If you had to name the most important aspect of Jesus’ three
years of ministry on earth (besides His death and resurrection, of course),
what would you say? There’s a lot to
choose from: He raised the dead, healed
the sick, preached some amazing sermons, walked on water, fed 5000 people with
just a little bread and fish, fed 4000 people with just a little bread and
fish, cast out many demons out of several people, turned water into wine (some
of you will secretly choose this one.
Haha), and loved and spent time with the unlovable sinners. I believe there is actually one other part of
Jesus’ ministry that trumps all of these and had more impact than all of them
combined. What is it? His focus on His 11 disciples (Yes, I realize
there were actually 12, but one of them didn’t really graduate from
discipleship school.). Jesus spent three
years of His life raising up and leading 11 men. They heard His teachings, saw Him minister,
experienced His love, joined Him in prayer, and simply lived life with Him. In those three years, Jesus would raise up 11
men who would change the world. Even
though Jesus left, all of those teachings and experiences were still with Peter
and the others, and because of those experiences, they were fully prepared to spread
His truth and love to people in Israel,
Rome, and throughout Asia
Minor. I mean, think about
it. If you’re a Christian, you can trace
your spiritual lineage (I heard about Jesus through Joe, who heard about him
through Sarah, who heard about him through Dan, etc.) back to one of those 11
men. Now that’s an impact! Perhaps Jesus knew what He was doing when He
decided to devote three years of His life to a ragtag group of tax collectors,
fishermen, and ignorant sinners.
And I truly
believe that we should be doing the same.
In fact, the Bible thinks so, too.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Call me crazy, but I think this command was
one of the most important that Jesus gave.
He gave a lot of them. Pray, read
the word, take care of the poor. And we
should be following all of those commands, too.
But I still think that making disciples is one of the greatest tasks we
can be accomplishing. Think about
it. This command was one of the last
that Jesus gave before He ascended into heaven.
You have one last opportunity to speak to the people who you’ve been
teaching and molding for three years.
Aren’t you going to say what’s really important to you? And in that moment, Jesus said, “Go make
disciples.” We’re supposed to make
disciples who are going to make other disciples who are going to make other
disciples until the whole world has heard about Jesus and is sharing His truth
and His love through words and deeds.
What’s
amazing is that for the last three months, God has blessed me with an
opportunity to fulfill that command.
Over the last three months here in Uganda,
I’ve been able to disciple a group of six college-aged people. Being a leader on a team is interesting, and
it takes some time to get used to the fact that your focus and ministry is the
people on the team, not the native people of the country. Not that I don’t minister to the
Ugandans. I’ve still held and played
with plenty of children, prayed for plenty of sick and injured hospital
patients, and encouraged plenty of people living in poverty. But my main focus is the six people on my
team. And as I pour into them, they are
then able to pour into the people of Uganda. And even more importantly, they are then
able to go home and continue to have an impact as they disciple others who will
disciple others who will disciple others.
Of course,
I don’t have to wait until after the trip to see the impact. I’ve been able to see the change in these
people throughout these three months.
Obviously, since I’m a man, my main focus as a leader is the three men
on this team: Craig, Zach, and
Zane. And in the 2 ½ months so far, I’ve
seen God change these men in incredible ways.
There’s Craig, whose confidence has soared since he first discovered
that he could hear from God. As God has
spoken His truth and love over Craig, his demeanor has changed, and his
boldness has been astounding. I’ve seen
him make conversation with anybody and everybody and boldly preach the gospel
to strangers on the streets. There’s
Zach, who has been willing to give up everything for God on this trip. He has experienced God’s love in new ways,
realizing what it means to be a child of God, and as this realization has
occurred, his passion for God and desire for truth has increased, and he has
pursued this desire wholeheartedly.
Finally, there’s Zane, who spoke in tongues for the first time on this
trip. Enough said. Haha.
But seriously, Zane has learned even more about walking in the Spirit
and walking in the authority that comes with that. It has been a joy to watch him step up and
speak truth as God has lead. And if this
blog wasn’t already getting too long, I would tell you about my absolutely
amazing co-leader, Kayla, and the other three women on this team: Jalin,
Jessica, and Kiersten, who all have similarly amazing stories of growth. (Seriously, go read their blogs and see how
awesome God has been.)
What’s even
more amazing is that God has blessed me with another opportunity to experience
this life in January. That’s right. I’m leaving again (and I’m not even back in America
yet. Dang.) After about a month of being home, I will be
leaving again in early January to lead another Passport trip (formerly known as
Real Life). Just like last time, I don’t
know yet which country I will be going to, but I do know that I will be able to
again lead an amazing group of college-aged people, who will go and make
disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples. Why is God choosing me again? I have no idea. I certainly never thought that I would be
doing this task. But I’m so excited for
a second opportunity.
Of course, here it comes. I will need your support again. You, of course, can be continuing to pray for
me. Mainly for wisdom and knowledge and
strength. Humility is good, too. And, of course, that God will continue to
provide all of my needs, which I know He will.
Speaking of needs, that’s the second way you can support me. I know, I know, Black Friday is in a few
days, there’s still a recession, the family car just broke down. I truly do understand all of that. But I would ask you to listen to God and see
if He is calling you to support me in this way.
If He is, there are again two ways that you can financially support me.
First, I again need $1500 for my expenses for
the trip. . If you feel God leading you to support me
financially in this way, you can once again click the “Mind on my money, money
on my mind” link on the left side of this page to donate online through
credit/debit card or bank draft. Or you
can be old-school and write a check. To
donate in this way, make out a check to Adventures in Missions and put “For
Robby Smith – Passport” in the memo line.
You can then mail it to Adventures in
Missions, PO Box
534470, Gainesville, GA 30353-4470.
Second, I
still have those pesky student loans. In
fact, the first deduction for them is being made from my bank account in the
next few days and will continue to be made every month for, well, a lot of
months. Of course, that’s assuming that
the money is there to be deducted, which I would love your help with because
I’m not completely sure what happens if I miss a payment, but I’m currently
picturing a Jack Bauer torture situation.
Seriously though, if you feel God calling you to financially support me
in this way, you can make out a check to Robby Smith and mail it to
Robby Smith 306 Saltlick Trace Peachtree City, GA 30269.
Dang, another really long
blog. Sorry about that. Anyways, thank you again for all of the
support that you give me. Keep reading
this blog for continued updates.
