Um, and um I think from my perspective, I was a part of the group and also a part of the writing of this. Uh, I was not one of the major writers because there's some really, really smart people, but then there's the rest of us. But I think the reason why they addressed this is that there was a lot of confusion, and there still is, as to what is a missionary. When you visit churches, oftentimes when you're leaving on the back of the sanctuary wall, there is this little plaque that says, and sometimes it's not little, it's big, you are now entering your mission field. And so everybody kind of assumes, okay, we're missionaries too, but we're missionaries to Memphis or to Brooklyn or to Miami or to wherever. And that sort of dilutes the biblical idea of is a missionary really something different? And so we wanted to look at the scripture, we wanted to look at context, and we wanted to address that. And I think that's where the paper really initiated from to address a confusion that could easily creep into the church.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

That's great. And we're really excited to have Amy Jacobs with us today. So, any on all of our podcasts, we will have actual missionary guest speakers to join us and add their perspective on the particular topic. And so Amy comes to us from Malawi. Uh, she and her husband, Ryan, um, they serve in Zambia, or sorry, they live in Malawi, but they uh serve as TLs in the Zambia zone. Um, she has an MA in pastoral counseling. And I met her through um a Bible school training uh conference in Togo. Uh it was really fun, and we, you know, had loads of fun just kind of bumming around uh Lomay there. But she's heavily involved in Bible school training and compassionate ministry across Africa. And so she's currently working with some other missionaries in Africa to create um some trauma healing toolkits for local church pastors and lay members throughout the continent. And so we're super excited to have Amy Jacobs with us today. So, Amy, you want to say hi to everybody?

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Hi everybody. Yeah, I'm so glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me today.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

So when you, Amy, when you hear this kind of idea of what is a missionary, what what thoughts come into your mind?

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Oh, that's a good question. I know exactly what Bill is referring to. Um the sign on the back of the church vestibule that says you are now entering your mission field. Um and for a long time, I was in pastoral ministry before we came on the field. We were pastors for 20 years in the States before we came um and went forward in our missionary calling, called way back in Bible school, and I won't tell you how long ago, early 90s, I guess I will. Um, and just went through a process that the Lord was bringing us through, refining us, preparing us to when we actually left for the field in 2019. So even on the pastoral side, I've had missionaries come in, spend a lot of time with them in my home, you know, discussing what is a missionary. And I don't think I fully understood it until I got to the field. Um, and so I'm really excited about this topic today. Um, I'm really excited. It's being a missionary to me is not just doing ministry in another place. Um, it's actually being called, like like we're talking about to a specific people group, crossing barriers, um, really, really being an incarnate person in a place where God's gospel can flourish and grow. And that takes a lot more than just a general calling. I think it takes a specific calling and a specific task. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

And and the idea is when everything is missionary, when everyone is a missionary, then no one is really a missionary. Because it kind of waters down the word. But when I looked at the paper, um, and that we'll attach that in the show notes. So make sure that you uh look at the show notes uh for that. But according to the paper, and this is our definition for HWM, a missionary is a person called and empowered by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the church to cross barriers of culture and language, boundless and geographic location, in order to proclaim the gospel, disciple believers, establish the church, and demonstrate compassion. That is a very, very long definition for what we do.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

That's that's an Apostle Paul sentence, actually. You know, Ephesians, one of those run-on sentences that never ends, but it's full, it's full of really, really important words. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

And so when we look at this, we want to think about the mission of all versus the calling of some. And so when I think about that like plaque on the back of a church wall, with or you know, in the back of the sanctuary or out going out the door, I get what they're trying to do. They want people to share the gospel, they want people to engage with um their neighbors and their coworkers and talking about who Jesus is. So I know it's coming from a beautiful place within them, but it does make things a little bit fuzzy because everyone then becomes a missionary. So let's talk a bit about what it means, like the mission of all versus the calling of some, so that you know, every believer is a part of God's mission, right? You know, we come to faith and we're a part of the mission of God, but not every believer is a missionary. Um so what does that mean, Bill, for you? That not that some are some every everyone's a part of the mission of God, but not everyone is a missionary.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

You know, I I think that um I have to find strength and definition in scripture. That it's not just something that is a, well, this is my opinion based on my experience. There has to be something deeper than that. And so I look at Acts 13 as an example, uh, where for the first time a church in Antioch sends workers across cultures to new places where the Holy Spirit speaks to the body that is there, to the leaders that are there, and raises up Paul or Saul and Barnabas, and they are sent out on the work. They're called, they're empowered, they're sent, all of those things. And and that to me becomes a model that that I can then uh embrace, live with, that God does call specific people. I can identify with that. Christy, Amy, we can all identify with that. There was a point in time where the Lord said, I want you somewhere else. And it's in a part of the world where maybe you'd never been before. And it was it was something you couldn't get away from. Uh for me, I fought it for six months. I said to God this, I said, Lord, I don't know if this is going to be successful or not. Could you please give me a five-year plan? And there was silence in heaven. But I couldn't get away from the fact that there was it was right for me, and I had to do it. So there is this sense of calling, and not everybody experiences that. That's a unique thing that the Spirit of God does. Um, Amy, in your own experience, where how did the call, how did how did the call hit you that that made you want to leave a comfortable environment, perhaps, to go to a place that you've never been before?

SPEAKER_02 9:00

I was actually on a short-term missions trip in college. I went to um Cuenca, Ecuador. And I remember sitting on this bus, going up this mountainous road, all the way up on this winding road to where we were going to do some sightseeing. And I just had a moment with the Lord. He just grabbed my heart and said, if I asked you to go, would you go? And I struggled, you know, being that 19-year-old, not sure what life was going to be in front of me, thinking, oh, there's so many possibilities. Is this really what you're calling me to do? And I didn't have a place in mind. It wasn't like the spirit dropped a specific place or a people group, but he said, Are you willing to go? And if it costs you everything, will you go? And I wrestled. I was ugly crying on that bus. But I remember making that decision in my heart, yes, Lord, if this is you and you're calling me to go, I will go. And that calling took a long time of fruition 20 years later to get to the field. Um, but when the time was right, the time was right. And I could see the Lord's movement all throughout those 20 years of how he had been planting seeds in us that could bear fruit so that we could then be able to share those with others. Had we not had that 20 years of time to develop and plant churches and pastor, I would have a lot less experience of training church planters and pastors now. So it really was a gift. Um, but yeah, I felt the calling of the Holy Spirit and didn't have all the answers, didn't know what it looked like, but I just knew that if the Lord called me, then how could I say no? That my life was secure in his sovereignty. And if his sovereignty said go, then that's where I needed to be, safe in the middle of his will. So that's how I was called.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

I love that so much. And what I love about our calling, so you know, so often people think that we're super Christians, that like because we're missionaries, we're like these superhuman Christians, like somehow we wear a cape or something. I don't know. Um but it's not like that. Like we're just normal followers of Jesus who happened to have a calling from our creator to spread his gospel into different places. It's not a hierarchy, it's a function. And I I think it's it's easy for us to forget that that we're simply set apart. We're not really any different than any other believer. We just happen, we're just doing it in a different place and in a different way. It's not we're not better, we're not worse. We're followers of Jesus, just like other believers, and we're doing this in a new place. And so I I love that. I love that it just speaks to the creativity of our God and how this is truly his mission to plant his church in the entire world, and we are so privileged to be a part of that. Like it's not something that you know we in and of ourselves and our humanness would ever choose, who would, you know, but it's it's the divine calling of the Lord, and that's so holy and so beautiful. And but I do think it's important that, you know, we as especially as we're in America going around and raising support and doing the things that we do, that we remind people that we're not super humans, we're not super Christians. The Lord has just chosen us to do what we do, and that's a very beautiful thing. So that leads us to our next topic, which is significant missionary identity, who we are as missionaries, and I I will speak for myself and then Amy, I'll I'll pass it over to you. I have been through at least four identity crises as a missionary, uh, and just I well, I'm a single on the field, so you know, and I'm living in the Muslim world as a single woman. I there this was before the days of teens. It was literally just me. And, you know, we're and I had been on staff at a church, very, you know, overt ministry, um, very charismatic, that kind of thing. And so all of a sudden I'm dropped into this place where I have to be very um quiet. I had very strict rules, things like that. And so I went through this identity crisis of like, what am I even doing here? Can I even do this? And then I remember um after I got married, I where I live in this culture, I no longer had a name. I was now the wife of Adam. And so I had this other identity crisis. Who am I now? At, you know, living in this R Shame culture and you know, as a wife. And then I became a mom. And what does that mean? And and now I'm in a new role where I'm, you know, very heavily and very, very out front ministry, which is the first time in um my career to be this out front within the confines of the culture. And so it's it's been an interesting journey. So, Amy, how can what kind of identity crises? I'm gonna put you on the spot because I this was not a question I prepared you. But I know we do this. And I, you know, what what kind of identity crises have you gone through?

SPEAKER_02 14:35

Yeah, wow. Um several. I would say there's commonality. I didn't start on the field as a single person. We came as a married couple, but we left careers in the states. I had a secular job that I loved. Um, we'd been in ministry for many years. We came with one son. We left one back in college. So um we had one that was here with assistant. Oh, one that was here his senior year of high school. So, in our first term, you know, we had left our jobs, we had left our security, we sold our house, we sold everything. We left one son behind, took another son back, and came back empty nesters who had had separate jobs, but now we're spending all day, every day together, which that was a whole nother issue. But just losing I know exactly what to do. I know exactly where to go. I know exactly what to say. I am in control of my life and my sphere and coming to a place where I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know how to speak the language, I didn't know how to drive a manual car on the opposite side of the road. I didn't know anything. And that to me was the really hard. I knew what I did know was that God had called me. That was the only thing that kept me. Everything else I didn't know. And it was such a struggle to figure out who am I in this new environment? What is my new role? What is my role on the team? What is my role in the country? What is my role with the national church? And I'm really grateful I had learned earlier in life that my personal identity is not something I have to establish. It's something that's given directly from God. So I know who I am in Christ. But just doing that transition from being a pastor, being being a worker in a corporate environment to now becoming a missionary, that was that was a hard transition and something that took a little while to figure out. And it was bumpy and rocky. Second term is much better. But yeah, yeah, that personal identity of of coming from at least I have this part of my life together. Now nothing seems together, but it really opens your dependency on the Lord. So it's a blessing in that regard.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Yeah, you mentioned just how how significant your calling was, that you knew you were called. And I think that's so important because missionary identity is defined by being spirit-called, church-cent, cross-cultural engagement, because it's more than just geography.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

No, it's important that the morning you wake up and you ask yourself, how in the world did I get here? you've got an answer for that. And the answer is what God spoke to you that brought you to this moment, and that gives you stability. Um, to the workaholic guy that's looking into the camera right now, which is me, the first term was a wake-up call that I couldn't really seemingly do anything significant. And I wondered who in the world I was and what was going to happen of this. And did I make a mistake? Um, because it it you move from an individualistic world of America where I could do it, to oftentimes a world that is built on relationships that is totally collective. And and if you want to be the individualist, you feel isolated from everybody around you. You've got to build relationships with people. And so the whole basis of doing life changes. So mission, missionary has to understand what I am here to be and do, and and that I think that helps us. But calling is that rock solid thing that I can always go back to and say, even when I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, and it's been a terrible day, it's all right. Tomorrow's coming. Amen. Tomorrow's coming.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Well, I think with that too, it's really important that it's not just about geography. I mean, visas are a thing, y'all. And I mean, I've had to leave two countries. And so if if my calling was hung up on a particular geographic, like, you know, a sociogeographic location, then that can be very um disconcerting. And it's not just an activity. So our identity is called it's tied to our calling and our sending and our crossing. So if identity as a missionary isn't just geography and it's not just a job title, what is it? So, Bill, what is it?

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Okay. Um show notes say this, but I will I will identify just from my own life. Uh it's spirit calling. Uh, it is not, I don't identify, you know, I am this. It is spirit calling. Secondly, it is church sent. Um, there are those who struggle with the itineration process. After many years of doing it, I don't struggle because I am um I'm accountable to the church, I'm sent by the church, I'm loved by the church. It is not an individualistic thing, it is a partnership, I'm interdependent with those that are sending me. And um it is barrier crossing. Um, you leave comfort at the shores when you get on that plane and you land in a place where everything seems to be different. Uh, they don't line up the way we do. I remember sh uh coming to one airport, and in America, generally you have one line, but in this airport, there were six or seven lines, and they figured out a way to merge from six or seven into one. And I'm watching observation is the best cultural learner, but you know, it's it's barrier crossing. Um, and so missionary identity is based on those things, and that happens no matter where you go. You're still crossing things, enabled by the spirit to be there. And and there's great comfort in knowing that it is it's the spirit that's enabling us to do this thing. So uh we clarify barriers, it's language, it's culture, it's religion, it's social structures, it's power dynamics, all of those things that we see. And we learn through observation and through really, really important conversations with local people who become our teachers and help us to learn. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Now, one in important thing a key insight that I noticed is that we can live overseas and not be a missionary. Have you seen this before?

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

You want to expound on that a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Um I have seen this particularly particularly in in capital cities where there's a lot of an there's an expat. World that is there. And the default that you've got to overcome is the is the desire to be around friends that are like you, that I don't have to struggle again with the culture today. So let's go have coffee, let's go play tennis, let's whatever. And you can create out of the desire for comfort because I'm stressed so much, you can create this little comfort zone that I can live within, and it can become the default too often. So you've not really crossed the culture. That's a temptation for many of us. Some of us go to places where there's nobody around that's like us. I'm sorry, you don't have that option. But sometimes we do, and we've got to be careful. Hey, there are moments when I I love to sit down with somebody and just speak English and have all the nuances and everything is there and talk about home. But I can't live there. I'm in a new world. And I'm sure that we've all had that experience where it's nice for a moment, but I can't live in that world. Otherwise, I'm not being effective in the world that I'm called to.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Amy, let me ask you this question. What does crossing barriers really mean for you in thinking about your life in Malawi? Wow.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

You know, there are several barriers. Um, you had mentioned even in your life a little bit about the social, maybe the gender roles. Um, I wasn't expecting that actually here. There is a little bit of gender role um ideation where the women, even though it's very progressive national church, and um they're all for women's rights and for um women in ministry, um it's still pretty much women have to defer to men. That's general society. And so um crossing that barrier, I'm very independent. I'm a free spirit and I can do it super. And so I really had to um have time with the Lord and say, Lord, I'm willing to let some of these things go that really aren't that important so that I can be more effective. And so that's a barrier that I've tried to cross. Not that I agree with everything, but I am willing to cross that barrier and walk behind my husband and always sit at his left and eat after he's been served and things like that, because to me, that is become a national ministry. And I'm not lowering myself, I'm not giving up a right. I am choosing to become part of this culture because the attitude of the people that I'm serving and ministering to here is, oh, she's very polite. She's very responsible. So that when I do have an opportunity to speak and to share the gospel, there's a there's much more of a receptivity because I've been willing to cross that barrier. I think language is another one. Um, the official language here is English. Most business is done in English. Um, but we've decided our team has decided to learn the local language because I really believe it shows the personal investment that we're willing to do. We're willing to cross that language barrier to be able to speak language of people. Um, it's just amazing the receptivity you get. So those are some barriers that we have to cross. Um, but we're willing to do it because we've been called and God enables us. Language is not easy. Oh, you have to fight learning language, especially when you're in your 50s like me and you're starting a new language, but you know, the Lord saws that he calls and he gives us the grace that we need. And so whatever the barrier is, it's just a barrier. He will help you step over it. He will help you step over it.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Yeah, I love how you're saying that. And what I hear kind of, although you didn't use this word, what I hear kind of weaving in through this is this idea of humility. And that we choose to humble ourselves, to cross barriers, to learn language, to um sit at you know, at your husband's left, uh so that the gospel message can be received. And I I love that so much, Amy. So, Bill, when did you first feel like you were a missionary?

SPEAKER_00 26:24

You know, I've always I've always sensed that. Well, one of the one of the best conversations I ever had was in my first year, where I was helping a general superintendent in the Philippines record a national radio program. And at the end of the program, he looked at me and he said, Bill, do you know the problem with you missionaries? Now, excuse me, I've been in the country one year. This is a conversation that's far above my pay grade. And so I looked at him and said, No, Pastor, what is the problem? And he looked at me and smiled and he said, You always go home. And what he was saying is this you are here for a time. If you will invest in us, you will have a successful ministry. If it's all about you, it's not going to be the effect that God has brought you here to do. He was saying something to me that if I listened, it would make a difference as to how I moved forward. And that sort of shaped the next years as I worked with him and then worked with others and worked in other countries as well. Um, I wasn't going, I was never going to be a Filipino. I was there.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

You can't change into that.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Can't do it. The skin gives it away. But but that that was a that was a wonderful conversation that now, decades later, I still remember, because he he spoke something into my life that helped shape the trajectory that I was going to serve.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

And I think that leads us to our kind of so what moment. Like, why does this matter? That's because this isn't just a definition. It's something we live over time. Because identity, it develops, it's not instantly formed. But clarity, it brings endurance, alignment, and peace. So, Amy, let me ask you this question. What has changed for you since your first term?

SPEAKER_02 28:41

I would say, I will say, what has changed for me is this clarity that you're talking about, realizing I don't have to do everything. That my role is to really hone in on what God's asked me to do in this specific, specific place and time, because it has changed actually from first term, things have changed slightly. Um, not my calling, but my assignment, some of my tasks. We've been given some different leadership responsibilities that has changed, like what ministry we're doing. Some national church um leaders have changed, which has also changed some of the ministry that we're doing. So I would say just going back to the clarity, what I what I know my role to be is easy for me to say yes to the things I know I'm supposed to do and no to the other things, even if they're good things. But just honing in on is my purpose, what is my role, and just sticking to that more firmly because we really did. My husband and I both were a little bit on the burned out side last term because we wanted to do everything. We were so excited. We had such a big heart. We saw the opportunity, you know, we itinerated and raised all this money, and this is what we're going to do. And you just, you know, you're ready to go. Um, and you realize things may look different, very different than what you had originally had planned. Um, and you might take on more than what you you can really handle because you're just so excited. So, what's changed this term is I am more focused. The clarity that I've found, um, that I've just spent time with the Lord and really tried to hone in on those things that only I can do, that He's gifted me specifically to do, has really helped me be more anchored, um, even in my identity of this is this is what I can do, this is what I probably shouldn't do. There's somebody else that can do this better than me. I don't have to control everything. Um, so I'm really grateful for that, just knowing that I don't have to do everything, that I've got a great team, that there's people that are definitely capable and need to grow. And um, that's been a relief. It's been, it's been a huge relief to know what I what I should be doing, what I want to be doing, and then to know that there are things that I don't have to do. There's plenty of other people who can do those. So that's the big difference, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

That's good. Very good. Very good.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

Well, as we concluded this podcast, we first want to say a big thank you to Amy for being here, and she'll be here for the next podcast too, as we continue this discussion on what is a missionary. I just want you to remember that your missionary identity is spirit-called, church-cent, barrier-crossing, distinct but connected to the whole church, and that it's something we grow into, not something we arrive with. And as you're contemplating this idea, uh, if you're listening, just start thinking about how you would define a missionary today and how is that shaping how you live. So thanks for listening, and we will not see you because we can't see you now. But hopefully you will see us in the next video or the next podcast. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Join us again. Thank you.