TAKING MISSIONS TO THE UTTERMOST
One of the greatest experiences I or my family have had is going on a missions trip out of the country. Going to places like Ecuador, Belize and Poland has opened up a part of me that I never knew existed. Seeing true poverty and genuine love for God was never so blazed in my heart until I walked the streets of such places that people literally had nothing.
No running water. No electricity. Flies in the little bit of food that they had. No money. Children with no socks or shoes. Children in the streets begging for money instead of in school. Young girls forced to walk the street in prostitution.
Anybody from the United States that would go and see what our missionaries are called to do, see the people that the missionaries are trying to reach, anybody who firsthand experiences this, will never, and I mean NEVER, give or pray the same way as before.
When a missionary comes to your church to speak, trust me, if you have experienced what I have experienced, you will dig deeper in your pocket and you will pray harder. Missions changes people.
Missions shouldn’t just change the one going, it also changes the one who sends. Most of us cannot go to the places that most of our missionaries go, but we can partner with them. I always had a piece of my heart that wondered what it would be like to go along with a missionary. I always thought that one day God would call me to do that. I always thought that one day God would choose to send me. But He hasn’t.
Or has He?
My perspective on mission work changed this past week. My call finally came from God…
It came during the annual Trunk or Treat held at a small rural church, mostly poverish and underprivileged. As the children passed by my car, I saw the mission field right in front of me. Those eyes. Those faces. The hurting eyes of the mommas. The longing for some love from those fatherless children. At the end of the night, I realized that as important as it is to support our foreign missionaries and go on such trips, we must not overlook the mission work that lies before us, right in our own backyards.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Missions abroad is important. But the command is not to go just overseas. We are to be witnesses EVERYWHERE, even the uttermost part of the earth. I don’t know where “uttermost” is on the map, but I believe it probably starts wherever we may live.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for giving us the opportunity to give. Not only to give of our money to send missionaries but to also give of our time and talent to be used right where you have us. Help us to continue to support missions, not just abroad but right here in our cities and neighborhoods. May we take Your gospel everywhere we go…even to the uttermost places. AMEN
Bless you my friend.
Thanks for this reminder. How many times do we not pay attention to those needs surrounding us?
God bless,
Bethany
Powerful message, Laure. It is so true: although overseas missions are important, we sometimes have our mission right in our own ‘backyard’. May we go where He sends us.