Missionaries: Overseas vs. Here at Home

Somebody today asked me if I thought being missionaries within our own country and communities is just as important as missions overseas. So to answer their question I got to tell them a cool story.

Once upon a time in a little small town there lived a missionary. He was a faithful man of God, did his best to follow the Lord even when it wasn't easy. He served his family faithfully, his church family, and his community. He followed where God led which took him into the life of a teenage girl. This girl lived in his community but the two had never met until a Sunday when she visited church. She was a girl who was tired of people who didn't care. Worn down and kinda tired of life. She only went to church that Sunday because somebody kept bugging her to. Well that day God decided to work through a missionary who was faithful to God's calling in his own hometown. He walked over to that girl and gave her a hug, looked her in the eyes and said, "you know you are loved right?" In that moment God moved. Over the next 8 months or so God used that man who was on mission with God, in tune to God's calling and moved when God spoke. He started crossing their paths often. In the grocery store, around town, and a lot of times he'd come see her where she worked. Always an encouraging word, a touch of compassion, a sharing of the gospel. He'd often talk about how God was moving in his life and the lives of his wife and children. There was an energy about him, a light inside that he was willing to share. And he shared that light with a girl who was wandering in the dark. Because he shared Jesus in his community that girl was brought into having a relationship with God. Into having a faith walk with Christ. That girl, is now spreading the gospel in her community. That man of God has walked with her every step of the way through her journey into living out real faith and because of that... she went to Peru to share the gospel... she's going to Uganda to share the gospel.

Do I think missions overseas are more important or worthy? Absolutely not. Because that girl is me. And that man, he adopted me as a daughter. Because he chose to be a missionary in our community, I can be a missionary not only in our community but in other places as well as God sends to other nations. I think real ministry begins at home. From our home to our communities, and from our communities unto every nation.

Wherever you are as a missionary... I thank you. Keep sharing the gospel. Keep telling people about Jesus. Spread the good news wherever you go. Make a point to listen to God's calling. He may be telling you where to go or who to talk to, the question is are we too busy to hear? May the glory be all to God. His will be done, His kingdom come. ~Kriss