I hope you ask me a bunch of questions. Like why are you going on this trip? Why are you leaving everything you have? Why are you risking your life?
For those of you who do not understand why I would do something as crazy as leave my comfortable home, along with most all my belongings, for a year to go on some insane trip through foreign countries just to spread one message, maybe this blog is for you. I hope it helps you understand why I must go. Above that, I hope it gives you peace about me going.
I hear the questions…
Why is she leaving for so long?
Doesn’t she know she could get in a plane crash and die?
Being a missionary is illegal in some places. Some people get tortured for that. You could be killed. (that sounds awesome actually, in an eternal kind of way)
Why is this so important to her?
I just don’t understand why she is doing it!
How is she going to raise $18,700?
And you are going with a bunch of strangers? You’re such an introvert though.
Well… let me explain.
First off, if I die while I am gone, it’s okay to celebrate. My life was never my own anyway. I would be okay if I never came back “home”� because death has no sting for me. If I die, look at it like this: God’s will for her was complete, so He took her. You see, no one can take my life except God. He has to withdraw His breath from me.
Secondly, I can’t think of anything greater to give my life to. I really can’t. If you can think of something better to live for than the God of the universe… well I am confident there is nothing else. Why am I so confident? Once you have experienced God, that’s all the proof you need to be sure of His existence. If you have never had an encounter with the Almighty God, and you are reading this, I pray that He will open your eyes or start to draw you near him. Please keep reading.
Thirdly, I will go and risk my life, suffer persecution, sell all my belongings, and give up my comfortable life because there are people who have not heard the Good News about Christ and might not hear if people don’t go. I will go wherever God sends me. To my college, I went. To my household, I went. To old friends, I went. And I am still going to those places. To Bali, Indonesia, I went. On the World Race, God willing, if he sends me, I am going.
Whether you are a follower of Christ or not, I want you to know something. I invite you to listen carefully.
This is the message I am going to spread:
The world is filled with evil. We, as in humans, do bad things, things we know we aren’t supposed to do. That’s sin. There is judgement for that. Actions have consequences. There is punishment for things done wrong.
But there is good news! The God of the universe, the God that created us, He sent someone to take our punishment. It was His good plan. He sent His son from heaven to earth to live in a human body. He walked with sinners. He taught people how to live, fed the hungry, and healed the blind and sick. He loved people. He never did anything wrong.
But God took all the wrongs of the world, all the sins of the world, including your sins and my sins, and he punished His son for them all. He did this to save you and me from the punishment. Who did this? God did it through Jesus, His only Son.
Jesus died for us.
But He defeated death! He came back to life! He lived on the earth for a little longer, and then He was taken back to heaven to be with God. All who believe in Him will be saved from the punishment of their sins! Turn away from your sins and follow Jesus who gives everlasting life. Since He was raised from the dead, those who put their trust in Jesus will be raised again too. We will share in His glory. We will live together in a world where there is no pain, no suffering, no sorrow, and no more death.
But if we are to share in the glory of Jesus and God, we must also share in His suffering. So we will face trials on earth, and the world will hate us, but we have a hope that we will live forever with God and not have to face the punishment for all of our sins. This God I talk about is near.
Why would someone do that for us? Because God loves us. And in all of this, he has made us a child of God. He will take care of us, forever.
That is the Good News.
Please let me know how I can pray for you.
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. Romans 3:22-25
And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. Romans 8:17-18
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Acts 20:24
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me.
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My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. Romans 15:20
