What is a missionary?

4 May 2010

 

Even though I'm immersed in another culture, on my own thousands of miles away from my American home, I don't feel much like a missionary. I feel like I've moved to another state (very unlike my native Georgia or Alabama) and am working in ministry just down the road from my old-normal life. I've said this before, but it feels like I've headed to College again… and I'm just too old for that experience the second time over, but am enduring it because God has called me here.

I'm back in the phase of longing for the familiar. For awhile I was ok with the new and found everything very exciting. But when I can't find black beans and Reeses Cups in my local grocery store, I begin to miss the comforts I once had.

I don't feel like a missionary because I don't know what that feels like. Growing up in church (especially in the Baptist Church), I viewed missionaries as this sacrificial lamb. I saw them as people who were missing out on the American Dream because they loved God so much. I must tell you, I LOVE the Lord, but I'm not claiming to love Him more than anyone I know. I feel like God opened doors for me to live a Christian life in another country. What I do each day isn't more difficult or more important than anything you do. The people I work with look differently, act differently, and live differently than any Americans I know… but I'm learning that missions is about LOVE. Loving people right where they're at. Working with people of all walks of life. Being an overflow of God's love is the goal. This work is difficult most days, but work in the States was difficult too. Missionaries are people that are asked to leave their home. Missionaries are often asked to sell their stuff. But missionaries aren't special. YOU are a missionary right where you are. Open your eyes and find out who God has put in front of you. Who can you tell about the love of Jesus? Take advantage of God NOT calling you out of your home. Be useful right where you are. Don't think of missions as a far-off-calling. Think of missions as a way of life.