3 Jul 2017

Short term missions are not the race

by | posted in: Missions | 219,011

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.

219011 Responses

  1. Хайп ставки на деньги
    | Reply

    Хотите испытать удачу? Тогда Hype Casino — ваш лучший выбор! На нашей платформе доступны топовые игровые автоматы, популярные настольные игры, а также щедрые поощрения чтобы сделать игру еще увлекательнее. https://hype-playcraze.wiki/.

    Почему тысячи игроков выбирают Hype Casino?

    Удобные депозиты и быстрые выплаты без задержек.
    Широкий ассортимент развлечений, включая последние новинки.
    Специальные предложения, улучшающие ваш игровой опыт.

    Попробуйте свои силы прямо сейчас и выигрывайте реальные деньги!

  3. uniswap v3
    | Reply

    Thanks for every other wonderful article.
    Where else may anyone get that type of info in such an ideal way of writing?

    I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and I’m at the search for
    such information.

  5. Telegram網頁版
    | Reply

    Telegram官網提供中文版的Telegram下載。不僅有Telegram網頁版、Telegram PC電腦桌面版，還有蘋果手機和安卓應用版本可供選擇。https://www.whathkapp.com，https://www.linawin.com，https://www.web-skypea.com

  13. esta for america
    | Reply

    Awesome blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers?
    I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
    Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so
    many options out there that I’m totally overwhelmed ..
    Any recommendations? Thank you!

  16. XNXX PORN
    | Reply

    I am not positive the place you are getting your info, but good topic.

    I needs to spend a while learning much more or working out more.
    Thanks for excellent information I was looking for this information for my
    mission.

  17. slot minimal deposit 2000
    | Reply

    We are a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community.
    Your web site provided us with useful info to work on. You have done an impressive process and our whole group
    might be grateful to you.

  18. penis enlargement pills
    | Reply

    I don’t want to breathe those chemicals – and I certainly don’t want my wife or children around them, either.
    After all, what good is a great mattress if it’s full of chemicals like formaldehyde, flame retardants, or ozone
    depleters? After all, Meaghan noticed that her parent’s old Tempur-Pedic
    smelled a lot worse than our new Bear mattress. After a few nights, I asked
    my wife Meaghan what she thought of the new mattress.
    Writing about a mattress makes me feel old – I never thought
    about this stuff in my 20’s – but as I get older, I’ve come to realize that investing
    in a premium mattress is one of the smartest decisions you can make.
    About a week before this event, I published a blog post mulling over
    the future of Yarns, and whether to adapt it to make use of
    the new Microsub spec. To benefit from the incredible recovery benefits of
    sleep, it’s important to make sure you’re setting yourself up to sleep well at night.

    Much of the conceptual progress I made was a benefit of attending IndieWeb
    Summit in person, since I was able to talk and troubleshoot with
    other attendees who were working on Microsub projects
    of their own, or had experience building similar systems.

    My homepage; penis enlargement pills

  19. slot demo
    | Reply

    Hello there! Do you know if they make any plugins to
    assist with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying
    to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing
    very good gains. If you know of any please share.
    Thank you!

  20. esta for america
    | Reply

    Terrific work! This is the type of info that are meant to be
    shared across the net. Shame on Google for no longer positioning this submit upper!
    Come on over and seek advice from my web site .
    Thank you =)

  27. hydrafacial singapore
    | Reply

    Hello, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i
    was just curious if you get a lot of spam remarks? If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can advise?
    I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any support is
    very much appreciated.

  28. mahadev betting app
    | Reply

    Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site?
    My website is in the very same area of interest as yours and
    my users would genuinely benefit from some of the information you present here.
    Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks a
    lot!

  29. zabaioc01
    | Reply

    I visited multiple web sites except the audio quality for audio songs present at this website is in fact
    excellent.

    Take a look at my web page … zabaioc01

  33. slot gacor hari ini
    | Reply

    Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say
    that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
    In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

  34. indian porn
    | Reply

    Greetings! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give
    a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading your
    articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects?
    Thank you so much!

  35. viagra
    | Reply

    I am really enjoying the theme/design of your web site.
    Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility problems?
    A couple of my blog readers have complained
    about my blog not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari.
    Do you have any ideas to help fix this problem?

  37. pepek
    | Reply

    It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate to this fantastic blog!
    I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.

    I look forward to brand new updates and will talk about this blog with my Facebook group.
    Chat soon!

  39. Moderate acne
    | Reply

    Wow, superb blog structure! How long have you ever been blogging for?
    you made running a blog glance easy. The entire look of
    your website is excellent, as smartly as the content!

  40. Telegram网页版
    | Reply

    Telegram官网提供中文版本的Telegram下载。不仅有Telegram网页版、Telegram PC电脑桌面版,还有苹果手机和安卓应用版本可供选择。https://www.whathkapp.com，https://www.linawin.com，https://www.web-skypea.com

  48. phantom wallet
    | Reply

    I’ve been surfing on-line more than three hours today, yet I by no means found any attention-grabbing article like yours.
    It is lovely value sufficient for me. In my opinion,
    if all web owners and bloggers made just right
    content material as you probably did, the internet might be much more useful than ever before.

Leave a Reply

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