Alright so just in case some of you folks don’t know…I’m leaving the states on the 31st of July…I’m flying from Little Rock to Atlanta to Seoul, South Korea and then on to Thailand…So that’s like what, a little over a month away?…anyway, the past few days i’ve been focused on all kinds of stuff like fundraising, buying new, cool camping gear on REI.com, trying to get things wrapped up in Fayetteville, along with a bunch of other stuff…but you know it hit me, this trip ain’t about all that stuff…sure it’s important…but it’s about having the chance to be the hands and feet of Christ…it’s about humbling myself and being a part of something that has nothing to do with Rusty Jackson…and praise God!…that’s what I’m longing for…so while I’m confident these other details will fall into place…I just want to really focus on Matthew 10…I want the Matthew 10 experience…Here’s what Seth Barnes, the director of Adventures in Missions said about Matthew 10 last week…
“This past week I watched a team of six American young people take off from Swaziland to Cape Town intent on following God wherever he might lead them and doing whatever he gave them to do. After watching their friends pray for blind eyes to be opened in Mozambique, they were done with small dreams and safe living. They call their team “Zeo” and you can follow their adventures
here.
Jesus was the original radical, announcing the arrival of a kingdom that would stand common sense on its head. Early on, after they’d seen him heal the sick and route the enemy, Jesus turned the boys loose on the countryside. They’d seen enough; now it was time to do what Jesus did. The whole great adventure is chronicled in Matthew 10.
Jesus has tremendous faith in those of us who follow him and is waiting to show off through us, giving us the same power he gave his disciples. Young people around the world sense this and yearn for their own Matthew 10 experience. They intuitively sense that theology alone is not enough to fill a man (or woman) and that faith must be tested to be real.
There’s nothing safe about a Matthew 10 trip. You leave with nothing in your pockets and no road map to steer by. You can expect the same sense of failure that Jesus experienced in his hometown where he couldn’t do many miracles or in Galilee where they tried to stone him. Jesus said that they’d face all kinds of trouble and possibly even death.
But when the disciples returned with their exuberant report, Jesus saw the enemy defeated and the kingdom come. He knew the stuff works, but watching the disciples get hold of it was a great thrill for him. All of us who consider ourselves his disciples need to experience that same thrill.
Jesus longs to prove himself faithful and join us as we have our own Matthew 10 experience.”
