Dearest Friends and Family,
I was recently tagging along with my parents to a conference for ministers in our denomination. The last night, there was a very powerful and hilarious speaker who talked about missions. He spoke through the story of God multiplying the loaves and the fishes. He asked a question I had never thought of…why were there 12 baskets left over? Did God miscalculate the number of people? No, there were twelve baskets left over because there were some who didn’t make it to the feast. Those who were fed were then responsible to take the bread to those who had yet to partake. The whole time he was sharing, my heart was beating so loud I was sure it was deafening to those around me. At the end of his message, he charged those who were willing to take the bread to come up and seek God in obedience. Let’s pause here: at that moment I’m 22 years old, graduating with a degree in special education and planning to start teaching in the fall. I always imagined missionaries as people who received the call when they were 12 years old at some kid’s camp. But the moment this man gave the challenge, my feet led me to the front, leaving my will and preconceived notions back at my seat. I prayed, I sought, I cried. While no specific call came to me that night, I felt a change in my spirit.
At the same conference months ago, I picked up a copy of a book called Primal by Mark Batterson. This book talks about getting back to the heart of being a follower of Christ and stripping away all of the “things” we have attached to what that means. At the heart of our faith lies one simple commandment: “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The author emphasizes that the heart of God is compassion. So often we hear of a heart breaking situation and feel completely inadequate to change it. We feel so small and insignificant compared to the need. So we turn off our ability to feel pain for those things. But at the heart of true faith is “serving the widows and the orphans” (James 1:27). Our hearts should break for the things that break the heart of God because He has replaced our stony dead hearts with His massive, beating, heart of flesh. His heart is alive and it feels. If we are claiming to be His children, we have His heart. And His heart is with the down-trodden, broken hearted out-casts. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12). With this new heart, we feel and we hurt and we “can’t not do something about it”. Mark Batterson goes on to say, “You’ll never have enough, you’ll never be enough, you’ll never do enough. But don’t let that stop you from giving what you have, being who you are, and doing what you can.” Wow.
A couple of months later when that moment had faded to a journal entry, I “randomly” came across the website of a girl I knew at a distance. Her page said “read my world race blog”. Curious what it was, I followed. The World Race is an 11-month missions trip that visits a different country each month doing ministry through loving people and meeting their needs, then sharing the Gospel. The moment I read about this, I felt that same passion stirring inside me again. I prayed about it, applied, interviewed and I’ve now been accepted and I’m preparing to go. It makes me smile to think of God laughing when He hears me planning my life, because His plan is so much different and greater because he can see beyond what I have experienced. Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?” How many times have I been holding on to what is in the past and missing out on what could be the future? God’s plan for our lives is truly beyond what we can ask or even imagine! “Will you not be aware of it?”
My trip will be going to India, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Romania, Ukraine, and Ireland. My team launches out in January and there is much to be done before then. Like a typical missionary, I have to raise support to cover this time spent overseas. To be honest, the amount is great, but my God is greater. I refrain from sharing the amount with you because I don’t want you to give under compulsion or feel you could not contribute anything significant. ANY gift is a major blessing and I only ask that you seek what the Lord would have you to do. If your faithful prayers during this time are what you can commit to, GREAT! I’ll be needing them! If you feel that God is calling you to give financially to this ministry, also great! If this letter was just to stir your heart to action for some other outlet of God’s mercy, even better! Enclosed is a form that tells you about the ways you can help. Also, check out www.theworldrace.org to learn more and be checking for my blog throughout the fundraising process and eventually the trip itself to see what God is doing! Thanks for your support!
-Hannah Bashor
