How do I know if I am "called" to the mission field?

When my husband and I flew to the mission field, we knew without a doubt that we were doing exactly what God wanted us to do. I guess that you could say we were "called" to missionary service. However, that term, "call," seems to imply the idea of a loud, audible voice or a lightning bolt from God. Our understanding of God’s purpose for our lives was much more quiet and down-to-earth. I would attribute our joint conviction to four things:

1. Serious Bible study - We regularly exposed ourselves to the teaching of God’s Word - reading it, researching it and relating it to every area of our lives. We saw that every human is a sinner and condemned to die (Rom. 3:32); that God loves every one of us in spite of our rebellion, and He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin (Rom. 5:8; John 3:16); and that there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12); and that God expects those who know and believe these facts to go and tell those who don’t (Rom. 10:13-15; Matt. 28:18-20). In fact, we saw that Jesus’ return is waiting for us to accomplish this very task (Matt. 24:14).

2. Prayer Involvement - We spent protracted time in prayer - individually, together and with other believers. We discovered that prayer is God’s means of sending out missionaries (Matt. 9:37, 38). The more we prayed, the more we knew that we were to be part of the answer to our prayers.

3. Exposure to world need - In the light of the exclusiveness of the Christian gospel and the unchanging commission of Christ, we took an honest look at our world. We discovered that half of the world’s population has no way of hearing or knowing about Jesus. They have no church in their culture, no Bible in their language, no television ministries, no radio - nothing.

4. Assessment of our own resources, gifts and abilities - We were both young and healthy. Both of us came from Christian homes and had known the Lord for many years. We had a good education. We had already experienced a measure of God’s anointing on our ministry. And our local church leaders recognized and affirmed our natural and spiritual gifts.

So, the question that loomed increasingly large in our minds was not "Why go?" but "Why not go?"

Whether you use the term "call" or "conviction" or "leading" or "guidance," that unshakable assurance must be there. How does such assurance come? Expose yourself consistently to the teaching of God’s Word, spend serious time in prayer, learn about and look carefully at the spiritual condition of the world, and honestly assess (with the help of others in the context of active, present-tense ministry) your own gifts and abilities. Then, wait on the Lord with an attitude of availability. If and when God "calls" you to the mission field, you will know.