The Missionary's Call

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Jun 7, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 23.

The Missionary's Call.

What constitutes the mission call?—There are two parts to it—first, the call to Christ; then the call to His work. There is but one response to be made, —consecration. Surrender the will. The rest is only matter of judgment, according to providential indications. Men have forced their way into the mission field against almost every possible obstacle. This was the experience of Carey and many other pioneers. Others have been led along by providential appointment, where every step taken was against their own preference, until at last they found themselves set down in mission work.

God deals with men as individuals, and most diversely. There are calls contained in repulses, and tests contained in invitations. Sometimes the call consists of the simple presentation of facts to the mind and conscience, which, when calmly weighed, seem important enough to decide the choice of the will and the work of the lifetime. The mission field is then entered with precisely the same calm business spirit as that with which another would enter a mercantile employment—only it is done in the service of the King. God calls men through the reason as well as through conscience and providence and the Holy Spirit.—Gospel in All Lands.