Before going on the race I went on four very short term mission trips in the United States. For a week I went to a rural part of the country and fixed up someone’s home. I built decks and painted houses and nailed shingles. I was doing mission work.
Now, I’m on a much longer journey and it looks very different. A different kind of mission work. And sometimes, it seems to really upset people back home. Lately, I’ve seen lots of articles on my Facebook feed condemning mission work. I’ve also had lots of comments on my blogs criticizing what my squad and I are doing. So, I’d like to add my 2 cents after spending four months on the field and praying a LOT about it.
When I see articles or blog comments criticizing mission work it can often make me second guess things. Am I doing something wrong by being here? Am I hurting more than I’m helping? Should mission work even be a thing? But I always go back to one passage from scripture.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
The Great Commission. It’s mentioned in different ways at the end of all four chapters of the gospel. We are called by God to go and “make disciples of all nations.” Not just the nation you live in. But all nations. He calls us to mission work. And this can take many different forms. It could be donating money to an organization that prints bibles in different languages. It could be supporting a church plant in another country. It could be going on a medical mission trip to provide aid to others. Or it could mean becoming a missionary.
Being a missionary can also take many different forms. Because people and cultures are different. There’s no one right way to do missions work. And yes there are definitely wrong ways. When you don’t respect another person’s culture or you have a mind set of superiority over someone else, that’s wrong. But we are called to go and make disciples of all nations. Missionaries like myself and my teammates exist because we are following what God has called us to. And yes, we make mistakes. Because we’re human and we’re not perfect. But we do our absolute best. We learn and educate ourselves on the cultures we are entering into. We look at things that have been done in the past to see if they were helpful or not. But most importantly, we ask God. Every morning my team prays that God will put people in our path He wants us to talk to. That we will use the gifts He has given us to glorify Him and bring more to Him. I’m here because God has called me here, and everyday I try to listen to His voice and follow the path He has for me.
I know mission trips can get a bad reputation. And yes, sometimes people who mean well can do more harm than good. But does that mean mission work shouldn’t exist at all? Wouldn’t that be ignoring what God has called us to do? How will the unreached nations get reached? How will they learn about the good news of the Gospel? I want to share the amazing, redemptive, beautiful, overwhelming love of God with whoever I can. I’m not here to force God down someone’s throat or have a personal goal of how many people “I” can save (I can’t save anyone anyways, that’s all Jesus). I just want others to feel the love I’ve felt. To know what it feels like to be truly, unconditionally loved by Him. Cause it’s amazing. And everyone deserves to feel it.
To be a good missionary means to listen to God. He knows what people need. He knows where seeds need to be planted and where others need to be watered. Mission work hurts when people take their focus off of God. When it becomes an I thing and not a Him thing.
So, I guess I should also thank the people behind the Facebook posts and anonymous blog comments. Because it makes me think. It holds us accountable. Every time I see a comment criticizing what I’m doing, I go to God. And I ask Him to make it clear if I’m doing more harm than good. Is my helping actually hurting? And He always answers.
I encourage anyone who wants to be a missionary, whether that’s in your hometown or across the world, to just listen to God. He knows what people need. He knows your heart, and He knows everyone else’s as well. Our Father has asked us to help bring His children back into His Kingdom. He wants to use all of us to reach his broken and lost children. Will you let Him?
P.s. If you have questions, comments, or concerns about anything I’ve written above, I’d love to hear from you! Not via anonymous blog comments, but send me an email 🙂 [email protected]
