How to become a missionary

My post on How to become a CMS missionary generated some feedback.  Including the notion that for younger folk, "Wei-Han is a scary monster, heavy-duty CMS dude... what if I'm not ready to talk to him yet?"  If that's you, re-laaaxx.. as an ex-young adults pastor, I eat your type for breakfast.  (Just kidding - I'm more a brunch kind of guy.)
If you're the kind of person who loves Jesus and is thinking about spending a life working in Christian ministry or missionary work, then the right thing to do is:

1. pray and seek the Lord's direction
2. talk and pray with your pastor
3. talk and pray with your close Christian friends
4. make contact with someone who is already working in the sort of ministry you see yourself moving towards

To find out more about missionary work, follow this advice from one of our missionaries, given at a recent CMS young adults' gathering:

1. find out more about the country or people group you're interested in
2. sign up for newsletters or prayer material 
3. talk to missionaries who’ve been there
4. speed date some missions agencies (like CMS) to ask them what they know/ think 

At CMS Victoria we have a couple of staff whose job it is to be friendly, chat with you about missions, and encourage you along the way.  If you mention this blog post and the code phrase ('Wei-Han would like a meconopsis betonicifolia for Christmas') I'll make sure they pay for the coffee.