Missionary service begins with our personal character; the kind of people we are. Missionaries need to be people of Christian faith, love, and holiness. They must have a personal and growing experience of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, so that the image of Jesus Christ is ever more clearly seen in their character and attitudes.

Forming relationships between cultures is also essential to the work of missionary. Missionaries need the ability and humility to understand and appreciate the culture of those to whom they go. They recognize that they don’t have all the answers but have much to learn. They advocate neither the arrogance which imposes their own culture on others, nor the syncretism which mixes the gospel with cultural elements incompatible with it, but rather a humble sharing of the good news—made possible by the mutual respect of a genuine friendship.

MV acknowledges that even the most gifted, dedicated, and experienced missionary can seldom communicate the gospel in another language or culture as effectively as a trained local Christian. No matter the ministry with which our missionaries engage, local Christians are indispensable. It is they who must assume the responsibility to contextualize the gospel in their own languages and cultures. Our missionaries have to be humble enough to see good communication of the Gospel as a team enterprise, in which all believers collaborate as partners.

Above all, missionaries need the humility to trust in the Holy Spirit of God, who is always the chief communicator, who alone opens the eyes of the blind and brings people to new birth. “Without his witness, theirs is futile.”