excuse #12
It's actually pretty hard for me to think that someone would actually think of this as a valid excuse for not going to the mission field at all. but given that keith green wrote this "why you should go to the mission field" article in the 70's, i guess it helps a bit. check out excuse #12:
"I'd go to the mission field, but..."
"But how could I commit myself for years and years to go to the field without having a chance to see what it would be like?"
here's what keith had to say about it (remember, this is a 1970-something perspective):
It is true that in past generations a foreign missionary had to make almost a lifetime commitment before he could go to the field. Then in most cases, he had to go to college for at least four years, and then seminary for two to four years before he could even begin his missions training and service. But today there are missionary organizations that have short-term programs for people who want to receive training and find out what serving God in other countries is like. These programs last from a few weeks to a few years in length. So now there is an opportunity to "take a look" before making a much longer commitment.
my thoughts:
i keep going back to the thought that it's not about what i want or how i want it to work that matters. sure, it's true that in today's world, it's fairly easy to get a try-before-you-buy missionary assignment. but that's really not how it works i don't think. i think if you're checking out what you know God has already told you to do, then it's not really an option. you just need to do it. but i have seen some tremendous benefit gained by some who have gone on a preliminary trip to see how they should prepare, what to learn, etc. before going for the full-on assignment. that's just plain smart.
going to the mission field isn't a question of whether to do it, but "when" and "where" and "for how long" - when God says "jump" we should say "how high?" - not question about whether to jump or not. we all ought to go. it might be for a week to bermuda, or for a lifetime to sri lanka. or it could even be for a weekend to donaldsonville or chalmette (new orleans). but it is a definite thing that we all need to do -- GO.
7 comments:
I agree with you, Dan. We just need to "Go". Before we adopted all these children, I would try to think of scenarios we would encounter or just how I was going to get through a day with so many and IF I would have dwelled on these thoughts I might have said No Way! but I knew what God was calling us to do and we just did it. (Of course, this was done through prayer). And the best thing I see is that if we would not have done what God was calling us to do, we would have missed some pretty amazing miracles, blessings, and rewards He had in store for us.
So I encourage anybody to do what God is calling you to do whether it is go long distance on the mission field or do it in your own "backyard". We can ALWAYS find excuses but when we stop focusing on all the excuses and put our thoughts and mind on our calling, God has some pretty amazing miracles, blessings, and rewards for us to experience!
AMEN! I have the spent last 2 years arguing with God why I couldn't be a fulltime missionary overseas and finally surrendered it all to God. I stopped having the conversations in my head and starting upping the conversations with the Lord. I stopped thinking and started having more faith and now am preparing to GO!
I think so many people who can't "Go" just throw their hands up and say "oh well, missions isn't for me" but what Aimee has done, the Lamberts and many others who adopt from over seas, is they are being missionaries to children that maybe otherwise would never see Jesus. I also know that for us, God just said, "you may cant go now but you can support the ones that are there" and that was and is huge for us because we can barley pay our tithe! God always makes away and we are all used as missionaries if we yield to Him.
where should I go?
HELLO! What is this "blog vacation weeks"?
#13! How did I miss the other 12? Awesome, I want to go to Mexico, Africa, and Haiti. Haiti, long way down the road, Mexico and Africa, maybe next summer. Cool post!
having DanO withdrawals =)
Just got word that I may be leading a short term trip to Africa next summer with my church in DC. Not sure where yet but I'll definitely being pushing for the 'Cup area =)
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