Why Go?

Why do we Go… on Short Term Mission trips?

God is on the move!

Matthew 28:18-20… The great commission assumes we are going. God is on the move. From Genesis through Revelation we see that God is reaching out in love and that God’s people are on the move in establishing the Kingdom. We too as Christians are living out the Kingdom but it isn’t fully realized. We aren’t “at home” yet, we are on the way to seeing God’s Kingdom come. Jesus sent out his 12 and later the 72 in their geographic region on STM to preach and heal. The message needs to get out. 

But why travel so far? … to encourage, to inspire and to partner

It is true that the best people to reach out are those from within a culture. But we all need encouragement, strength and motivation to reach out. We need the body of Christ. Therefore, in areas of the world where there are few Christians, Short Term Teams provide Christian community, encouragement and inspiration to reach out, if only for a short time.

If a team from Congo were to come to your church for two weeks, imagine how the church would be encouraged as they shared their stories, ate food with us, sang their songs and prayed for us. Trust me, the church would grow because they responded to the call to Go!

Give Christmas Away…http://www.mbmission.org/go/christmas/give-christmas-away In Thailand the MB Mission workers have many requests from local schools and organizations to come and share the Christmas story, to sing Christmas Carols and explain the significance of Christmas.  However, they are unable to go to every invitation.  If a short term team came to help share the Christmas story they would be able to go to many more locations.  The STM people are able to help extend the work of our MB Mission workers and increase their influence in an area and build relationships that will be followed up with integrity.

We are a Unified Body! 

John 17… “that they would be one…” & 1 Cor 12… “we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit…” 

Going on Short Term Mission trips is an answer to Jesus’ prayer for the body of Christ. When the world sees that the diverse members of the Body love and encourage one another, they too are attracted to God’s love, grace and fellowship. Each culture/nation knows God in unique ways; each holds an understanding of God and faith that is strengthened as it is shared with others. By going and receiving teams, the Body of Christ grows to understand the important functions of the other parts and works more and more in harmony.

Talking points... 

Cultural humility is needed… The North American church often sees themselves as the experts in everything.  This will not change until we meet the other parts of this body and grow in appreciation of the gifts God has given them.

We are a Global Body… We need to understand that we are part of a Global body of Christ – each one of us needs to use our God given gifts and abilities to bless, encourage and support the Global Body. 

God has blessed America… what are we going to do with it? We have Canadian passports that allow us access to most parts of the world.  We have access to financial support and we are responsible to use the resources to help further the kingdom of God not only in North America but also around the world.  Our first citizenship is “of Christ” and to build God’s kingdom… that often means going.

No church in town… In North America we have Christian churches on every corner.  In many parts of the world the Christian churches are very small with congregations of 30 or 40 people in cities of millions.  These churches desire relationship not money.  When these churches call out for relationship from a state of loneliness and despair and instead receive our money and a prayer… it is an insult and received with shame.

It isn’t about Money, it is about risk taking Obedience!

Matthew 9… “don’t take any gold or silver with you…”

Jesus knew that people don’t need Christians’ money, work projects or ideas of a better life.  Jesus knew that people needed to know God: that God loves, forgives and heals. God is about relationships that promote faith, hope and love! How can we be in relationship if we do not go? Jesus came to set captives free and most of us are captive to fear. By going, we face our fears. We take risks and lay down our rights to comfort, security, familiarity, being understood and understanding others. We learn to surrender our rights and fully trust in God’s provision and providence. At the same time, we hope to join in God’s big project of building his Kingdom and helping others resist fear and embrace faith, hope and love.