The Mission Trip Continues

 

As most of you know, Jan and I recently returned from Romania where we participated in a medical mission. If you missed our discussion about this from a few Sundays ago, it's posted on-line as a sermon at the link below (and yes, you can skip right through any parts of it you choose!). There's one aspect of the trip that I'd like to highlight however, and that's my discovery that the mission trip continues! I initially learned about this particular mission trip from my dentist - Dr. Rand McKinley in Battle Creek. He has an advantage for faith sharing because he has a captive audience when patients are lying in his chair and he's rooting around in their mouths. On my very first visit, he's excitedly telling me about this mission trip to Romania. The Holy Spirit was telling me before I left his office that day that someday I'd be going on this trip.

 

Here's the point - it isn't just about the "mission trip" and it doesn't begin or end with going out and coming back. I continue to be amazed at the conversations this trip allows me to have with friends and family, and even strangers! This is true on the front-end and back-end of the trip. Guys in my golf league... "Any big trips planned this summer?" Or my barber... "What are you doing to stay busy this summer?" And then the follow-up questions from my reply "Yah, I'm going on a medical mission trip to Romania". "Whoa, tell me more about that!" Or after my return "Hey tell me about that medical trip you took!" I've had so many conversations with people that I would NEVER had a chance to have otherwise. Just yesterday I got a call from a buddy that I worked with years ago interested in "hearing about the trip". This is the guy that years ago said to me "please don't tell me you believe in that BS!" in response to a mention of my Christian faith. He wasn't raised in a Christian family and doesn't know what he doesn't know. He still clings tightly to all of the standard misconceptions. You know most of them: "they're all a bunch of hypocrites"; "organized church is a fraud"; "all they want is your money"; etc. etc. So during the course of this conversation, many of the usual questions came up, such as: "why Romania, do they have some different religion?". And my reply: "No, they believe in God and Jesus Christ but the Eastern Orthodox Church doesn't provide them with the full gospel message. Instead, they tell them that they must be members in good standing in order to qualify for salvation". To which my buddy replies: "Well there it is again, organized church lying to their members!". Long story short, we end up having a very frank conversation about church and what it is and isn't, and about salvation and the gospel of Jesus. And here's the thing - I don't know what may come from that conversation and you know what... I DON'T HAVE TO! That's the Holy Spirits job, not mine.

 

So you don't have to go to Romania to have these conversations. "So what did you do this weekend?" "I helped to distribute clothes at my church's Hands of God Ministry". Or "I helped my church do yardwork at an elderly mans house as part of our Compassion Sunday". Or "I handed out hotdogs and water at the 4th of July parade". Bottom line: you won't get much interest from "I go to church". People want to hear what you DO at church! Get involved and put yourself out there and then let the Holy Spirit prepare you for some interesting conversations!

 

 

God Bless