The Christian’s faith and life in Christ are intensely personal, but they are not private. They are corporate. And this is true also of Christian service.
St. Paul explained this very well in I Corinthians 12:12 where he said: “For Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts. In the same way, all of us, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free men, have been baptized into one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given one Spirit to drink.”
St. Paul follows this up by saying that each member in the body cannot function alone, but only as one of many parts. Each member cannot act purposefully alone, but only in concert with other members of the body.
There have been many missionaries who have not heeded this. They have said about other missionaries, “I dont need you! I would rather work alone.” However, in time their work falls apart, and the wreckage of such solo work is scattered in broken fragments all across the world.
Jesus did not work alone, but with a team. Paul did not work alone, but with a number of co-workers. Every fruitful piece of missionary work accomplished throughout the earth has been the outcome of some manner of teamwork. This must be learned before you go away to other lands. The place to learn it is in a close Christian fellowship where together men and women pray, hear God’s Word, witness, bear burdens, suffer, rejoice and receive the Spirit’s help.
Don’t think you can get along without this. Dont think that just attending church services and then going home is all the fellowship you need. And dont think that getting active in organizations and programs with other college students or with young people in your church is what is meant by spiritual fellowship. If this is all you have, you wont last long as a missionary.