Letter to Grace in March 2020,
If you are reading this blog, there is one thing I can assume about you: You have internet. Now please let me assume another thing about you: You have at least some interest in missions. Now, my friend, the two assumptions (or facts) are enough to get you started in the mission field. You do not need a miraculous sign from God, a detailed plan about some trip to a Muslim country in Africa, or a Master of Divinity degree. They are good places to start but not absolutely necessary.
Before I got involved in missions, I always thought that I was not “qualified” or “called” to be a missionary. The title itself seemed daunting to me—as if I needed to give up everything I was doing and throw myself into unknown territory. I had no idea where to start, but just like you, I had an interest in missions and I had the internet. So I googled a lot. I attended some virtual conferences. I talked to people online who were already doing missions. I tried to pray for countries I did not know much about. I participated in Indigitous Hackathon and learned about the world of digital missions. And here I am, in this Serve Cohort, journeying and working with friends that I have never met in “real” life (but I guess Zoom IS our real life now…), still trying to figure out what it means to become a missionary.
If you ask me, who is a missionary? I may not be able to give you a definite answer. What I did learn is that, for many people, God did not hand out a “map of life” that told them “this is what you will be doing as a calling” or “you will become a missionary in country X in Y years.” He reveals Himself to us in our ordinary lives: present day, present time. It could be a small talk with a friend from Church, a random book recommended by an online algorithm, or a single verse you read from your Bible app.
Are you sensitive enough to see these moments as something God uses to lead you into the plan He has for you? Or are you overlooking the so-called “trivial” matters while waiting for that clear, well-designed “map”?
Let’s find out together,
Grace in March 2021