A Heart for Missions

For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 19:10

Several years ago, I was talking to an aquaintance whose husband is in the ministry.  In the course of our conversation, I mentioned a recent overseas mission trip that I had taken. With a look of distaste, the woman responded.

"My husband and I have never had any desire to go on a mission trip.  It's just not something that we are interested in."

I was shocked that she would actually voice such a view, but since that time I have come across hundreds of church members who share that same sentiment.  They view missions as an "elective" of the Christian walk; one that they can take or leave at will.  However, they fail to recognize that, to have a heart after God's own heart, we must have a heart for missions.

In Luke, Jesus states that He, the Son of Man, came to seek and save the lost.  In today's language, we could say that Luke 19:10 is Jesus' purpose statement.   It is the reason that He was born in that stable in Bethlehem and it is the reason that He laid down His life at Calvary. Missions was at the very heart of Jesus's ministry and, as followers of Jesus Christ, we should have a heart for missions, as well.

The focus of the Christian walk should be to become more like Christ daily.  Henry Martyn, a 19th-century missionary to India and Persia, who died on the field at the age of 31, said, "The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." A missionary heart is the natural result of a growing walk with Christ.

Now, I am not saying that if you haven't been on a mission trip then you have a shallow Christian walk.  There are many reasons why we may not be able to go, ranging from financial to health issues to family responsibilities.  However, if you have a heart for missions, even if you cannot go yourself, you will be committed to regularly praying for those who do go and helping in any way that you can to send them. 

The fact is, if you truly have a heart for missions, you will already be actively evangelizing the lost in your own community.  Many Christians believe that modeling the Christian life at work or in their neighborhood is sufficient to evangelize the lost, but they are mistaken.  Living the Christian life is just a prerequisite to evangelism. The word itself is derived from the "good news" that we call the Gospel.  Good news must be shared verbally with others.

Is your heart in sync with God's heart when it comes to the lost?  When was the last time that you grieved over the lostness of a co-worker or family member? Take time today to evaluate where your heart is in relation to the heart of Christ.

Before You Go on a Mission Trip

Be watchful in all things, endure hardships,

do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

II Timothy 4:5

Part Two: The Most Important Thing to Take

Everyone packs differently for a trip.  I've traveled with those who've brought dozens of outfits and packed enough cosmetics and hair care paraphernalia to makeover a small country.  There have also been those who head off for a two-week trip with only a backpack and strong deodorant.  Both groups made it there and back and ministered to those that they met.

So what is it that we can bring that will make a difference in the success of our mission trip?  On any given trip, it soon becomes apparent, when the stresses of overseas travel kick in, who is truly prepared and who is not.  The reality is that, on a mission trip, what they carry in their luggage is not nearly important as what they carry in their hearts. You see, the most important thing to take on a mission trip is the right attitude.

Now you would think that anyone who takes time off from work and invests in the cost of a mission trip would automatically have the right attitude for going, but sometimes, somewhere along the way, we lose our proper perspective.  I know this is true because, even as a veteran missionary, I've allowed it to happen to me.

So how can you make sure that you bring the right attitude with you on your mission trip?  Here are four steps that can help make sure you have a great experience:

Step One: Remember Who Sent You

The biggest mistake you can make when going on a mission trip is to forget your main reason for going: to serve God. Even though you may be taking vacation time to go, you should never confuse a mission trip with a vacation.  If you think of it as a vacation, you will make yourself miserable!  Instead, confirm in your heart that you have given this week to the Lord.  Commit this time to Him and remind yourself that you are willing to sleep less (or not at all), eat foods that you don't like (or even recognize), experience extreme heat or cold, and do things that you never thought you would have the courage to do. As Americans, we normally never really get the opportunity to suffer for Christ.  This is your chance.

Step Two: Remember Why You Were Sent

I'm going on the assumption that the primary reason you are going on a mission trip is to minister.  Having a chance to experience exotic locations and quaint cultures can be a side benefit, but should not be a major consideration.  In all likelihood, the most exotic location you'll visit will be a foreign bathroom and the quaint culture may include loudspeakers blaring prayers at dawn or dusty roads that have potholes the size of a Volkswagen and kamikaze drivers.  Many of the people that you have come to minister to will reject you and even revile you.  However, you can be sure that there will be at least one person that God will bring to you whose heart is fertile ground for the Gospel and you can plant the seed of hope in them.

Step Three: Remember That Christ Will Strengthen You

Before going on the mission field, I had never left the country.  I liked being comfortable and I never, EVER, went camping.  My idea of roughing it was spending the night in a hotel room with just one bathroom!  When God called me to be a missionary in a third world country, I was worried that I wouldn't make it.  It wasn't easy, but I quickly came to learn that I could "do all things through Christ who strengthened me."  Before long, I found myself choosing "squatty potties" (tiled holes in the floor that you squat over) over the Western-style toilets because they were "cleaner" and I hardly gave it a thought when I had to pick bugs out of my food.  Christ gave me the strength to handle any challenge that came my way and, in the process, I became stronger in my faith.

In many ways, I am giving a "worse case scenario" for a mission trip, but that is just to prepare you for whatever "bumps" you may experience on your trip.  Going back to my roller coaster analogy, I want to remind you that it is the hair-raising drops and the g-force turns that makes the ride worthwhile. Which brings me to my fourth step...

Step Four: Remember That This Will Change Your Life

Nothing worthwhile comes without some measure of sacrifice.  I haven't met a woman yet who enjoyed being in labor, but every one will tell you that the pain was worth it. The things that you experience on a mission trip will make memories that you'll never forget and that you will recount over and over to your friends.  There will be glorious memories like helping a woman to learn that the Bible teaches that she can know for certain that she has everlasting life or teaching a child his very first Bible verse.  Even the seemingly bad experiences can serve to help you bond with the others on your team or grow you as a Christian.  It is strange how a situation that nearly brings you to tears while overseas, eventually becomes the story that you laugh over for years to come.

There is no denying the fact that a mission trip is expensive, uncomfortable, frightening, and hard work.  But I feel sorry for Christians who let this stop them from going because they miss out on so much!  The time, money, and effort you put into a mission trip is nominal in comparison to what you get from it: a greater faith in Christ, a deeper commitment to evangelism, and the blessing of knowing that you have ministered in the lives of others.

A Veteran Missionary's Guide to Missions

And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world,
 and preach my Gospel to every creature.

Mark 16:15

Part One: Why We Must Do Missions

Evangelism is a focal part of the Christian faith.  Sharing our faith with the lost is something that Christ expects from each of his followers. It is not a suggestion or a request; it is a mandate from God. Evangelism is the natural by-product of a mature and growing faith.  For the majority of Christians, evangelism takes place on the local level.  We witness to our family members, neighbors, co-workers, and (sometimes) even complete strangers. 

A part of evangelism is missions.  The word "missions" was coined by Jesuit monks to describe those who were "sent" to minister in foreign lands. They rightly believed that this special calling, with its greater dangers and sacrifices, was set apart from regular evangelism and deserved (at the least) a new classification.  Unlike many Christians today, who believe that "we are all missionaries," the early Church understood that leaving your family, your culture, and your heart language behind so that you could pour out your life in a strange land was not the same as spending twenty minutes telling your neighbor what Christ has done in your life.

During the early era of international missions, the crate that carried your possessions to the field often doubled as your coffin.  The average life expectancy for those early missionaries was less than five years. Fortunately, medical breakthroughs and advances in transportation has significantly improved the survival rate of missionaries.   However, the sacrifices they make are still very real.  Ask anyone who has spent more than a month overseas; it is not easy to live in a different country.

Obviously, Christians do not do missions because it is easy.  They do it because it is right.  The Great Commission was not limited to local evangelism.  Jesus commanded them to go "unto the uttermost part of the earth."  To me, that phrase always conjured up images of those places that I would LEAST like to visit- and that may very well be what He was saying.  Missions requires us to reach a greater level of commitment in our service to Christ because we often end up going to places that we never wanted to go to and doing things that are completely outside our comfort zone.

So, you may be asking yourself, "What is she trying to do, scare me from ever doing a mission trip?" No, that isn't my intent at all.  Instead, what I'm trying to say is that the missions experience will take your faith to a higher level because it is HARD.  Have you ever talked to someone who has just returned from a mission trip?   They go on and on and on about how incredible it was and how it changed their life.  The number one response that I've heard from first-time mission trippers is something like this: "I went, thinking that I might be a blessing to others, but I ended up being the one who was blessed."

Going on a mission trip is a lot like riding a roller coaster for the first time.  There is a lot of anxiety and trepidation before you head out, then you are overwhelmed with new sensations and experiences, and finally you are dropped back at the start feeling exhilarated and you can hardly wait to do it again. Face it, missions gives you a rush like nothing else, but (like the roller coaster) it can be a bumpy ride; whether it is your first mission trip or your fiftieth, you just never know what might happen.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be writing on what you can do to make your next mission trip a little easier.  If you've never gone on a mission trip, I hope that these blogs will spark a desire in you to stretch your faith enough to be willing to reach the lost overseas.  At the very least, I hope that it will give you the knowledge of how you can better pray for those in your church who will soon be taking mission trips and for the career missionaries who have committed their whole lives to reaching the uttermost ends of the earth.