3 Jul 2017

Short term missions are not the race

by | posted in: Missions | 79,460

I am always amazed at the excitement and nervousness from those going on their first short-term mission trip, most of the time they don’t know enough to know what they need to be nervous about. There is an excitement in their eyes as they head into the unknown. They prepare testimonies and lessons, not knowing how God will use them or if they will be effective. They pack what is recommended and wonder if it will be enough. They comfort their parents and loved ones, and try to reassure them everything is going to be alright, while at the same time not knowing what the future holds. But through leading and prayer, the journey begins.

 

A lot of mission team members, especially those who have never been on mission before usually become broken spiritually sometime during the week of the trip. They discover a new outlook on sharing, faith, trust, and God. Why is this? It is simple, during the week they are constantly hearing the word of God either from others sharing or through the preaching or their own study. They also see the word of God come to life. That doesn’t mean that the bible gets up and starts walking around. But they see the Spirit of God begin to work in the lives of the people they come in contact with. They walk the streets with a single purpose, to find the person of peace with whom they can share the good news of the gospel. Some are hit with the hard truth that not all will accept the gospel, so they plant a seed not knowing the condition of the soil. Other times they begin to pour out water onto unknown soil, unaware that a seed exist and has been waiting for the moisture that God will use to bring it to life. They get excited and don’t know what to do when out of the ground springs forth life. A miracle, they get to see cold dead bones come to life. After that experience, they have a drive to share and no longer need to be pushed in front of people to share with. Oh what it would have been like in Acts to walk the streets and see God work, bringing people to life through the proclamation of the Gospel. But wait, could that still happen? And could it happen here?

After returning home and a couple weeks of rest, life returns to normal. The mission was accomplished, people were saved and now we are back comfortable, safe, fed, and loved. Or are we? There is always a sense of completion at the end of a mission trip. Not that that would be wrong in the short term, but there is a since of that was where we were on mission at, but now we are back and we have things to get done. Real stuff, school, work, friends, problems, and you know life. Right?

One of the greatest tragedies we have is short-term missions. I know you saw a bunch of people get saved, and God really “showed up”, but stay with me. There is a since of awe and wonder during the week of a mission trip. And we look forward to the next year when we can go and feel that same since of awe and wonder. But let’s compare it to a race shall we. Anyone who runs foot races understands that you have different splits. These are markers throughout the race to gauge your progress, and to ensure you are on pace. A short-term mission trip is sort of like a split. It is a time to see if you are where you need to be in your spiritual life, in your reading and study of the word, apologetics, doctrines, and if you can articulate them to the world around you. The shortness of the week gives you the opportunity to push yourself hard and to evaluate yourself. The tragedy is that the short-term is looked at, as the race itself. We return with a sense that we ran and will rest up to run again next year.

The race however is not over. In fact it is just beginning. When you return home, it is like passing the first mile marker. The street is no longer filled with cheering fans, the road narrows, and the reality of the race sets in. Here is where we must work our hardest. This is where we must pull from prayer and scripture, the strength to press on. Where most might sit and rest, we must run to win. We don’t just return to normal life, we return with a renewed sense of awe for what God has been doing and we must now trust even more so that He will continue His work. We saw on foreign soil God work in others lives. Now we must trust that He will work in ours for His glory and to reach those around us. We are home; this is where we must turn from our sins, where we must love God more than mother and father, more than friends and things. This is where we live out what we preach, if we believe that which we have taught. Did we believe it? Do we believe it? If so, then are we disciplined for the miles ahead? Paul tells the church at Corinth “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified”. Are we disqualified or are we still in the race?

There are no short-term missionaries; there are only missionaries in different context. When we return to our Jerusalem, let us seek the hope that is only found in Christ. Let us not lean on our own understanding, our own wisdom, which is foolishness. Let us not fall victim to busyness and the lure of shiny objects that promise fulfillment. Let our knees be worn out for those nearest to us. Let our time be determined by the cross and His call, trusting that He will provide the time for work, family, fun, and ministry, as we continue the race. We have found our greatest joy in walking by faith; let us not check our faith with Homeland Security as we return home. But let us be reminded daily where our ultimate security is found and where our joy is greatest. Wherever you woke up at, wherever you find yourself, wherever you stand today, then that is your mission field. Time to get running.

79460 Responses

  2. get growth matrix
    | Reply

    I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this blog.
    I really hope to view the same high-grade blog posts by you in the future as
    well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own site now 😉

    My blog post … get growth matrix

  4. frisco tx realtor
    | Reply

    hello there and thank you for your information – I’ve certainly picked up anything
    new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this
    site, since I experienced to reload the site lots of times previous to I
    could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK?
    Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google and can damage your quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.

    Well I’m adding this RSS to my email and can look out for a lot
    more of your respective interesting content. Ensure that you update this again very soon.

    My web-site; frisco tx realtor

  5. carbon offset programs
    | Reply

    My partner and I stumbled over here different web page and thought I may as well check things
    out. I like what I see so i am just following you.
    Look forward to looking over your web page repeatedly.

  8. frisco tx realtor
    | Reply

    I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you make this website yourself or did you hire someone to
    do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my
    own blog and would like to know where u got this from. appreciate it

    Check out my homepage :: frisco tx realtor

  9. evisa vietnam
    | Reply

    Wow, amazing weblog structure! How long have you ever been blogging for?
    you make running a blog glance easy. The entire look of your web
    site is fantastic, as smartly as the content material!

  13. growth matrix reviews
    | Reply

    Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading through your blog posts.
    Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums
    that deal with the same subjects? Thanks for your time!

    My blog post :: growth matrix reviews

  17. promo code
    | Reply

    Hi there, yup this piece of writing is genuinely fastidious and I have learned lot of things from it about blogging.

    thanks.

  21. evisa vietnam
    | Reply

    Thanks on your marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading
    it, you’re a great author.I will always bookmark your blog and will eventually
    come back sometime soon. I want to encourage that you continue your great writing, have a nice evening!

  24. Tonic Greens Reviews
    | Reply

    Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after browsing through some of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
    Regardless, I’m definitely pleased I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking
    it and checking back often!

  25. homepage
    | Reply

    Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I have truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
    After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope
    you write again very soon!

  27. evisa vietnam
    | Reply

    If some one needs to be updated with most recent technologies therefore he
    must be pay a visit this site and be up to date all the time.

  29. mt5 fxpro
    | Reply

    Will is the name mother and father gave me and my wife doesn’t unfortunately at every one of.

    Going to fitness is the issues i love quite a few.
    Invoicing is what he does for money. Some time ago he thought i would live in Minnesota.

  31. หนัง x ไทย
    | Reply

    Woᴡ that was strange. I just wrote an increɗibly long comment but after I clicҝed
    suЬmіt my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr…
    well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted tо say wonderful blog!

  37. Bokep
    | Reply

    Heya this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering if
    blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
    I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted
    to get advice from someone with experience.
    Any help would be enormously appreciated!

  39. click over here now
    | Reply

    Hey there, You have done a fantastic job. I will definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends.
    I am confident they’ll be benefited from this site.

  40. additional resources
    | Reply

    My brother recommended I might like this website.

    He was totally right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much
    time I had spent for this info! Thanks!

  42. story
    | Reply

    Hmm it seems like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so
    I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything.
    Do you have any points for novice blog writers?
    I’d genuinely appreciate it.

  43. porn xnxx
    | Reply

    I know this web page gives quality based content and other data,
    is there any other website which gives such things in quality?

  48. what is tonic greens
    | Reply

    Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of
    any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my
    newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and
    was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
    Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I
    look forward to your new updates.

    Feel free to surf to my website; what is tonic greens

  49. realtor in Frisco TX
    | Reply

    I’m no longer positive where you’re getting your
    info, however good topic. I needs to spend some time studying much more or working out more.
    Thanks for great info I used to be looking for this
    info for my mission.

    Here is my blog :: realtor in Frisco TX

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *