A common question people ask me is this: “If God calls me into missions, how do I know where I’m supposed to go?”

Here are three guidelines Christians should use when seeking where to land in missions. They are as follows: Use wisdom, follow providence, get busy. The Apostle Paul followed these three principles. You should too.

1. Use Wisdom

Don’t spin the globe, close your eyes and point. Paul didn’t guess or move at random (Acts 17:1). Wisdom was his companion. Find wisdom from these five sources.

First, find wisdom from God’s word. Nowhere is greater wisdom found than in the Bible. “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7). Smart people will ridicule your decision to enter missions. Get used to it. They’ll call you crazy for going to hard places, especially with “your whole life ahead of you.” Take comfort in Psalm 119:99. “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.”

Second, find wisdom through prayer. James 1:5 tells us that if we need wisdom about where to serve as a missionary, we should “ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Use Operation World and other prayer resources as a guide to your prayers.

Third, find wisdom about the world. William Carey knew his Bible, but he also knew geography. He loved maps. His classic pamphlet on missions, An Enquiry, is filled with statistics about world population.

Websites like Ethnologue and Joshua Project will help you see the greatest spiritual needs around the world.They will show you where you are needed most. William Borden, the wealthy philanthropist that aimed for missions in China, once said: “If ten men are carrying a log — nine of them on the little end and one at the heavy end — and you want to help, which end will you lift on?”

Some of you should consider being a missionary in Mangochi, Malawi. The Yao people reside there. According to Joshua project, it is the largest unreached people group in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are over 2.5 million in Malawi alone. But it takes research and wisdom about the world to discover this.

Fourth, find wisdom about yourself. In 2009 I visited an island of unreached people. A missionary friend joined me who was working in Turkey. We were there for three weeks. We had zero contacts. We eventually met an American family that was doing “agricultural projects” on the island. Immediately my friend whispered to me: “Southern Baptist missionaries…guaranteed.”

I protested. There’s no way he could know such a thing within just a few seconds of gathering. Sure enough. A couple days later they confessed. It turns out he was a former band director in the US. Now he was using 90% of his time running that agricultural business as a front so that he could give occasional Bible lessons incognito.

Around the world today, many missionaries run coffee shops by day and teach the Scriptures by night. Missionaries like this are important. I’m not one of these missionaries. I need to be teaching, studying and preaching constantly. I have no skill or desire to run a business. Know yourself and how you are gifted.

Finally, find wisdom through the counsel of others. “Wisdom is with those who receive counsel” (Pr. 13:10). What kind of feedback do your superiors and friends give you? Do they prefer your service or your sermons, your hospitality or your handiness, your counsel or your compassion? Barnabas recruited Paul to teach and evangelize in Antioch because this is where the apostle excelled.

If people rarely commend your preaching, there’s a good chance this isn’t your gift. Ask your closest counselors to pinpoint your best and most unique gifts. This could help you decide the best kind of place to serve.

2. Follow Providence

Missionaries often serve elsewhere than where they had expected. St. Paul is one example. Divine intervention stopped him from reaching Asia (Ac. 16:6). Then he tried going north to Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit stopped him there as well (Ac. 16:7). So he couldn’t go north, he couldn’t go back east, and down south was the Mediterranean Sea. So he went west.

Back in 2006, I was supposed to serve in a country in West Africa. I had everything planned out. Before leaving, I received a phone call with bad news. The missionaries I was joining, the country I was serving and the mission board that was sending me were no longer an option. God had clearly closed the door. Out was Plan A. In was Plan B. I wanted Bithynia. God wanted Macedonia.

Paul usually chose his preaching points through providence. He preached first in Damascus (Ac. 9:19-22). Why? It’s where he was converted. He preached next in Arabia (Gal. 1:15-17). Why? It was just south of Damascus and easily accessible. He preached next in Jerusalem (Ac. 9:26-30). Why? He wanted to visit with Peter. He preached next in Tarsus (Ac. 11:25). Why? It was his hometown.

Anthony Norris Groves became a great missionary to Bagdad and the Muslims. Before this though, his plan was to leave his dental practice in England and take classes in Dublin in preparation to be a pastor. He and his wife were torn if this was the best route. One day a thief broke into their home and stole the money in a drawer that was laid aside for his travels to Dublin. They responded thus:

“’Well my love, the thieves have been here and taken all the money.’ ‘And now,’ she said, ‘you won’t go to Dublin.’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘that I won’t.’ And we spent one of the happiest Sundays I ever recollect, in thinking on the Lord’s goodness so caring for us as to stop our way up when he does not wish us to go.”

John Paton went to the New Hebrides because it was the call for that country that came to his church. If it was for China, he probably would have gone there. I have some wonderful personal friends that were missionaries in Papua New Guinea. Why? They grew up there as missionary kids. They saw the need and returned to what they knew best. It’s not rocket science. They were simply following providence.

3. Get Busy

Many would-be-husbands never get married because they’ve never found the perfect wife. Many would-be-missionaries never get to the field because they have never found the perfect field.

Many prospects suffer from analysis paralysis. They just can’t make up their minds. Often they use education as their scape goat. Just one more degree. Degrees are often stinger spikes on the road to cross-cultural evangelism. The wheels were turning nicely with a basic degree and a robust local church internship. Then came the dreaded PhD he just had to get. Now all the tires are flat. Besides, who wants to evangelize a town of illiterates with a dozen years of Greek and Hebrew to your name?

Here are three reasons missionaries should do their very best to get to the foreign mission field before their 30^th birthday. First is language. If you don’t learn the foreign language by age 30, you can forget about it. There are exceptions. Some are unusually bright and disciplined. Paton learned Tannese post-30. He was unusual. The younger you are, the better you’ll learn the language. A decaying brain and an increasing workload will quickly snuff out language study. Get to the field early and learn the language.

Second is family. Most missionaries leave the field when their children hit the high school years. If you don’t arrive on the field until the kids hit the high school years, you probably won’t last long. The cement of family culture has had nearly decades to dry. These kinds of missionaries usually don’t last long. Get to the field when your kids are small. All eight of my kids were born overseas. It makes everything easier.

Third is comfort. When you’re in your twenties, you don’t have much. You’re usually poor. The boss hasn’t promoted you twice. The grandparents haven’t locked into your grandkids yet. You’ve not yet bought a boat. A 35-year-old has experienced most of these things. It’s much harder for him to leave. Better to go young. Again, there are deviations from this general rule. But mission life for them will usually be harder.

Conclusion

Seeking the following three markers will help someone find a mission field: wisdom, providence and action. Pursue them in this order.