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The Ministry of Health and Healing
wherever you find work to do, and move forward with unfaltering
faith. It is faith in Christ’s presence that gives strength and stead-
fastness. Work with unselfish interest, with painstaking effort, with
persevering energy.
In fields where the conditions are so objectionable and disheart-
ening that many are unwilling to go to them, remarkable changes
have been made by the efforts of self-sacrificing workers. Patiently
and perseveringly they worked, not relying on human power but
on God, and His grace sustained them. The amount of good thus
accomplished will never be known in this world, but blessed results
will be seen in the great hereafter.
Self-Supporting Missionaries
In many places self-supporting missionaries can work success-
fully. It was as a self-supporting missionary that the apostle Paul
spread the knowledge of Christ throughout the world. While daily
teaching the gospel in the great cities of Asia and Europe, he worked
at the trade of a craftsman to sustain himself and his companions.
His parting words to the elders of Ephesus, showing his method of
labor, have precious lessons for every gospel worker:
“‘You know,’” he said, “‘in what manner I always lived among
you ... and how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed
it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house. ... I have
coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know
that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those
who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring
like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words
of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is more blessed to give than to
receive.”’”
Acts 20:18-35
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Many today, if imbued with the same spirit of self-sacrifice, could
do a good work in a similar way. Let two or more start out together
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in evangelistic work. Let them visit the people, praying, singing,
teaching, explaining the Scriptures, and ministering to the sick.
Some can sustain themselves as literature evangelists. Others, like
the apostle, can work at some handicraft or in other lines of effort.
As they move forward in their lives, realizing their helplessness but
humbly depending upon God, they gain a blessed experience. The