“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…”
Matthew 28:19
It used to be that foreign mission trips were long, arduous, and full of uncertainty. At least that’s the way I viewed them as I was growing up. They also required a deep level of commitment. Only those Christians who were completely committed would venture off to distant lands to share the gospel. I’d heard about missionaries like David Livingston and Hudson Taylor from the 1800’s who gave up everything and endured great hardships to take the gospel to Africa and China, respectively. These were incredible men of faith who responded to God’s call to “go and make disciples of all nations.” And while I admired them greatly, I did not feel the call to that level of adventure.
In the early 1990’s while attending a new church in Milwaukee that we had just joined, the pastor’s daughter, who was younger than I, was raising money to go on a mission trip to smuggle Bibles into China. And I thought to myself, “I don’t have the courage to do that!” But I was certainly willing to provide funds for her to go. Little did I know at the time that it would change the course of my life. It was because this was the first time I had heard about short-term mission trips. Here was an opportunity to spread the gospel to a distant land without the long-term commitment that I had thought was necessary.
Several years later, we had moved to the Chicago area and were attending a new church. One of our pastors announced that he was going on a short-term mission trip to Kazakhstan and was inviting any church members who might be interested to go along. When I saw that invitation in our church newsletter, I immediately felt the call to go. God had been preparing my heart for such an opportunity and here it was! So, I signed up to go, not really knowing what I would do or even where Kazakhstan was! But at least I knew it would only last 2 weeks!
That trip gripped my heart for missions and has led me on a journey that I never asked for nor contemplated. But it has blessed me in more ways than I can count. After that first mission experience I wanted others to experience the foreign mission field as well. And so I began leading mission trips and recruiting others to also “go and make disciples of all nations” with me. Since 1999 I have recruited and taken over 250 people to the foreign mission field, some of them more than once.
However, there were others that I had tried to recruit to go to the foreign mission field with me who had lots of reasons why they could not go – I don’t have the time; I don’t have the money; I don’t like to travel; I don’t have anything to share; I can’t make a difference. It reminds me of the Parable of the Great Banquet story from Luke 14:16-23, where Jesus recounts the excuses that people make for not coming to enjoy what God has prepared for them. In the same way, Jesus is calling every believer to be His missionary!
You might ask, “What is a missionary?” According to Webster’s Dictionary, a missionary is “a person undertaking a religious mission, which is a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work.” According to the Bible, a Christian missionary is someone who goes and tells the good news about Jesus, makes disciples, and serves others in His name! (Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19, Galatians 5:13) As 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” In effect, all Christians are called to be missionaries!
So, how do we do that? One way is to go into our neighborhoods, communities, and places of work since they are the closest and easiest to go to. But another way is to go on a short-term mission trip to another country. Foreign mission trips offer unique opportunities to grow closer to God and to other believers, which I will discuss later.
All short-term mission trips, whether near or far, give us an opportunity to obey and serve God, to serve and bless others, to help make disciples, to use our gifts for building the kingdom, and to encourage other believers. But many believers are still hesitant to go. This is especially true for foreign mission trips because they don’t know what the nation and its culture are like. They usually envision it as difficult, uncomfortable, dangerous, and even a bit scary. But that has not been my experience.
Here are what I call the 5 myths about foreign missions:
Myth #1: We sleep in tents out in the jungle
The reality is that we generally sleep in hotel rooms, although sometimes we sleep in people’s homes or in guest houses. In each case, we sleep in beds, we usually have hot showers, heat, or air conditioning, and we sometimes even have cable tv! And when the rare times occur that we don’t, it’s amazing how we humans can adapt to our environment rather quickly.
Myth #2: We eat weird food
The reality is that the food we are served or eat is very good! And in some countries, better than what we eat here in America! We normally eat in restaurants and the meals generally consist of meat, chicken, fish, rice, potatoes, and vegetables. And contrary to what most people think, when we are eating in homes, we don’t necessarily have to eat what does not taste good to us. We can respectfully decline or only eat what we can.
Myth #3: It is dangerous!
The reality is that we are often safer than in most major U.S. cities. While there are some places we should not go (especially at night), our hosts will generally not expose us to such dangers. We are normally with Christians and in church environments where we are safe. Additionally, we typically keep a low profile when we go and are usually gone before other people know we are even there.
Myth #4: I have nothing to offer
The reality is that everyone has a gift they can share. The Bible says 2 things about us in this regard. First, each of us is gifted by God. 1 Corinthians 12:7 says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” In other words, each of us has been given a gift we can share. Second, God will give us gifts when we need them. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” In other words, God will equip us with the gifts we need for the task He has given to us!
Myth #5: There is little impact
The reality is that God will use us for His purposes, not ours, and the people we minister to are often impacted in ways we may never know! When we go and serve, God uses us to plant seeds for Him. The harvest of what we planted (the impact) will almost always occur much later and after we’ve left the mission field. A foreign mission trip will also give us the opportunity to touch a life. I could share dozens of testimonies of how I’ve seen God work through people to impact the life of someone in another country. To experience that is truly one of God’s greatest blessings.
A foreign mission trip will also impact our life and faith as well! How? First, because we are in an unfamiliar environment, we are forced to totally rely on God. It’s because we don’t speak the local language and we can’t just get in a car and go home. We also experience new and unfamiliar things and will likely face personal challenges that require God’s help. Putting our complete trust in Jesus is what enables us to overcome these challenges and grow in our faith! Second, we will have the opportunity to experience God in a different culture. This will often allow us to see real poverty up close as well as vastly different lifestyles. This gives us a better understanding of how truly blessed we Americans are compared to the rest of the world, which often causes us to rethink our priorities. But we will also feel the unity we have in Christ with other believers that cuts across all nations, cultures, and customs.
So, the next time you are invited to go on a foreign mission trip, don’t just say no. Instead, pray about it and be open to God’s call to go! When you go, you will experience an adventure like no other while making an impact for Christ in the world!