We broke $10,000 in raised funds this week, an almost unbelievable outpouring of love and support. In the process of finding supporters for my World Race mission trip, I’ve come to appreciate the other side of missions—the senders—more than ever.
It would not be possible for me and other missionaries to go and make disciples without people who are willing to commission and send us out into the world. Generally, in order to have missionaries in the field, we first need missionaries at home.
And there is no doubt that both groups are missionaries, both those who go and those who send. We are both doing Kingdom work; both groups are making disciples and reaching the lost. We share many of the same desires and experiences as well. We are both seeking to save the lost. We are both giving generously of ourselves. Both groups are responsive to the Spirit and obeying God’s call.
Each of us is also living in a foreign culture. While I am experiencing ethnic and linguistic differences, you are also foreigners in your communities. Lust, hopelessness, and poverty of spirit—these are prominent adversaries in a world in which we are called to live set apart.
So I want to take this opportunity to intentionally say THANK YOU to all of my supporters, who should never feel overlooked or underappreciated. With every meal served, every child taught, every slave freed, every widow comforted, and every soul won, God is using you as much as he is me because you are making it possible for me to go.
I’ll end with a verse that reflects how I think about you. Philippians 1:3-6:
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
X Em
