T. A. McMahon & Richard McDaniel (Part 1) | thebereancall.org

T. A. McMahon & Richard McDaniel (Part 1)

February 14, 2014
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Program Description:

Tom welcomes guest Richard McDaniel, a missionary with the Shield of Faith Missions, as they discuss what it means to obey Christ's command to "go out into all the world."

Transcript:

Gary: Welcome to Search the Scriptures 24/7, a radio ministry of The Berean Call featuring T.A. McMahon. I’m Gary Carmichael. Thanks for tuning in. In today’s program, welcomes special guest, Richard McDaniel, a long-time missionary and an elder with Bend Bible Fellowship. Now along with his guest, here’s TBC Executive Director, Tom McMahon.

Tom: Thanks, Gary. Today I have the privilege of introducing Richard McDaniel. I've known Richard for more than 20 years. He's an elder at Bend Bible Fellowship, the church that Dave and Ruth attended before they went home to be with the Lord.

And what I want to do today and for our session next week, I want to discuss with him mission work, which he's been actively involved with—you'll tell us, Richard, but I think all your life, right? Yeah, so, Richard, thanks for joining me on Search the Scriptures 24/7.

Richard: Well, hello, Tom, it's good to speak with you today.

Tom: Richard, again, what I'd like to do in this two-part series is to get your insights regarding the mission field. Now, not too long ago, you were in India, and I know you're leaving for Myanmar tomorrow. Before you take off, could you give our audience some of your background and involvement with missions?

Richard: Sure, I'd be glad to. I grew up in Japan. My parents went to Japan right after WWII. My father went there in 1949, and so I was born and grew up there, and my father was a church planter in Northern Japan with the Baptists, and he actually worked in the area where we had that major earthquake and tsunami—that was the city that I was born in and that we worked in—the city of Sendai. My parents were missionaries for 36 years, so you can see that I had some mission in my background.

My own journey with the Lord didn't actually begin until I was 27 years old and living up in Washington State, in a rural area. But shortly after I got saved I became acquainted with several men who worked with Shield of Faith Mission, and this was in the early '80s, and at that time, the Shield of Faith had put together a team of three families to go to Nigeria and to train Nigerians for the work of reaching their own tribal people. And the whole philosophy, I guess, the backbone of Shield of Faith operation is the verse in 2 Timothy:2:2, where it says, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also." So these brethren went there to teach faithful men, and out of that training there have been several Nigerian mission agencies raised up, and they send out missionaries throughout Western Africa. It's been a thriving work for 30 years now.

Well, that vision really captured my heart. I liked the idea of going somewhere and working with nationals in training, and at the time when we were involved with Nigeria, there was also an interest in Brazil and in Korea. Those three nations were having many people come to the Lord in that day, and the thought was that that would be good ground to train missionaries and send them out from there. So I became interested in Brazil and began to correspond with a Korean man who lived and worked in Brazil. This brother was, I believe, the first Korean man to go cross-culturally into mission work. He went there to reach a tribal people that didn't have the gospel, and so that was the connection with Brazil. And I took my family, went to Brazil, and we were there for almost three years. We weren't involved with pioneer work, but we worked with the Brethren Assemblies, and basically, just in teaching and training and making disciples.

So that was my…that's some of the background. Since that time, I've been to many places—short trips, ministry trips. In 1997, I took my family and went to Kenya, and we spent a whole year there in Kenya.

And the Shield of Faith, I neglected to mention, has a missionary training program. I went through that program in 1984 before going to Brazil, and since coming back and living in the states, we moved to Bend, Oregon, here, where The Berean Call is, and I've been involved with the Shield of Faith Mission here. Currently, I'm the director of their training program—missionary training and discipleship training program that we have.

So that gives you a background, Tom, of how I'm involved with missions.

Tom: Mm-hmm. Richard, one of the things that really…as I hear you talk about this…that really blesses me is that you're there, what the Lord has put on your heart, to go into countries and train indigenous peoples. You're working with the people of that country to be missionaries within their own country, right?

Richard: Yes, yes. "Missions" has changed over the years. It's different today than it was when my folks went out. Of course, it depends on where you go and what you're doing, but I think that there's more need for training today than…there's still the need for pioneer work, but…

Tom: Now, Richard, explain pioneer work—just what the term is—some people might not be familiar with it.

Richard: Well, a pioneer missionary would be one that would go into, let's say, a tribal people that don't have the gospel; perhaps they don't have a Bible in their language, and he would begin from ground zero and begin to…well, first of all, you have to learn the language so you can communicate, and you have to start from a very basic—we use a lot of terms as Christians that many people would not have any idea what we're talking about.

Tom: Right. Sometimes it's called "evangelical-speak." (Chuckling) We know, but it is foreign to people, not just in foreign countries.

Richard: Yeah.

Tom: Richard, my familiarity is with New Tribes Missions, and that would be the way they start out, would be the pioneer work that you're talking about, wouldn't you say?

Richard: Right. Right. That would be a good example.

Tom: Let's start with the biblical basis for missions. I've got some verses I want to read here, and you can stop me and comment as you will. Matthew:28:18-20: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth; go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Mark:16:15, 20: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature….And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

Finally, Luke:24:47-48: "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and you are witnesses of these things."

Now, I know you mentioned one verse that was on your heart with regard to missions. Do you have some others?

Richard: Yes, I do. I think it's good to note that you have the commission expressed in all of the gospels, and you just read from three of the gospels. It's also expressed in John--it's a little different, but John:20:21, where Jesus makes a statement to His disciples. He says, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." So, we'd have to think back about the Lord. Now, in Hebrews Jesus is called "the apostle" of the Father, so He was "sent" by the Father with a mission, and now He is sending His disciples.

But I was just thinking about that this morning and reminded of a verse in Isaiah…I won't read the verse, but it's Isaiah:49:6, and it talks about how that…it's a reference to Christ, and how He would be raised up and He would restore Jacob. Not only that, but He would be a light to the Gentiles. And so we see the Lord's work in that one verse in prophecy, and there are many others that go along with that.

But God has a purpose, so the commission isn't just something that was tacked on at the end to occupy a few people, but it's very important to God's purpose. As you know, the Bible is full of promises—over 30,000 promises in the Bible…

Tom: Right.

Richard: …but a couple promises that relate to this, one is Numbers:14:21, where the Father declares that all the earth shall be filled with His glory. So that is something that's going to come to pass someday. And another promise is repeated a number of times, but in Psalm:86:9, it says that "all nations shall come and worship before thee (before God)." So, those promises are going to be fulfilled, and the reason why we have these commands that you just read are for the fulfillment of the promises. And in Matthew, the command that relates more to the nations—in Mark it relates more to the individual people.

Tom: Right.

Richard: So there's a two-fold work, I think, of the church, and if we go to Revelation, we see the fulfillment of that. If I could read a little…few verses here in Revelation:21:23-26, it says (this is speaking of the temple in the New Jerusalem)--it says, "The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it."

So you see there the fulfillment. The whole earth will be full of God's glory, and the reason why is because all the enemies of God will be defeated. Revelation documents how that will happen. And then also you see that the nations are represented there. And also in Revelation:5:9, it speaks about "all nations gathered around the throne." So that, you can see, is a vital part of God's plan, not only for individuals but for nations.

Tom: See, that's a really important point that you make. The "great commission"--some people think, Well, that's not for me! No! If you're a believer, if you're a disciple of Christ, that is for you. But you make the distinction about going to another country or collectively for the nations, but also for the individual. I mean, we're missionaries…we should be missionaries in our neighborhood, at our workplace, in the line at Safeway or wherever we might be. This is what God has said we are to do. This is His command. On the other hand, there is a calling.

Now, Richard, some people say, "Well, you've been to Nigeria, and to Kenya, and to Brazil, and, you know, all of these places…" and you just got back recently from India, and now you're heading to Myanmar…"Oh, I couldn't do that!" Well, look. I don't think there's any doubt that the Lord has put this calling on your heart, but somebody to dismiss their responsibility to the Lord, not to witness, not to minister, I don't care if it's in downtown Bend or wherever it might be. That's part of what you're about. And you went right to the end. This is how it all ends up. But God has privileged us to be co-laborers with Him in this. So, I think that's exciting, and one of the reasons, again, that I'm just blessed to have you on is to remind our listeners that we do have a commission, that it isn't just a matter of their local church or their Bible study or whatever—we're supposed to be heralds of the Good News.

Richard: Right. Amen. Yes, and Jesus in the parable of the wheat and the tares, He makes the statement when He's explaining it. He says, "The field is the world…" And as you mentioned, we sometimes think the mission field is out in Borneo or someplace, [and] because I'm not called to go there that I don't have any responsibility. The field is the world, and so wherever we are, that's the field that God has us in.

Tom: Yeah, exactly. Now, on the one hand, we have the great commission, and, as I mentioned, there's no doubt in my mind that the calling…the Lord has put the calling "to go," and to go to these places, for you and for your family. But I have to say this: you've been to different places, and you've traveled…where you've traveled, and you've stayed there. Now, having said that, what are some of the things…and we don't have to talk a lot about this, but…what are some of the things that you've had to adjust to, especially when you're there with your family?

Richard: Well, there's some things that are similar, regardless of where you go, and then there are other things that are different. Some of the things that are similar are that when you meet saints, there's fellowship, and you may not know their language or culture, but there's a unity in the Spirit, like the scripture says, and you have that common ground. And the differences are, of course, the language, the customs; being a minority can be difficult. Language learning can be very difficult. So those are some of the difficulties. One thing that was difficult for me was just getting used to having so much time that I was occupied in a different way than I was used to…

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Richard: …having come from kind of a blue-collar background, where you're working with your hands, and then all of a sudden you're still working, but it's a different kind of work, and that can be a difficult adjustment.

Tom: Yeah, well, you know, sometimes I think about the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul. I think what you're getting at is there's down time. And you figure, "Well, what do I do now?" I mean, look, just him traveling from one place to the next. It's not like, "Oh, we get there right away and we know what we need to do," and, you know, we get after it, and so on, and I'm sure there is "down time" that can be an adjustment. What about with your children? How did that work?

Richard: Well, children, when they're young, they adapt really well.

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Richard: I don't see any problem, really, with going out with young children. When they get older, then it can start being more difficult. My own experience as a missionary kid, I loved growing up in Japan in the early days, but when I got toward the end of grade school—actually, I wasn't out of grade school, we were sent to a boarding school, and that was the pattern in those days, so I don't…it seemed that it was typical for missionaries to send their kids to boarding school, and that produced its own set of difficulties and sowed some bad seeds, I guess, for me in my life. But that is some of the things that you have to deal with as a child growing up.

My daughter—my oldest daughter, Annie, she was with us in Brazil, and I think she was 12 years old when we finished our time there, and she…just that short experience, several years, really put in her heart a desire to some day return to mission work, and she met a young man also with the same vision at Bible school, and married, and they're in Peru today. So, it can be good for children. I think all children could benefit from seeing a third-world country and how people live there, and I think there's a lot of good things come out of that.

Tom: You know, just to add to that, even in our fellowship here, we…I mean, young people…and I've seen it not just here but in other places where I've been--when young people have the opportunity…we're on the West Coast, and whether they're going down to Mexico, Tijuana, whatever it might be, on short-term mission, they come back having their eyes opened to things that they never even could have imagined. And most of that is the joy among the believers that they visit.  And it doesn't make any difference how impoverished they are--certainly they don't have what these young people have here in the states. But that is, in many cases, a life-changing event in their lives, at least when they come back initially, and they talk about it. You see something, you know, a revelation to them that's really, really worthwhile.

Richard: Right.

Tom: Now, Richard, we've got about 2 ½ minutes. I just want to touch on this one subject, and maybe we can pick up with it next week. How are you supported, and how have you been supported, either through Shield of Faith, or…what's the situation for your going into the mission field?

Richard: Well, one of the policies of the Shield of Faith is that we do not solicit any support financially, in the sense that we make our needs known to people and raise support, like is typically done. The reason why is that we just feel that God knows our needs, and we see how Christ handled His disciples when He sent them out, and I don’t think…I'm thinking of Luke 10, if you're familiar with that, where He sent them out without scrip or extra clothing, and He was wanting to teach them something there. I don't think He was using that as a kind of pattern or method that everything had to be done by, but He was trying to teach them that if we're in the will of God and in God's work, He will be our resource, and He will provide for us. That's what these disciples learned during that time, and so that is one thing that is probably unique, maybe, about our mission. And not just something that the mission has for a policy, but everyone that joins, I think, has that conviction, and it's been wonderful to see how the Lord has provided for us without us having to ask people for things. God knows. We go to Him. And you know, Hudson Taylor made the statement once--he said, "God's work done God's way never lacks God's supply." And so that's how we view the issues of finances and support.

Tom: Mm-hmm. Well, my guest has been Richard McDaniel. The issue, as you've been listening, is missions, and the Lord's really put it on my heart to bring this into our program. Obviously, this is Search the Scriptures 24/7, and the mission field, mission work, the great commission, is all about that. So, Richard, we're out of time for this segment, but the Lord willing, next week we'll pick right up where we left off.

Richard: Okay, well, praise the Lord!

Tom: Amen.

Gary: You’ve been listening to Search the Scriptures 24/7 with T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. We offer a wide variety of resources to help you in your study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials and a free subscription to our monthly newsletter contact us at P.O. Box 7019 Bend, Oregon 97708. Call us at 800.937.6638. Or visit our website at the bereancall.org. I’m Gary Carmichael, we're glad you could be here, and we invite you again next week. Until then, we encourage you to Search the Scriptures 24/7.

Program Number: 
1407

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