It could sound surprising that Jehovah's Witnesses have missionaries at all, since all baptized witnesses are Ordained Ministers, men and women alike. This provision set out by Christ was coined by Luther as the universal priesthood. With 7 to 8 millions of such ministers worldwide, why would there be any need for missionaries?
In the past missionaries have been send to countries with only a few scattered witnesses to start or organize our free bible study program in these areas. And I guess if such countries or regions still exist somewhere missionaries could theoretically still be used in that way. But today missionaries are witnesses that are send out to a foreign country where the need for bible teachers are great and they mostly serve in together with locals in dense urban areas. Since they have no jobs to care for they use the whole day offering and conducting bible studies. And since they are either highly trained or very experienced, or sometime both, they can also help the local ministers with their bible studies.
So how do you become a missionary of Jehovah's Witnesses? There is not really any one way to achieve this hard work. Let me instead introduce you to five missionary couples and how they became missionaries, starting with the two couples i meet last week.
Knud Peter attended the old Bible School of Gilead and was send as a missionary to Senegal where he served for 22 years. Later he married Lene and they have now served together in Lomé for the last 21 years in a French congregation. They are both from Denmark. I first meet this nice couple last year when they used some of their few vacation days to be our guides on a safari in Benin.
Tony and Auroae Padioleau, I meet last year - on the way back from the safari actually. And last week I was able to get to know them a little bit more. Only a little since none of them speaks English, but "only" French and Ewe. They are both from France. 13 years ago they moved to Togo as pioneers and later they became missionaries. They have been missionaries for 11 years in different cities of Togo. Right now they are serving in a French congregation in Kara. But maybe they will be somewhere else next year, because they will soon attend The Bible School for Christian Couples in Togo.
Edmund and Shémair Ofori-Attah I have only meet once. Last year in Kara at the same time as the Padioleau's. Strictly speaking they might not be missionaries, I don't know, since they are not serving in one congregations area, attending their own bible studies. Instead they are visiting a new congregation every week to help advance the bible study program in each congregation. Edmund attended MTS (now called Bible School for Single Brothers) and later they where send as a couple to Togo from the United States. Recently they have attended the 135th class of the Bible School Gilead and are now serving in the travelling work in Congo.
Magnus and Marianne Aronsson, I know a little better since I attended MTS 10 years ago with Magnus and I have been able to keep in touch ever since. In 2007 they where asked to go to from their home in Sweden to Latvia as missionaries and earlier this year they attended the 134th class of the Bible School Gilead and are now serving in a Czech language congregation in the Czech Republic. So after having learned Latvian in Latvia they are now perfecting their Czech language skills in their new assignment.
Knud Peter attended the old Bible School of Gilead and was send as a missionary to Senegal where he served for 22 years. Later he married Lene and they have now served together in Lomé for the last 21 years in a French congregation. They are both from Denmark. I first meet this nice couple last year when they used some of their few vacation days to be our guides on a safari in Benin.
Tony and Auroae Padioleau, I meet last year - on the way back from the safari actually. And last week I was able to get to know them a little bit more. Only a little since none of them speaks English, but "only" French and Ewe. They are both from France. 13 years ago they moved to Togo as pioneers and later they became missionaries. They have been missionaries for 11 years in different cities of Togo. Right now they are serving in a French congregation in Kara. But maybe they will be somewhere else next year, because they will soon attend The Bible School for Christian Couples in Togo.
Edmund and Shémair Ofori-Attah I have only meet once. Last year in Kara at the same time as the Padioleau's. Strictly speaking they might not be missionaries, I don't know, since they are not serving in one congregations area, attending their own bible studies. Instead they are visiting a new congregation every week to help advance the bible study program in each congregation. Edmund attended MTS (now called Bible School for Single Brothers) and later they where send as a couple to Togo from the United States. Recently they have attended the 135th class of the Bible School Gilead and are now serving in the travelling work in Congo.
Magnus and Marianne Aronsson, I know a little better since I attended MTS 10 years ago with Magnus and I have been able to keep in touch ever since. In 2007 they where asked to go to from their home in Sweden to Latvia as missionaries and earlier this year they attended the 134th class of the Bible School Gilead and are now serving in a Czech language congregation in the Czech Republic. So after having learned Latvian in Latvia they are now perfecting their Czech language skills in their new assignment.
Last but not least I like to introduce Leon and Camille Doornebosch. Leon was also in my MTS class, he is from The Netherlands, but in 2006 he was asked to go to Suriname as a missionary. They speak Dutch in Suriname, but he has also learned the local language, Sranantongo. In 2010 he was married to Camille from Trinidad and they now serve together in an English congregation in Paramaribo, and Camille is perfecting her Dutch language.
So as you see there is many different ways of becoming a missionary, maybe you know someone that have taken another path to this important work?
Knud Peter and Lene Andreassen in Togo
Tony and Auroae Padioleau in Togo
Edmund and Shémair Ofori-Attah, now in Congo
Magnus and Marianne Aronsson in the Czech Republic
Leon and Camille Doornebosch in Suriname
I sidste uge var jeg en tur i Lomé, Togo, hvor jeg var så heldig at møde to missionær-par. Egentlig var det vel kun heldigt at jeg mødte det ene par, for jeg var faktisk taget derned for at besøge det andet par.
Det kunne jo egentlig lydet overraskende at Jehovas Vidner overhovedet har missionærer, siden alle døbte Vidner er Ordinerede Ordet Tjenere, både mænd og kvinder. Denne forordning som Jesus indførte kaldte Luther for det Almene Præstedømme. Og med 7 til 8 millioner sådanne forkyndere spredt over hele jorden så kunne man nok syntes at der ikke var behov for missionærer.
I gamle dage blev missionærer sendt til lande hvor der kun var få spredte forkyndere eller måske slet ikke nogen Jehovas Vidner. Her organiserede eller startede de vores gratis Bibel kursus program. Og hvis sådanne lande eller regioner stadig eksisterer et eller andet sted på jorden så kunne missionærer vel teoretisk set stadig blive brugt på denne måde. Men idag er missionærer Vidner der bliver sendt til et fremmed land hvor der er behov for underviserer i Bibelen. De tjener for det meste i større byer sammen med de lokale Jehovas Vidner. Og siden de ikke arbejder ved siden af deres missionærtjeneste bruger de hele dagen på at lede og tilbyde Bibel kurser. Da de enten er godt uddannede eller har en stor erfaring, eller måske ligefrem begge dele, kan de også støtte de lokale forkyndere.
Men hvordan bliver man en af Jehovas Vidners missionærer? Der er faktisk ikke nogen bestemt måde man bliver sendt ud for at udføre dette arbejde. Så lad mig istedet fortælle jer hvordan fem forskellige missionær par kom til at være hvor de er idag. Og lad mig starte med de to par som jeg mødte i sidste uge.
Knud Peter overværede den gamle udgave a Bibelskolen Gilead og blev derefter sendt til Senegal som missionær, der var han i 22 år. Siden blev han gift med Lene, og de har nu sammen tjent i Lomé de sidste 21 år. De er som navnene måske afsløre begge fra Danmark. Jeg mødte først dette søde ægtepar sidste år hvor de brugte et par af deres sparsomme feriedage på at være vores guider på et safari i Benin.
På vej hjem fra det safari mødte jeg Tony og Auroae Padioleau. Det var det missionærpar jeg var så heldig at lære lidt bedre at kende i sidste uge. Men dog kun lidt bedre, for de taler ikke engelsk, men "kun" fransk og ewe. Så det blev en aften med oversættelse. De er begge fra Frankrig og flyttede på egen hånd til Togo for 13 år siden. To år efter blev de udnævnt til missionærer, og de har siden tjent mange forskellige steder i Togo. Lige nu er de i en fransk menighed i Kara. Men hvem ved hvor de er til næste år. De skal nemlig overvære den næste Bibelskole for Kristne Ægtepar i Togo.
Samtidig med at jeg mødte Padioleau på vej hjem fra safari mødte jeg også Edmund and Shémair Ofori Ata. Og selvom jeg kun har hilst på dem en enkelt gang syntes jeg også jeg vil fortælle om dem. Jeg ved ikke om de strengt taget tæller med som missionærer. Istedet for at holde deres egne Bibel kurser i en menigheds områder rejser de nemlig til en ny menighed hver uge for at fremme Bibel kursus programmet i en kreds. Edmund overværede MTS (eller Bibelskolen for Ugifte Brødre som den nu kaldes) og blev sidenhen gift med Shémair. Sammen blev de bedt om at rejse fra deres hjem i USA til Togo. For nylig har de overværet den 135. klasse af Bibelskolen Gilead og tjener nu i rejsetjenesten i Congo.
Magnus and Marianne Aronsson kender jeg noget bedre. For 10 år siden var jeg på MTS sammen med Magnus og siden da har jeg været så priviligeret at have kunnet holdt kontakten ved lige. Efter skolen blev han gift med Marianne. I 2007 blev de sammen bedt om at rejse fra deres hjem i Göteborg til Letland for at tjene som missionærer. Og tidligere i år overværede de den 134. klasse af Bibelskolen Gilead. Efter skolen blev de bedt om at rejse til Tjekkiet. Så efter at havde lært lettisk arbejder de nu med at blive flydende på tjekkisk.
Sidst men ikke mindst vil jeg gerne fortælle jer om Leon og Camille Doornebosch. Leon var også i min MTS klasse, og det er også lykkedes mig at holde forbindelsen til ham ved lige. Han er fra Holland, men i 2006 blev han bedt om at rejse til Suriname for at tjene som missionær. Da Surinam er en tidligere hollandsk koloni tales der også hollandsk dernede. Men han har også lært det lokale sprog, Sranantongo. I 2010 blev han gift med Camille fra nabolandet Trinidad og nu tjener de sammen i en engelsk sproget menighed i hovedstaden Paramaribo. Og Camille er godt igang med at lære flydende hollandsk.
Så som I nok kan se så er der mange forskellige måder at blive missionærer på, måske kender I nogle der er blevet det på en anden måde?
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