The days have been continuously dragging by recently. I find myself constantly looking at the calendar just waiting patiently. Waiting to take a leap of FAITH into the mission field. Waiting to help people find HOPE in their lives. Waiting to show LOVE.
Fundraising has been slow the past 2 weeks. I've been trying to think of ideas to somehow raise more money, but I just keep finding flaws in how the ideas wouldn't work or they would just barely raise enough for the amount I put into it. Then the following question popped into my head.
Why Do We Need Missionaries?
Why do we need people to go out of their ways to tell people about God? We have churches for that, right? We have the internet and people can easily access that to read about how strong God's love is for us. We have the Bible. Why spend so much time and effort into something when we have already gained our own salvation through God?
Let me start from the beginning…
The Crucifixion
Jesus has taught us to love. That is the ultimate message he delivered to us. He even mentions it in Mark 12:29-31 as being the most important commandment.
"The most important one is this:'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the
Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no
commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:29-31
Most of us are familiar with the story of the crucifixion and Jesus dying for our sins. We have always interpreted it as being an awesome story for someone to show that much love by dying for us, but if you think more about it…it's a story of amazing love. Jesus knew there was hope. He knew there was a better place for us. He knew there was more out there. Jesus Christ already had his own spot to the right hand of God and yet…he came here to share the Gospel with us and physically express his love and compassion for us when we did nothing to deserve it. What Jesus did is amazing and the true definition of love through sacrifice.
Through Expression
Jesus Christ was sent to be the example as mentioned in the Bible.
"To this you were called, because Christ suffered
for you, leaving you an example, that you should
follow in his steps"
1 Peter 2:21
Jesus was sent for a reason. That reason was delivered through expression. He physically expressed his love for us by traveling and spreading a loving Gospel to have people build faith and hope for an amazing God. He could have easily just told us from a distance how much he loved us and avoided the struggles and the pain of dying for us, but he had a different viewpoint on it. Instead of keeping his distance from us, he went out of his way for us. It is extremely difficult to feel how much someone cares about you until you have them fully come into your life as Jesus did.
Through Command
After Jesus Christ resurrected, and soon after ascended into heaven, he left his disciples one last command.
"Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation."
Mark 16:15
Once his disciples received this command, they obeyed. They didn't ask any questions on specifics because he said the WHOLE creation. What they saw and experienced in their lifetime was their testimony to share with everyone. The bible mentions they went out and preached everywhere and the Lord worked with them.
The previously listed reasons are why we need missionaries. You can't just simply share these divine pictures followed by bible verses through Facebook or Instagram and call it quits. NO. We need to encourage missionary work to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. We need people to go out and build relationships with lost people as Jesus did when he was setting the example, and spread the Gospel. Jesus did it for us, so why wouldn't we do the same when we are aware there is more to life by having a loving relationship with God?
My promise to my supporters is that I will try my best to follow the example Jesus Christ set for us. I feel prepared to take on the challenges and obstacles this trip will offer. I am more than willing to give up the comforts of home for a year. I really want to serve on the front lines of spiritual warfare and see miracles occur before my very eyes. I hope this trip is still in your prayers for both my team and for all the World Racers currently on the field. At this point just pray God will help prepare my team for the coming months.
I recently figured out how to do PayPal, so if you would like to donate to my mission trip through that, I've attached a button below or you could just select the support me on the left. Remember to subscribe for future blogs!
Clay
