Majors Larry and Evelyn Repass | Preaching Mission-Mindedness Pt. 1

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We're so glad you're in the studio today. If you've missed the past few episodes, we're in our fourth week of a series on missions. Throughout this series, we'll be sharing some Salvation Army insights on how we prioritize and go about doing mission work effectively. In this episode, we're discussing how we encourage a congregation to be mission minded from our preaching and leadership.

How do we to use a common saying, build them up and send them out without worrying about filling seats in our church buildings. To have this discussion, we were joined by Majors Evelyn and Larry Repass, the Salvation Army's global ambassadors. They're retired officers, but during their active service, served as missionaries throughout Central and South America. This is Majors Evelyn and Larry Repass, their retired Salvation Army officers, and they serve as our global ambassadors for the Salvation Army.

They do so much for missions. Let's get to know you. Majors, Repass, Larry, Evelyn, where are you from? How did you come to the Army and give us all of the details?

Well, that would be a long, long story, but the short version is I'm from Washington, D.C. and came to the Army, the Sunday School, and invited, you know, all the programs there, and eventually became a cork of that. God spoke to my heart that he wanted me to work in Spanish speaking country, and I didn't want to do it, and so I never told anybody, but I finally went to training hoping that God would forget about the Spanish part. And that's where we met. I came into her second year, and when we found out that we liked each other, we began to talk seriously eventually, and when I said to her, if we get married, you'll have to go to Bolivia with me. That's when she had come up against her call again. I realized, you know, God was making that clear to me.

That's what I had to do, and I had peace about it after that and never questioned it again. Although we didn't get to stay in Bolivia, we did go there, and that was unusual to get to go where you want to go, but our son was born while we were there, and we had a daughter already that we took with us, and we wound up down in Chile and then came back to the States for a while and then went to some other countries. All told, we were in eight different countries where we had opportunity to work. That sounds like an incredible opportunity, but for our listeners, I just want to back up a smidge. Now, you met in training, and just as a good reminder to our non-Salvation Army friends that the training is our seminary program, but then you got to go to Bolivia, but why Bolivia?

Was that your home major, Larry? Where are you from? I'm from West Virginia.

Near Bolivia, but – Yeah. Anyway, I became a Christian when I was 13, and when I was 16, met the Army and knew God wanted me to be an officer, so in my last year before going to training, I read an article in the War Crab about India, and it was my habit to say a prayer for people I read about. So I prayed for India, and then I read an article about Bolivia, and it was as if God nudged me, and I just knew. Wow. And this time, rather than pray, I just knelt and said, I'll go, and I've never doubted that. Amen.

That's beautiful. So often as pastors, not just in the Salvation Army, but worldwide, there's so much pressure to fill seats in a church building, and if we're building up our congregation spiritually to send them out, do you think we're losing our congregation in a sense? I don't think so at all, because the mission-minded church is doing something locally, is active, trying to win the world right around them, and it's only natural that you're thinking about the rest of the world out there. I think, though, we are in danger sometimes of losing a congregation by sending some of our promising young people out too quickly. We believe that you need a few years in your congregation working to reach the community and grow in Christ.

If we send them out too early, I think we've misjudged, because they have not the solid three or four years of learning and doing. But other than that, yes, I think we are not losing – any time you send someone out, God is going to replace them, not with someone like them, but that local church is still going to grow. Of course, we're referring here now of going out of the United States, but I like the sign I saw over a church story that said, you're now entering the mission field as you leave the church.

So the mission field is right here. At the time of this recording, the Salvation Army is serving in over 130 countries worldwide. When I think of that ability for us to reach into communities that other people may not have that sort of access to, do you think it's important that as we're equipping them locally, we're sharing information with what's happening in maybe a country that appeals to them or the Lord is putting on their heart? It is. It's part of the duty of the local congregation to be educated about the needs. I know in our core, every Sunday, there is a mention of someone who's serving somewhere in the world and a little bit about what they're doing, and then we pray for them. How do you feel about the idea of partnering with other churches or denominations?

Is that a powerful mix? Oh, definitely it is. And I would even say it's necessary. If we try to do it all ourselves, we'd never get it all done.

And if we're trying only to look at what we're doing, we don't see that wider picture either. So I think it's necessary that we partner with churches and other groups. Majors Repast, can you give us some examples of initiatives that you've been a part of with other churches, other denominations or even Salvation Army congregations that supported you while you were in the mission field? Well, one thing that comes to mind, while we were in South America, there was a campaign like a Billy Graham campaign, and we did participate in that with the planning of it.

This happened to be in Montevideo, Uruguay. And we were, you know, part of that in a sense. And then with the results, there were a lot of young people who made decisions for Christ, and they came to the Corps.

Amen. And I was the Corps officer at the moment. My husband was at international headquarters or international college for some studies then. And that was in England, and here I am in Montevideo, Uruguay, and all these young people are coming in. And so I just decided to give them all the Sunday school class to teach.

And so I ran out of kids, and then I just said, go find some kids. And they did, and it worked. And I think getting them involved, you know, was the real key. But that was quite an experience, and some of those folks are in the ministry today because of how, you know, all that worked out.

Major, is there one initiative that sticks out in your brain as sort of a highlight of your opportunity for ministry? I was just thinking about the fact that we, at one point I was able to do a favor for the Catholic priest. And after that was done and he showed how appreciative he was, he said, can I help you in any way? And I said, well, I've been trying to visit an old woman who's in the women's prison, but they won't let me in. There are nuns who were running that prison for women, and so they said, all our prisoners are Catholics, so you can't come to visit. And I asked him, and he said, I'll get you in. So I was able to visit the old lady whom I had had association with when she was in an interior town, small prison.

That's beautiful. Majors, if you were trying to encourage a local church or someone interested in supporting the mission field, what would you suggest to them? What are kind of their next steps for a pastor that wants their church to do more outside of their own walls? Prayer is important, and that needs to be encouraged. And as one who encourages others, you yourself have to be up to date in your prayer life and encourage others to pray. We can send money, we can communicate and all that, but that prayer support is so important.

And you can discuss the needs once you find out those needs, but I think we have to be very careful. Just get people involved and don't make them feel like as a guilt trip or anything like that. It has to be a calling.

It has to be something that you just have to do. And if God puts that calling in your life like He did in mine, you're not going to have any peace till you do it. I mean, you can find some contentment and so forth, but real peace and real contentment will come when you're doing what God wants you to do.

I was going to say another precaution. A pastor doesn't need to and shouldn't at all harangue the congregation about you need to be interested in mission, in outreach, because that never works. You can't motivate correctly that way. But when the pastor or the officer is interested and is in the community and doing, that's what will inspire someone else. Well, Major Larry, repass. I think it would be appropriate if we offered a prayer for our listeners and particularly for those that are already serving and those that might be feeling a call to serve on the mission field wherever God would want them. Let's pray. Lord, we know you well enough to know that you're in charge and that you've already been speaking to all of those who listen to this broadcast. And we know that you are speaking when when you speak, you're clear.

So we trust you. Those who are called to something or somewhere or to someone, you know that and you will make it known. And we pray that all of us will continue to listen to your voice and obey so that we can participate in saving the world for Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Thank you for listening. If there's something about this program that's softened your heart or that you're interested in finding out more, you probably know our website, salvationarmysoundcast.org.

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