Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
-Matthew 10:7-10
If there was one encompassing message for my upcoming year-long missionary journey, I suspect these verses would be it. In Matthew, Jesus is sending His disciples out to spread the Gospel. But, He is kind; Jesus gives very specific directions to His followers about what they will encounter, what they should say and what to take with them.
In July, I am leaving on an 11-month missionary journey through 11 different countries in Asia, Africa and Europe with a small group of people I've never met. We are not promised a warm meal or a hot shower for the year, and we are told to bring everything we need in a backpack no taller than a yardstick. I think I'm starting to understand what the disciples went through.
This trip seems to be a lot about abandonment. It's about leaving family, friends and comforts back in the States and traveling to countries without a translator, lodging or toilet paper. I will have the pack on my back filled with minimal clothing, some toiletries and my computer. They say we can take along one luxury item. I think I'll bring toilet paper.
But, when I think about what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10, my heart cannot help but cling to His wisdom about taking just one tunic and not an extra one.
When I have traveled to Africa and Asia in the past couple years on short-term missionary journeys, I've always been struck by my anxiety about that 'extra tunic.' I've been in situations where our food was short, sickness was upon us and our passage was blocked. The situations, in my first-world mind, were dire.
Looking back, there wasn't a first-world answer to our problems. Jesus provided manna in our hunger, provided healing in illness and provided a passage through when there was no way. When we, as believers, finally got to the end of ourselves in those situations, the Lord worked mightily. It seemed as though He said, "I am more than enough for you."
I think that's what He is speaking to me, even now as I prepare to leave all that I know. He is more than enough for me when I abandon it all for Him. In the coming year, I don't doubt that I'll be in dire situations again and will need Him for every breath, every meal and every place to sleep. But, He is more than enough. He is my extra tunic, my best friend and my Savior. And that is enough.
