A shepherd boy in the mountains of southern Peru. (Photo by Sam Beer)


I will be leaving this morning for San Antonio. I will speak tonight at Oak Hills Church and then tomorrow night at Perspectives (a missions course). I will also get to reunite with Larry, the friend I went to Africa with, a couple of months ago. I am scheduled to return, Friday.

In January, one of the pastors at my church asked me to teach a Discipleship course. He wanted me to teach on Missions as a Lifestyle, with the curriculum being of my own choosing.

As we began to explore this, I quickly saw I would be away for more of the sessions than I would be present for. A friend from church who is an eye surgeon, but does a great deal of medical missions, agreed to enter this endeavor as a co-leader. He ended up doing most of the leading.

We had a small but solid group of adults who ranged all over the age scale. They were young couples to more senior ones. We had several who came alone as well. These were people who were hungry to know more about sharing Christ and living daily as missionaries.

It was a great experience. We had many different speakers come and share about their missional living and experiences. The stories told were compelling and held the interest of the group. I believe each member learned a great deal and found motivation to come more quickly.

A project suggested by my co-leader was to have the group take on the task of raising funds to use as the group saw fit, to support missions. I must say, it seemed to start rather slowly. But as it gained momentum and enthusiasm, the team got behind it.

Sunday night was our final meeting, and when we had finished, the group of nine present, had raised $1675! I was very excited at what the Lord was doing. We had multiple discussions of how to use the funds.

When all were collected, the team chose three missionaries. Two were headed to Peru for the summer to serve as missionaries (both are college students). The third was a Romanian missionary who serves around the world, who had spoken to the group a few weeks back.

This was a group who would never spend time together because of ages, interests and even the service times chosen on Sunday mornings. The Lord united the group for a common purpose. Not only did they receive, they got to give! It was an inspiring experience for them and for me.

There is something significant about being used. Usually when we give, we give to a program, and don't necessarily get to see our funds work. In this case, many of the team knew the missionaries, and were quite enthused to help them.

This kind of joy is contagious. It is part of what we are called to do. Each of us should not only be supporting His work, but doing His work...everyday of our lives.

What a blessing to see a group, some of who have been on the mission field and some who want to begin (whether across the street or across and ocean) realize they play an important role in His Kingdom. These have already begun to make a difference!

I Praise God for how He used their faithfulness to bring encouragement into my life. None of them set out to do so, and that is the coolest part. Simple obedience, moment by moment, brings change that starts small, but gathers momentum, and impacts a culture!

AMEN!


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