Where will I be?
Ok, I lied. I have been thinking about something recently...
This past summer I went to Thailand on a cross-cultural project with Campus Outreach. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done, but at the same time, it was the most rewarding...by far. I'm not going to lie, when we boarded the plane in Khon Kaen to return to the States, I was happy. Living in Thailand is not as easy like it is here in America. What's funny is that as soon as we stepped off the plane in Atlanta, it hit me for the first time what an amazing experience it was. I went as a missionary to Thailand, befriended Thai college students, shared the gospel with some, and for the first time in my life, I was a cultural minority. I know being a cultural minority doesn't sound like an amazing opportunity, but it was! It humbled me to the point of realizing how self-centered an unaware of the rest of the world I am.
I've been back in the states for 6 months now. Besides the financial support checks written each month, the passion to see nations reached for the gospel has been but a dim, blue flame in my heart. Going to Thailand seems like a dream I had back in the summer, not a real-life experience. Sure, I pray for the world when I think about it, but somehow I've slipped back in to my narrow-minded view of God and that I'll always be living here in America where it's easy and comfortable.
As I was out walking one morning last week, I began to think about Thailand. I prayed for my friends and the missionaries that work over there. I missed them. All of sudden, a picture that one of the missionaries had described came to my mind:
Imagine there are 10 men carrying a telephone pole. Nine of them are at one end, and one is at the other. Which side do you think needs more help?
We all know the answer to that question - the side with one man. Sadly, when related to the Great Commission, this is the state the world is in. As we were told by this Thai missionary, 95% of Christian workers stay in America, while the other 5% are laboring in other countries. As I walked through my neighborhood, the weight of that burden pressed heavily upon my heart. I don't want to plan to live in America the rest of my life. I want to be ready and willing to travel outside of my own country to help this 5%. Why in the world would I stay here with statistics like that? God may call me to stay, but I want to be willing to go, and I encourage anyone who reads this to consider the same. Think on your talents, gifts, abilities, experiences, etc. that the Lord has given you and think with me about ways they can be used in other countries. Financial gifts are just as spiritual as going, but at the same time there is a need for people, and that is why I am asking God to make me available.
This past summer I went to Thailand on a cross-cultural project with Campus Outreach. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done, but at the same time, it was the most rewarding...by far. I'm not going to lie, when we boarded the plane in Khon Kaen to return to the States, I was happy. Living in Thailand is not as easy like it is here in America. What's funny is that as soon as we stepped off the plane in Atlanta, it hit me for the first time what an amazing experience it was. I went as a missionary to Thailand, befriended Thai college students, shared the gospel with some, and for the first time in my life, I was a cultural minority. I know being a cultural minority doesn't sound like an amazing opportunity, but it was! It humbled me to the point of realizing how self-centered an unaware of the rest of the world I am.
I've been back in the states for 6 months now. Besides the financial support checks written each month, the passion to see nations reached for the gospel has been but a dim, blue flame in my heart. Going to Thailand seems like a dream I had back in the summer, not a real-life experience. Sure, I pray for the world when I think about it, but somehow I've slipped back in to my narrow-minded view of God and that I'll always be living here in America where it's easy and comfortable.
As I was out walking one morning last week, I began to think about Thailand. I prayed for my friends and the missionaries that work over there. I missed them. All of sudden, a picture that one of the missionaries had described came to my mind:
Imagine there are 10 men carrying a telephone pole. Nine of them are at one end, and one is at the other. Which side do you think needs more help?
We all know the answer to that question - the side with one man. Sadly, when related to the Great Commission, this is the state the world is in. As we were told by this Thai missionary, 95% of Christian workers stay in America, while the other 5% are laboring in other countries. As I walked through my neighborhood, the weight of that burden pressed heavily upon my heart. I don't want to plan to live in America the rest of my life. I want to be ready and willing to travel outside of my own country to help this 5%. Why in the world would I stay here with statistics like that? God may call me to stay, but I want to be willing to go, and I encourage anyone who reads this to consider the same. Think on your talents, gifts, abilities, experiences, etc. that the Lord has given you and think with me about ways they can be used in other countries. Financial gifts are just as spiritual as going, but at the same time there is a need for people, and that is why I am asking God to make me available.
posted by Rick at 9:05 PM
5 Comments:
Hey Rick,
Thanks for sharing your heart on Thailand and your thoughts on where your heart is. Here are parts of a journal entry I wrote on the issue a month ago in a moment of frustration.
Jan. 3, 2006
How are we expected the reach the nations when there is an estimated 3,000-8,000 different languages across continents – and yet God’s Holy Word is only translated into about 40 of those languages! Go and make disciples is Christ's commission…of ALL the nations…yet, we must be able to break the language barrier….or is there a way to do so through love and action and with little words.
[We should pray] "God, give ALL of your people a heart for the nations…enlighten us with your wisdom to study, to improve ourselves before you a better workman to share your glory. Create in me a new heart…a new mind…one that is willing to Go…one that is willing to sacrifice…one that is willing to slave for You and the Spirit…one that will seek right and freedom’s way…not purely democracy’s way. Lift me to a higher calling than where I am…give me the faith to reach it and appeal to it."
Is it enough to just reach the world’s major countries and nationalities? No, because that is not the call. China is being reached, so is Europe…The EU has heard the gospel…America and Canada have heard the gospel. It’s time to leave our homes and go into the depth of the nations.
Where are the Jim Elliots and Nate Saints of today? Why are we so fearful to go…so fearful to die. So fearful of separation from our family and friends…that is what it comes down to the most. What a convicting force that is! To know why we should go, and yet why we don’t.
Precisely, Mr. Megginson. Precisely. Where have they gone? Where are the radical missionaries of today? Who are they? ...
I say, we are them. We are the radical missionaries of today. You, me, and all of our other brothers and sisters in Christ. HOWEVER, we live in the most self-centered, egotistical country in the world. Our culture teaches us to be independent, lone, self-sufficient people. We are encouraged to pursue a life of prosperity and wealth, and I think we will find ourselves believing it before we realize it. Look at our TV commercials, our sitcoms, our movies, our musicians...someone is sending a message, and that message is this:
You need to wear the clothes we wear, you need to look the way we look, you need to drive the cars we drive, you need to retire at age 50 and move to the beach or the mountians, you need to find a way where you don't have to do anything but sit on your butt all day and drink margaritas. That's the message I feel they're sending.
No wonder it's so difficult to leave our own country. It all sounds so intruiging, and you know why? It's targeting our sin nature, our flesh, which is CONSTANTLY seeking gratification. That's what the "old man" within us is. Self-dependent, self-gratifying, self-centered, etc. Put our natural tendency of selfishness together with the message our culture sends, and you've got a trap from Satan.
I say, Mr. Megginson. When you and I can start believing that we desperately need Christ, that we desperately need each other, and that we desperately want to lose ourSELVES for the gospel's sake, then, I believe, we will see the Jim Elliot's and the Nate Saint's of today.
We desperately need Christ, we desperately need each other, and we desperately need to lose our selves...
Mr.Barnes, (since we're being formal)
You say you think we will find ourselves believing the culture before we know it. I think that time has already passed.
When I wrote the post on Jan. 3, I was somewhat angry and convicted...I am convicted today from reading your reply.
You said "When you and I can start believing that we desperately need Christ, that we desperately need each other, and that we desperately want to lose ourSELVES for the gospel's sake, then, I believe, we will see the Jim Elliot's and the Nate Saint's of today."
This is BOLD! Do you realize that? Do we realize that? We talk about our families and our jobs in the church or in the Christian industry, but where is that really reaching to those that have not heard the gospel. That is not the Nate Saint mission...that is a comfortable mission that we can live here in the states. We all talk about how we don't desire to be well known in our work, but secretly we still do.
Are we really willing to pack up and move to a Third World!? We will never be ready. We just have to go and trust. Where is your heart on this? I think this is a conversation we CANNOT afford to let die. If our hearts are leaning toward reaching a land that is unreached, then why aren't we packing our bags? Why do we merely talk about it and not act?
Let's continueally be stirred on this! I know my flesh doesn't want to be...let my not pass it off on my flesh...I know I don't want to go, BUT the Spirit is supposed to be stronger...is it trying to over power? And will I (we) let it overpower our selfish desires?
In love,
Meggs
Here's what I'm thinking: God has given us certain talents, abilities, experiences, etc. We are all gifted at something, and we all have gifts of the Spirit. Figure out what they are, and ask yourself how you could use that for the benefit of other people.
My goal right now is to one day be able to play my music and minister all around the world. What am I doing to get there? I'm doing everything I know how (honestly I've been slacking a little lately) to get my name out there. I know that sounds contradictary to getting God's name out there, but the reason I say "get my name out there" is so the more people I know, the more contacts I can make, and the more contacts I can make, the better the chances I have of going more places. Make sense?
I'm not against "packing up and leaving tomorrow". People have done that before and God didn't fail them. The conclusion I've come to on all of this is that if God is Sovereign, and if I have received all the gifts, talents, and abilities I have from him, and if I am to do all things for his glory, then it seems to me that I should utilize all of these things for the sake of the kingdom. So when I travel overseas, I won't just be merely sharing the gospel by word of mouth, I'll be sharing it through music, through teaching, and through time spent with them.
In other words, I think it's wise and good to have a plan...as well as team.
I agree brother - Let us all encouarge each other to really look into what plan we should be a part of and with whom...but also, let us keep each other's desire for international outreach to grow and be as prominante as for those we come into contact with daily. I hope you are well! Keep playing!
Post a Comment
<< Home