Missions Possible
Leah and I are blessed to go to a church that is very much missions-minded. In addition to 2 local mission churches, we also have numerous mission trip opportunities on a yearly basis. In 2007 alone, Faith Baptist has or will have sent mission teams to every continent except Antarctica. We even have flags hanging in our building of every country that we as a church have been to....I don't know exactly how many there are, but it's an impressive display.
Anyway, recently on Sunday nights, there have been reports from some of these mission teams that have recently returned. The reports have ranged from testimony and pictures to fully edited video. In recent weeks, reports have been given from a World Changers trip to Alaska, as well as an orphanage-visiting team in Guatemala and a medical and evangelism squad in Brazil. What got to me the most was a 74-year old woman, who really wanted to go to Brazil (a $2500 trip, btw) and tell little kids about Jesus. In her words, she said she prayed for God to tell her if she was supposed to...."I told Him that if he didn't answer me, I was gonna go anyway." Now at her age, she could probably provide a laundry list of excuses as to why she wasn't fit for a trip like that. ..But she stood at that podium and said that as long as she can walk, she's gonna go back to Brazil.
Which got me thinking. I've done 2 mission trips with the Merton youth to Petoskey, MI and one trip with the Vanderbilt BSU to the Bronx, NY. But I really don't think that somewhere along the way, God said, "Sit back and rest on your laurel, dude....3 trips is plenty--give somebody else the chance to step up."
So I found one of our associate pastors after church last night and asked him about how far in advance these trips are planned. He asked me if I had any location that God was laying on my heart. Nope...but I do speak Spanish pretty well so maybe something in Central or South America would fit me. The only thing that would be standing in my way at this point would be a U.S. Passport. The rest....the ability to raise funds, arranging time off of work, leaving my family for a short time...would all be in God's hands.
And that Spanish thing....He asked me if I'd be willing to teach a class, kind of along the line of a discipleship time frame, that would introduce the language to people who might be interested in mission trips to Spanish-speaking countries or simply those who wanna learn a few words. He was the leader for the Guatemala trip and his son went with him. They recently bought a pricey tutorial kit because his son was smitten with the culture and language, and he thought it would make a great basis for an intro class.
Kinda funny how God works on you with stuff like this, huh?
Anyway, recently on Sunday nights, there have been reports from some of these mission teams that have recently returned. The reports have ranged from testimony and pictures to fully edited video. In recent weeks, reports have been given from a World Changers trip to Alaska, as well as an orphanage-visiting team in Guatemala and a medical and evangelism squad in Brazil. What got to me the most was a 74-year old woman, who really wanted to go to Brazil (a $2500 trip, btw) and tell little kids about Jesus. In her words, she said she prayed for God to tell her if she was supposed to...."I told Him that if he didn't answer me, I was gonna go anyway." Now at her age, she could probably provide a laundry list of excuses as to why she wasn't fit for a trip like that. ..But she stood at that podium and said that as long as she can walk, she's gonna go back to Brazil.
Which got me thinking. I've done 2 mission trips with the Merton youth to Petoskey, MI and one trip with the Vanderbilt BSU to the Bronx, NY. But I really don't think that somewhere along the way, God said, "Sit back and rest on your laurel, dude....3 trips is plenty--give somebody else the chance to step up."
So I found one of our associate pastors after church last night and asked him about how far in advance these trips are planned. He asked me if I had any location that God was laying on my heart. Nope...but I do speak Spanish pretty well so maybe something in Central or South America would fit me. The only thing that would be standing in my way at this point would be a U.S. Passport. The rest....the ability to raise funds, arranging time off of work, leaving my family for a short time...would all be in God's hands.
And that Spanish thing....He asked me if I'd be willing to teach a class, kind of along the line of a discipleship time frame, that would introduce the language to people who might be interested in mission trips to Spanish-speaking countries or simply those who wanna learn a few words. He was the leader for the Guatemala trip and his son went with him. They recently bought a pricey tutorial kit because his son was smitten with the culture and language, and he thought it would make a great basis for an intro class.
Kinda funny how God works on you with stuff like this, huh?
posted by Eric C at 10:30 PM
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