The Spirit of the Mission
First a bit of a preamble. We know how Jesus told the disciples that they were to ‘stay put’ in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came to indwell them. When this happened on the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted the OT prophet Joel (800BC) who foretold the Spirit’s coming. When he preached the Gospel he said that people should trust in Christ as their Savior and if they would do this they would also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38) It appears that the LORD’s plan was for each believer to learn how to live in partnership with the indwelling Spirit (see 1 Cor 12:13, Gal 4:6, 5:25, Rom 8:14). In Ephesians 5:18 Paul commands everyone to be filled with the Spirit. People argue about what this means. At Tanzania Rising we hold that to be filled means ‘to be controlled by’. Just as someone who is filled with jealousy , fear or greed is controlled by these things we are to be controlled by the Spirit.
When the early church needed to add some manpower to their leadership team they only considered men who gave evidence that they were giving the Holy Spirit control of their lives (Acts 6:3). One of these men was Philip and in chapter 8 we observe him following the precise leading of the Holy Spirit with the result that a black man from Ethiopia is born-again. He brings the Gospel deep into Africa and only God knows how many people were saved as a result.
As Acts unfolds it becomes evident that the Spirit of God is running the show and the ones he will especially use are those who are practiced at taking their directions from Him. I am impressed with the fact that when Philip got up in the morning he had no idea that he would have such a momentous meeting with an Ethiopian. Someone said to me a while back, “Looman, I have been watching you. You do more things by accident than most people do on purpose!” I laughed and said, ‘Yeah, it feels like that to me too!” Really, the more you learn about how Tanzania Rising the more you will see that the whole business is just one big ACCIDENT! That is what it feels like to us. To our God, though, it has been planned from the beginning.
I received an email today from our Tanzania partner, pastor Ruben. The following are his words: “We also know that I AM connected you with us for His purpose.” This is another way of saying… it’s not an accident.
About 15 years after Pentecost, the city of Antioch was the location where Jesus’ disciples were doing ‘cutting edge’ Christian living. Acts 13 tells us what happened one day. “While they were worshiping the LORD and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” This moment launched Paul’s missionary journeys to the west. Two things to notice here: (1) no church had ever done this before and (2) it was the Spirit’s idea.
Three chapters later we have what we call the Macedonian call. Paul’s second missionary journey is now well under way. The Macedonian call is not about GOING, it is about WHERE to go. There is also a TIMING thing going on. Paul wants to go to Ephesus but the Holy Spirit keeps them from going there. He didn’t want them to go north to Bithynia either! Reading ahead-- it turns out that the Spirit DID want Paul to go to Ephesus but FOUR YEARS LATER. In fact, Ephesus was where he did his greatest work and where he stayed the longest. So, we see that the Spirit is not just in charge of where we are to go and what we are to do when we get there, but also WHEN we are to go. I have called Him the Spirit of Missions. No one but the Spirit can manage all the moving parts involved in the missionary enterprise.
I believe that one of the unique aspects to the ‘Tanzania Rising’ mission is our emphasis on the fact that the Holy Spirit is in charge. In our first board meeting (Oct 2025), so that there would be no missing this, we adopted a mission statement that includes these words:
“When promoting the mission of TANZANIA RISING, we will also be an advocate for Spirit-Led living AND Spirit-Led Missions.
As we see it, if you couldn’t be a deacon in the early church unless you were filled with the Spirit, it stands to reason that if you aren’t filled with the Spirit you should find something else to do besides missions!
The following verses are part of the ‘lifeblood’ of Tanzania Rising:
*“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God.” (Rom 8:14 NIV).
*”SINCE we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” Gal 5:25
*”You however, are not controlled by the sinful nature ( or ‘flesh’) but by the Spirit.” Rom 8:9
*”Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:7-8)
*”…Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” Rom 8:5”
The important thing to know is that Spiritual people are eager to let the Holy Spirit play the central role in running their lives. The dominant thing about them is not that they are often in church, or they don’t cuss, or they pray well. These things probably will be true of them but the REASON they are like this is that the Holy Spirit has led them to live life this way.
Many other things will be true about them (the fruit of the Spirit for example). More to my point in this writing, those who are led by the Spirit of missions will tend to understand what their role is in the grand project of reaching the lost with the Gospel.