I’ve noticed there is some sort of short calm the night before going on a mission trip, long or short. Through the craziness, the running around taking care of vaccinations, getting malaria pills, visa and passport matters, checking off your ‘what to bring’ list, packing, having your last conversations with loved ones for a while, and all the craziness – there is some sort of temporary calm. Almost like a calm before the storm kind of feeling. I believe that temporary quiet is from God, it’s a gift.
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." – Psalm 46:10, NIV
For myself, I often reflect and think, “God, why did you choose to send me? God, what is it that you have to show me out there? What is it you are trying to teach me? God, I don’t know what it is right now, but Lord, I just want to serve you.” I start to wonder how my life will change in the weeks to come. I wonder how deep the little hugs and smiles of orphans or the persecuted will touch my heart. Let’s be honest, it’s not them touching my heart, it’s God using them to do it. It’s Him who is touching my heart – and that is beyond a blessing. I often wonder what it will be like to gaze upon God’s grace and beauty revealed in the countryside around me with the naked eye, a place I’ve never seen or touched before. I wonder how God will use me. Will He use me to bring a hundred people to Christ or none that I know of? Will He use me to sow seeds or water them? It’s that stillness, of knowing when you come back, deep down you know you will not be the same person. You will grow even further away from your old self, and into your new self – the person God wants you to be. You know you will be stripped of yourself, or I pray you will be, so you can be filled with Christ.
He must become greater; I must become less. – John 3:30, NIV
I mention this, not as a mission eve for myself – yet (keep posted for Haiti – August 2010) – but it IS a mission eve for one of my dearest best friends, who is leaving in 3 days for Uganda and Ethiopia, Africa. She is going to share the love of Christ with countless orphans in a very poor and remote land for two weeks. She believes with every ounce, the integrity of her faith is in direct proportion to our concern for the poor (which is indeed all throughout scripture). She strives to not let a day go by sitting full of herself, but craves to be emptied so she can be full of God’s purpose. She radically abandons her comfort, her desires, her own plans, so she can to take up the mission of Jesus Christ – to proclaim His name to the nations. She doesn’t make excuses. She doesn’t say, “oh but if I go to the mission field for two weeks, then I will have no vacation time.” She doesn’t say, “I have no way to pay for it, so I just won’t go.” In fact, she has over raised the cost of the trip exponentially – why? Because it took her faith in believing what scripture says is true. GOD PROVIDES. She believes the Great Commission is not a mere option one decides to do to “teach herself some values” or gain appreciation for what we have in the USA. She believes the Great Commission is a command to be obeyed, a non-negotiable call to go to ALL nations – not just one. Not just her own backyard. Not just her home.
I say this, because I know she won’t say it herself. I say this because in the last month, I have seen an incredible growth in her life for Jesus Christ. I say this because her radical love to serve Jesus Christ in the darkest, most disgusting, most Satan filled, most horrifying, most hurtful places on the earth, begs me to do more than just pray for her. It begs of me to do more than just fast for her, or send her a $50 check. It begs of me to do the same. It begs of me to get out of my bed, get out of my house, and GO. Go and tell people about His undeniable love. Let go of my stuff, let go of my comfort, let go of what I think I want, let go of trying to please everyone, let go of the Louis Vuitton purse and designer jeans, let go of the vacation time I have stored up for me or my family, let go of the relationship I think I have to have, to just let go. And go for God. Just GO. Doesn’t Jesus deserve that? Doesn’t the love of our murdered Savior speak of more than just mere comfort? Our Savior sacrificed His life on the Cross for us, because He loves us, what are you sacrificing for Him?
What I love about my dear friend is that she lives this out, not because she feels commanded and obeys, but because her actions in doing so comes out of a radical love for Jesus Christ. If you ask her if it’s all a sacrifice, she will say no. In fact, I can’t think of one missionary who will tell you letting go and giving up everything to go for God is a sacrifice. Why? Because of what they gain in return. I’m not even sure I can put into words what the gain is, English words cannot even make it comprehensible. The intoxicating love a person can feel from being obedient to the Creator of the universe may not be fit for human words.
On a further note, 17 other people in my life have answered the call of God to get out of their comfort zone and go for God. This team, which includes myself, has been handpicked by God to go to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti to also work with orphans. These 17 people make a team, united by God, to go for Him. This is no small task, this – as is any mission – is straight up going to be used by God for battle. It’s a battle against Satan, and to lay down the love of Christ in the enemy’s absence. This team serves a purpose higher than they may realize, serving Christ in a broken, dirty, Satanic, horror filled, grief stricken place is no small thing. This is serious, and God is very serious about it. This team is choosing to be obedient to Christ, to His word; they are allowing His love to move their steps. As for myself, seeing this team come together for God, not for themselves, but for who He is – is a blessing beyond words. They are going for God. They answered the call and leaving comfort behind.
"'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face -- whose mercy you have professed to obey -- and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. -- William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
Friends, I ask you, I plead with you to pray. Pray for these that go for the cause, for the love of our dear Savior Jesus Christ. I ask you do all you can to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray you do all you can to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s a very beautiful gospel – how God takes me and you, and all our shame, guilt, sin, wreckless lives, and turns it into something so beautiful for His glory. The message of the Cross – the undeniable love of a Savior, isn’t that worth sharing with the world?
Praying you join me in stepping out of our comforts for Christ, for the love of our Savior.
To Make Him Known,
Kristina
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