I have been asked the question many times in many different forms, “Why do this rather than something else?”
“Why raise all this money rather than get a good-paying job and make your own money?”
God wants to show me His faithfulness through raising this amount of money. He wants to show me that He is much bigger than my expectations and much bigger than the number of dollars I have to raise. He wants to use people to show how great He is. If I were to make my own money, I would be very independent. However, life with The Lord requires desperate dependence on Him. I need Him to guide my every step, and that is what I am asking for by raising all this money. He, also, wants me to have people behind me supporting me and praying for me.
“Why be a missionary rather than go into the peace corps?”
The peace corps is a great program. It truly helps a lot of people, and you get paid to do it! However, being a missionary is about something a lot different. It is about affecting eternity rather than this temporary life. It is about loving people and telling them The Good News.
“Why put yourself in danger by traveling rather than staying here, where you are safe?”
Nowhere is safe! God does not promise us safety from a physical standpoint, at least. He does, however, promise to deliver us from evil and give us salvation. My soul is already in Him and with Him. I don’t have to worry about anything else.
“Why not do ministry in your own community rather than going all over the world to do it?”
I have done ministry in my own community for many years. I have been a Young Life leader for almost 5 years now, and when I started, I couldn’t have imagined how God would transform me. Ministry in my own community has been the biggest blessing in my life, but God has said to me, “GO!” I want to be obedient to that call. He has a way that He is going to make me more like Christ as I am meeting new people and seeing new cultures.
