become a missionary

Because of my spiritual beliefs, I feel compelled to share the love I have found in my God. I don’t want to brainwash, or push people, or bribe people into sharing my beliefs. So many missionaries travel to faraway lands to hand out candies and have “tent revivals;” I won’t disparage this, because I know that missionaries are limited by their own funds and the donations of others (and I know several missionaries doing these, with miraculous results).

However, it seems to me that the best way to share Love is by showing love—addressing a people’s needs with kindness, generosity, and selflessness, and then, when they finally ask why, telling them. Instead of giving American candy, I would help impoverished peoples build village wells so that they can have clean drinking water, or grow soybeans to beat back malnutrition. After all, a starving person will never care about your “Jesus” as much as he will care about your food…

So that i can help others, i have so many skills that would help in alot of places around the world, especially medically etc.

I have some friends at church who are going into missions overseas. They will be flying missionaries, aid workers, doctors and supplies in and out of Lesotho (Africa), and they were just commisioned on Sunday. I am really starting to think God wants me to do something similar with my life, but I’m not exactly clear what he has in mind. So I am in the prayer stage. I am open to going overseas if that is what he wants, but at this point I am looking mostly at short-term projects. If I do something long-term, it will likely be near home.

...i am called to be a missionary. it is meant for all of us, believers. we are a representation of jesus wherever we go, and wherever we live is our current mission field. it took me a long time to realize that… i always thought missions was something you turned on and off, depending on what country you’re in or whoever you’re around. it took me many trip out of the country to figure it out…

i know i am still called to be a part of foreign missions. we’ll see what happens in the future.

I´ve been on a few mission trips now, and I love to go and work and help, but really… I don´t know. I don´t want to travel to other places to teach them my culture and work to show off how much better my culture is than their culture. I want to help people develop their own sense of worth and inspire them to value their own ability to create and thrive. Obviously missionary projects mean to do well, and I believe there are some that make a positive difference, but overall I think we might be doing more harm than good.

It’s not too far away. I have to finish my Master of Divinity degree and work off some of my student loans, and then hopefully I’ll be appointed as a missionary somewhere in Central Europe.