“Missions” Trippin’?

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE adventure. Heck, it’s what my name means… (Adventurous, Vivacious.) Many of them stem from growing up in Haiti, and many others from my time in the army, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the best ones have all come in the past few years while travelling to Africa, Asia, and South America on “missions” trips.

Missions Trip. I really don’t like that phrase. To me, it stirs up memories of a bunch of youth and adults, who travel to some far away country after months of bake sales to raise money, and, upon arrival; stay only in the safe spots, whilst over-using their tiny bottles of hand sanitizer, and occasionally putting on a puppet show for a group of kids, and upon completion of many weeks of said puppet shows, offer a brief altar call accompanied by little slips of paper to record personal information and tally up the conversions. (Longest sentence of your life…I know… shutty; This is MY blog, and I say grammar goes out the window.)

I am not against puppets, muppets, hand-sanitizer, or otherwise. I’m simply saying that there is more. Much more. And to go somewhere to  ”suffer for Jesus” on a missions trip in order to fulfill some moral, ethical, or religious duty is a complete crock. We GET to go places to OPENLY and BOLDLY share the good news of what Christ did FOR US. The problem only comes when we water down the Gospel, and hide it amongst cleverly disguised puppet shows and skits, while denying the power of God.  “Having the form of godliness, but denying its power, avoid such men as these.” -2 Timothy 3:5 Say what you will about this verse, but I don’t seem to remember Jesus… or any of His followers side stepping the Gospel because it might not be understood or liked. But enough of my rant… I didn’t mean to get off track.

The reason I brought this up, is that I HAVE been ashamed to boldly proclaim this good news before. I HAVE gone to countries and “tried to love” the hurting people. I HAVE gone to places and tried to do my best to listen to their stories, while looking for any available break in the conversation to recite some good theological quotation that was prepared in advance, with all the arrogant-humility I could muster. What a load of CRAP!! Seriously. The LAST thing people in this world need is another agenda-filled miserable Christian missionary with a bunch of “good answers” and doctrine. They’ve heard that. Powerlessness didn’t work then, and it wont work now.

Thankfully, I have learned the truth along the way; that only God has what people need. That the only way to see them set free is to love them as He loved me. When you see Him for who He is, and what He has done, there is no “trying” involved. You can’t help but find the places that need His love the most, and genuinely embracing everyone you see. Love seeps out of your very pores, and dances out of your eyes. The Gospel is felt and demonstrated before it ever has to be preached. THIS is evangelism 101. Too many missionaries are burnt out, tired, depressed and just surviving, while missing the freeing reality of Grace. What do I mean by that? I mean only this; the battle is won, and it was never ours to fight. WE do not save people, He already paid the price, We now get to reap a harvest for which we DID NOT LABOR. It’s a joyful dance.

I’ve lived over seas about 19 out of my 26 years. I’ve gone to countries and felt that beat down-miserable-hopeless feeling. But I can also say that I know I never need to feel that again. You actually have the PERSON of LOVE dwelling inside you, if you believe. So trying is never needed. Just be. All for now.