This is to the future. To those who feel called to serve. To those who don’t know what they might get into, but who are willing to get into it anyway. To those who are ready to go:
Don’t go to escape what’s happening at home. Come and find that the only resting place that will truly be “home” is within God’s hands.
Don’t go to take pictures with cute kids. Come to leave a piece of your heart with a blind fifty year old mother at the local market.
Don’t go and look upon the culture as foreign. Come and embrace everything as beautiful, because yes, crowded public transport, shacks made of sticks and stones, and a playground of tires are different, but they are all just that. Beautiful.
Don’t go and have a different mindset on ministry days and off days. Come and rely on guidance from the Holy Spirit during all conversations, whether you are walking in the slums or being served at a restaurant.
Don’t go crippled by a fear for your safety. Come with arms wide open to embrace the child who has to sleep alone at night, and teach them about an eternal Father who will always protect them.
Don’t go to share personal hygiene habits. Come and lay hands on a homeless person in the street, unfazed by stench, and be completely cleansed by the Holy Spirit.
Don’t go to change the mentality of your contacts and the locals you work with. Come to learn about your brothers and sisters in Christ who have a new perspective of the One in whose image we ALL are made.
Don’t go thinking you have it all together. Come ready to lose it. Whatever it is to you.
Don’t go to heal the brokenness of others. Come willing to share your brokenness with a young abused mother and find healing in each other.
Don’t go merely to give away love joy or grace. Come and after meeting a crippled orphan, overflow with a greater understanding of the love joy and grace in the gospel than you’ve ever experienced before.
Don’t go to be a better Christian. Come out of obedience to God’s call.
Don’t go and make an impression. Come and make an impact.
To the future. Be bold. Be adventurous. Be loving. Be true. Be God’s heart. Be like Peter who had the opportunity to safely stay inside the boat and wait for Jesus to climb in, but instead he said “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus simply said, “Come.” (Matthew 14:28-29)
