Go!

(Dedicated to the following: Fathom Church, Jacksonville, who are currently serving in Kenya; Scarlett and Graham Treloar, Missionaries and friends serving in Aboriginal Australia; Vann and Vanessa Brock who are living and serving in Peru; and my mother and father in law, Jeff and Carol Morgan who served for several years in Peru and have a passion for the world mission field. Jeff and Carol have led mission trips to numerous countries and have conducted many medical and agricultural mission trips. I would also like to dedicate this to all of my mission trip brothers and sisters and to Pastor Hernan who lives and works in Peru. Thank you to each of you for allowing the message of Matthew 28 to live in you.)

I have been keeping up with a great friend who is in Kenya on a mission trip. It has brought back such great memories of my mission trip to Peru. I can recall the hesitation and butterflies in my stomach as we disembarked the plane in Lima and the days that followed. I remember the schools and families we helped and how they were appreciative. I also remember coming back with a great sense of thankfulness.

It was so amazing to see people who lived in conditions so beneath where we live but they carried a joy in their hearts and a smile on their faces. It was always so inspiring to see that no matter what your living conditions joy was a place in the heart. It was much more than just an action... it felt tangible.

I came home with such a sense of how richly blessed we are in the United States. I have heard many talk about the need to help the poor in America and that if you are looking for a mission field there are plenty in your local community. I don't negate those comments. I think they are very real and true. I also think that unless you see, hear, taste, and feel another community that you can't truly understand what it is like to be there. We can send money and pledges all day to Peru but still have very little invested in their health, well-being or spiritual growth.

When you make a conscious effort to plan a mission trip it is more than just visiting a foreign country. You plan through prayer and training on how you can best service the community you are going. You also invest your money and effort into getting there and into whatever projects you will be working. The idea of a mission trip is so much more detailed than a whimsical view of people just going to spread the gospel. Missions is a calling.

No one said that going on a Mission trip had to be to a foreign country. There are lots of communities in the United States that need assistance. If you have issues with going abroad then pray and seek out an area that you can go give aid to in your local area, metropolitan town, state or other area.

The bigger issue in my mind isn't whether you as an individual go abroad or stay stateside. The bigger issue is that you GO! Jesus instilled this concept into the early church personally. He stated: Matthew 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (NLT). 

Many churches have forgotten this edict and think by donating to a missionary or some foreign missions board that this fulfills this calling. I did not read where Jesus said donate of your monies. While this is a good practice the scripture clearly states for the church to 'Go'. It also doesn't state that we are to 'Stay'. Giving is much more than a monetary donation. When we 'go' we are making a personal investment of our time, and talents and where possible money. It's an investment in not just the local congregation but 'The Church'.... the church of Christ. When we leave the walls of our church we are stripping away our labeled container. We are now free and clear to be agents of Christ taking on His characteristics and His calling.

As I disembarked the plane coming back from Lima, Peru I left a little of myself there and brought a little of them with me. I have many moments since prayed for individuals and churches that we encountered there. I may have went as a member of a denomination but when I returned I came back as an ambassador for Christ and before we left we prayed with those individuals not as our denomination but we were all God's children.... bound in love and service to Christ.

jamie