Death of a Missionary

This last week a missionary past away. His name was Mike and he had been a missionary in the Philippines for 22 years. I had never met Mike but he was well loved and respected in the community. When I first got my cell phone here, his name was one of the first I was given to add to my contacts. Mike’s name would frequently come up as someone who really understood the Filipino culture and would be a great friend if you had the chance to know him. There were two services held for him one for Filipinos and one for missionaries. Over 300 Filipinos showed up to give their respects and 100 more missionaries came the following night.

Our language tutor, Tess, was very close to Mike and his family. She actually considered him a second father because of the time and love he gave to her while growing up. She was involved with the meetings that occurred immediately following Mike’s death to figure out what to do with the ministry. Mike was the senior pastor of a church in Floodway (a large barrio in town). There were two churches that Mike was directly involved with and now he is gone. For these churches it is not just a question of leadership but of finances as well.

I had a discussion with Scott about sustainability for a ministry when we came on one of our first short term mission trips. It is a very true reality that when a missionary leaves the ministry (whether death, political unrest or some other reason) the resources leave with him/her and the ministry dies. There are parts of Mike’s ministry that will live on but a portion of it will have to end since the resources have ended also. So I find myself asking what will happen with our ministry if we leave? Is that how God wants it to be? Maybe it should only be for a season and end. I’m not sure. These are things I will be pondering for quite a while. It may be one of those things I won’t have an answer for. All I know is God has called us here now and for now this is what I will do.