3 Jul 2017

Short term missions are not the race

by | posted in: Missions | 224,420

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.

224420 Responses

  1. binatang kau
    | Reply

    I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your
    web site. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility issues?
    A small number of my blog visitors have complained about my blog not
    working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox.
    Do you have any tips to help fix this issue?

  2. Free Deepseek Online chat
    | Reply

    Do you have a spam problem on this website; I also am a
    blogger, and I was curious about your situation; many of us have created some nice procedures and we
    are looking to swap methods with other folks, why not shoot me an email if
    interested.

  6. Pramuka Seragam Jilbab Xxx - seven bulls
    | Reply

    Howdy 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 expertise so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
    Any help would be enormously appreciated!

  7. index
    | Reply

    I enjoy what you guys are up too. This kind of clever work and exposure!

    Keep up the fantastic works guys I’ve you guys to my personal blogroll.

  8. Penipu Online
    | Reply

    Link exchange is nothing else but it is only placing the other person’s website link on your page
    at proper place and other person will also do same for
    you.

  9. situs pepek
    | Reply

    I every time used to read piece of writing in news papers but now as I am
    a user of internet so from now I am using net for articles
    or reviews, thanks to web.

  11. odiasia.com
    | Reply

    I read this paragraph fully on the topic of the comparison of most recent and earlier technologies,
    it’s remarkable article.

  12. Law Firm Ireland
    | Reply

    I will immediately seize your rss as I can not in finding your e-mail
    subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you have any?
    Please allow me understand in order that I could subscribe.
    Thanks.

  13. this post
    | Reply

    Hey there! I’m at work browsing your blog from my
    new iphone 3gs! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to
    all your posts! Carry on the great work!

  14. Penipu Online
    | Reply

    I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your
    sites really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back down the road.
    All the best

  15. read more
    | Reply

    It’s very straightforward to find out any
    topic on net as compared to books, as I found this piece of writing at
    this site.

  16. mab/cpi certification
    | Reply

    After exploring a handful of the articles on your site, I truly appreciate your way of writing a blog.

    I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be
    checking back soon. Please check out my website as well and let me know how you feel.

  18. touristrequirements.info
    | Reply

    That is really interesting, You’re an excessively professional blogger.
    I have joined your rss feed and stay up for searching for extra of your magnificent post.

    Additionally, I’ve shared your website in my social networks

  19. this post
    | Reply

    Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide
    credit and sources back to your blog? My blog is in the very same area of
    interest as yours and my visitors would truly benefit from some of the information you present
    here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Regards!

  20. pecah5000
    | Reply

    Quality content is the important to be a focus for the users to visit
    the website, that’s what this website is providing.

  22. 판촉물제작
    | Reply

    I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your website.
    It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more
    pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you
    hire out a designer to create your theme? Excellent work!

  25. click here
    | Reply

    It’s actually very complex in this active life to listen news on TV,
    thus I just use internet for that reason, and obtain the hottest news.

  28. XXGbVl3u5BXjhdYrUMhtiJ-sKILt7Q5RE2C-D3I__0o
    | Reply

    Hey just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know
    a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
    I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the
    same outcome.

  38. 뽐뿌
    | Reply

    Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after
    browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to
    me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I found iit and I’ll be book-marking
    and checking back frequently!
    뽐뿌

  40. read more
    | Reply

    It’s going to be ending of mine day, but before end I am reading this impressive piece of writing to increase my experience.

  41. safe dose of prednisone
    | Reply

    can i get prednisone tablets prednisone side effects rash buy prednisone 5mg online
    order prednisone 40mg without prescription prednisone warnings how to take prednisone fast
    is 50mg of prednisone a high dose
    correct way to take prednisone can prednisone affect mental health get generic prednisone without dr prescription
    can i get cheap prednisone tablets prednisone 50mg for 5 days prednisone 3 2 1 dosage

  42. Penipu Online
    | Reply

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

  44. imovane
    | Reply

    Hi everybody, here every person is sharing these kinds of experience, thus
    it’s nice to read this weblog, and I used to visit this website all the
    time.

  45. frilled lizard
    | Reply

    Great blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
    A theme like yours with a few simple tweeks would really
    make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your design. Appreciate it

  48. The Memory Wave reviews
    | Reply

    Thanks on your marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you might be
    a great author. I will make certain to bookmark your
    blog and definitely will come back at some point.
    I want to encourage you to continue your great work, have a nice
    morning!

  49. real money online casinos
    | Reply

    hey there and thank you for your information – I’ve certainly picked up something
    new from right here. I did however expertise some technical points using
    this web site, since I experienced to reload the website lots 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 often affect your placement in google and could damage your high-quality
    score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Well I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for much more of your respective
    interesting content. Ensure that you update this again soon.

Leave a Reply

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