...To All The World

My first missions trip was both out of a desire to serve God and to see the world. I always wanted to visit Ireland and now I had the chance to go there and serve God! It was a win either way I looked at it. No big deal, other then the fact that I had only just turned 15 years old right before leaving on the trip for the entire summer. Oh and I had never been on a plane and had not even started High School yet.

My parents had prayed for years that their kids would serve God and when the opportunity came for me to go for an entire summer, they supported me. I’m sure a part of them just wanted me out of the house for the summer, just kidding. Looking back, I am so thankful for my parents heart for missions and how that was passed on to me and my siblings.

Missions is a term we use to talk about taking the Gospel to others people around the globe. From the very beginning, missions has been at the heart of the Church. We see many nations and languages represented in the conversions at Pentecost and shortly after we read all about Paul’s missionary endeavors across the known world. Most believers will recognize, at least intellectually, the importance of missions. But when it is costly we tend to shrink away. My parents did not.

Short term missions trips had a huge impact in my life. In Ireland I learned the importance of a daily quiet time with God. Christianity was a practiced religion to me up until that point, then I began to really understand the relationship with Jesus my parents told me about. I was so excited about Jesus I wanted others to know. Our trip was mainly a work trip, but I joined a group from our team on an evangelism outreach in Dublin. We didn’t see any converts, but I remember stumbling through a Gospel presentation with a few people. I had a lot to learn, but I was thankful for the opportunity.

A few years later I found myself in Trinidad with the same organization, Teen Missions International. I again signed up for a work trip, but there was an unusual amount of rain that year, so our leader declared, “Let’s go house to house!” Trinidad is a Caribbean island that’s main language is English, which made it very easy to talk to the islanders. I was really scared to talk to strangers and I allowed my insecurities to keep me from speaking up. I was the oldest member of this team and I was paired up with two of the youngest and quietest girls, yet I let them do all the talking. I know, real brave Brad!

All of a sudden I heard someone say, “I’ll talk at the next house!” I was looking around to see who said that, but when the girls declared, “alright Brad you can do this!” I realized it was me. I couldn’t believe it, but that’s what God wanted me to do. We met an 83 year old woman who was a Hindu her entire life. I showed her the Bible and walked her through the Romans Road to Salvation and at the end she accepted Jesus Christ! I was so excited I wanted to tell everyone! I rain to the next house and shared with them. That was the beginning of a summer that forever shaped my life.

I have so many stories I would love to tell, but my stories are not the point of this post. My parents understood that as Christians we have a responsibility to tell the World about Jesus and they passed that on to me. And it is this truth I want to pass on to my youth group and my church. I praise God for the opportunities that our church has taken to go to the World with the Gospel. I hope that more and more opportunities arise because I know personally how important those trips are.

Jesus did not say “For God so loved Akron” or “Ohio” or “America” or etc. He said He loves the “World”! It is our job to throughout this world and tell others about the amazing love of God. As John Piper puts it, as Bible believing Christians we are either going, sending or disobedient.

Some need to be goers! Have you ever considered world missions? Do you know that there are over 2.5 billion people in this world who have never heard about Jesus? Would you consider being one who would take the message to them? A goer is one who loves to tell people about Jesus. A goer is one who is willing to step out in faith and trust God to provide. A goer is one who fixes their eyes on the high calling of Jesus and not on the comforts of this world.

We don’t all have the means or opportunities to travel to foreign countries, so how can we fulfill this command? If you cannot go, then you must send others. You need to support believers who are going to the mission field. Through prayer and financial support you help the message go into all the world. A sender is not just one who works a job and gives money. A sender is a believer who is called to live on mission in her own community and support those who go abroad. Giving money should never be an excuse for not sharing your faith.

Unfortunately the vast majority of Christians live in disobedience. They show up to church, youth group and small groups, but they never tell anyone about Jesus. They may squeak out a “God loves you,” from time to time, not realizing that almost all world religions say that same thing. Their faith walk is dull and boring and they are scared to get out of their comfort zone. This is not what God has called His children to do.

Prayer is a vital part of missions. Let’s begin by praying that God gives us opportunities to share Jesus with others right where we live. Let’s begin to pray that God will send people to the world with the Gospel. Let’s consider adopting a foreign country by praying for that country regularly. Let’s pray for opportunities to go! Don’t get stuck in apathy, learn to be a goer or a sender by living on mission today!

Read: 

Acts 1:8; John 3:16; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10