3 Jul 2017

Short term missions are not the race

by | posted in: Missions | 79,146

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.

79146 Responses

  1. دانلود فیلم سکسی
    | Reply

    Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am impressed!
    Extremely helpful info particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such info a lot.
    I was looking for this certain info for a long time.
    Thank you and good luck.

  3. 1
    | Reply

    Ι have been surfіing on-line greatfer than tһree hours lately, yet I nevеr found aany interеsting article likｅ yours.
    It’s lovely price sufficient for me. Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made good content ass you proЬably did, thee net ѕhall be mᥙch more useful than ever before.

    Herrе iss my website :: 1

  4. WilliamTak
    | Reply

    富遊娛樂城體驗金使用規則與遊戲攻略

    在富遊娛樂城，體驗金為新會員提供了一個絕佳的機會，讓你能夠在不冒任何財務風險的情況下，體驗多種精彩的賭場遊戲。然而，要將這些體驗金轉換成可提現的現金，需要達到一定的投注流水條件。

    體驗金使用規則
    活動贈點: 新註冊會員可獲得168元體驗金。
    活動流水: 未儲值前需達成36倍的投注流水，儲值後僅需1倍流水即可申請提款。
    參加資格: 每位新會員限領一次體驗金。
    申請方式: 只需加入富遊客服官方LINE，即可領取體驗金。
    遊戲推薦與最佳利用體驗金
    百家樂: 這是體驗金玩家的首選，最低投注額僅需20元，讓你能在多次投注中累積流水，達到提款要求。
    彩票彩球: 超低投注門檻（1至10元）讓你在體驗的同時，也有機會贏得大獎。
    運彩投注: 用100元體驗金來預測賽事結果，不僅享受觀賽的刺激，還有機會贏得獎金。
    棋牌遊戲: 最低投注額僅需1元，適合喜愛棋牌遊戲的玩家。
    電子老虎機: 只需0.2至1元的投注額，即可輕鬆轉出驚喜獎金。
    為何選擇富遊娛樂城？
    安全至上: 採用先進的加密技術，確保個人資訊與資金的安全。
    遊戲多元: 提供豐富的遊戲選擇，包括老虎機、百家樂、撲克、彩票、運彩等。
    貼心客服: 專業客服團隊24小時在線，隨時解決你的問題。
    獨家APP: 隨時隨地都能玩，娛樂不間斷。
    富遊娛樂城專注於提供公平的遊戲環境，所有遊戲結果均由隨機數字產生器決定，保障每位玩家的公平性。同時，透過富遊APP，玩家可隨時隨地享受多種經典賭場遊戲。

    結語
    無論你是新手還是老玩家，富遊娛樂城的體驗金活動都能讓你在享受遊戲的同時，體驗到賭場的刺激與樂趣。立即註冊，領取你的168元體驗金，開始你的遊戲之旅吧！

  5. Syair Sdy
    | Reply

    I’m really loving the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility issues?
    A number of my blog readers have complained about my
    blog not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox.
    Do you have any advice to help fix this issue?

  13. visa requirements to visit vietnam
    | Reply

    Hello! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room
    mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this page to him.

    Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!

  14. bokep indo
    | Reply

    kontol gede mana yang bisa ngentot pepek sampai muncrat muncrat PM abangku
    bokep jepang,bokep indo,bokep barat,child porn,vagina,bokep loli,kontol gede,memek muncrat
    bokep jepang

  15. 영등포출장안마
    | Reply

    Its like you read my mind! You appear to understand so much about this, like you wrote the e book in it or something.
    I think that you just could do with some % to drive the message home a
    little bit, however instead of that, that is magnificent blog.

    A fantastic read. I’ll definitely be back.

  17. situs tergacor
    | Reply

    My brother suggested I might like this web site.
    He was entirely right. This post actually made my day.
    You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info!
    Thanks!

  18. Immediate Rise
    | Reply

    Pretty component of content. I simply stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to
    claim that I get actually loved account your weblog posts.
    Anyway I will be subscribing for your augment and even I success you access persistently quickly.

  21. Slot Judi Terbaik
    | Reply

    Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m
    impressed! Extremely useful info particularly the last part
    🙂 I care for such information a lot. I was looking
    for this certain information for a long time. Thank you and
    good luck.

  25. ufabet
    | Reply

    Howdy! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
    Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty
    fast. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to start.
    Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

  28. sarang777
    | Reply

    Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely feel this website needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be returning to read through more, thanks for the
    information!

  32. Odell Goforth
    | Reply

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

  34. Wallet Slot
    | Reply

    Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website
    before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
    Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!

  36. vietnam e visa official site
    | Reply

    You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I
    find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand.
    It seems too complex and extremely broad for me.
    I am looking forward for your next post,
    I’ll try to get the hang of it!

  37. покерок
    | Reply

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate your efforts
    and I will be waiting for your further write ups thank you once again.

  41. apply for travel visa to vietnam
    | Reply

    hello there and thank you for your info – I’ve definitely picked up something new from right here.
    I did however expertise a few technical issues using this site, as I experienced to reload the website a lot of times previous to I
    could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting
    is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and can damage your
    high quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords.
    Well I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for much more of your respective interesting content.

    Make sure you update this again very soon.

  43. apply for travel visa to vietnam
    | Reply

    Definitely consider that that you said. Your favorite reason appeared to be at the internet the simplest thing to take note
    of. I say to you, I certainly get irked even as other folks consider worries that they plainly do not understand about.
    You controlled to hit the nail upon the top and
    also defined out the whole thing without having side-effects
    , other folks can take a signal. Will likely be again to get more.
    Thank you

  46. xnxx
    | Reply

    I do consider all the concepts you’ve offered to your post.

    They are really convincing and can definitely work. Nonetheless, the
    posts are very brief for starters. May you please extend them a
    little from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.

Leave a Reply

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