Okay, I know I’ve given you guys a lot of information on this topic, but I wanted to talk about one last thing. What about sharing the Gospel?
Like I said in my first blog on this topic, sharing the gospel should never be confined to one space or time. Yeah, it can happen during evangelism in the park in Costa Rica, but it could also happen back home, with coffee with a friend.
All of THP’s programs focus on mending one of the four main broken relationships. Because THP also believes that you can’t fully restore relationships with self, others, and creation without first restoring your relationship with God, they give priority to any program that helps mend that relationship first. But because of how passionate they are about the way God is moving in their own lives, it doesn’t take long for the Gospel to come up in a conversation, no matter the program.
Take House of Raw for example. It’s just a hip-hop dance school, right? But each of the dance instructors has incredible testimonies of how God used dance to save their lives, and these stories naturally come up when they teach. Trust me, I’ve seen these people dance, and it’s so obvious that their passion comes from something bigger than all of us.
I don’t have a ton of stuff for you guys on this topic, because the answer is simple:
Sharing The Gospel should happen wherever and whenever. So short-term mission trips can, and should, play a role in leading others to Christ. BUT, so should “normal life” at home.
I know there was A LOT of information in my last three blogs. And I know this can be a hard conversation to have. This is just what the Lord’s been walking me through since I heard the call to do missions with The World Race, and I felt like it was something I needed to talk about. I encourage you to take this with open hands and an open mind. If you’re interested, you can find a ton more information on this topic in the book “Helping without Hurting” by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, or at The Hope Project’s website, here.
Thanks for joining in on the conversation. If you have any comments or concerns or questions, leave them below! I’d love to talk about it.
