Back in 2006, I took a mission trip with our church orchestra. Like anything else, this mission trip took planning and preparation. The first item on the agenda was to get a passport so that I could travel internationally. Being a government issued document, obtaining a passport took time. So, I got started on that, right away. Next was the dilemma of money. The cost of flying to Peru, lodging (even though most of the time we stayed in the seminary’s dorms and took cold showers), and eating would all cost money. There were two options to raise money for the trip. The first option was to self-finance. This would be difficult for me. As a seminary student, I invested all of my life savings into the rising costs of education. I was also a new parent and any spending money that we could muster up was quickly spent on exciting things like diapers and baby shampoo. I did not have much money available. The second option was to ask others to help financially. I was encouraged by others to write a letter and invite friends and family to help cover the costs of the trip. Being the proud man that I was, I chose the easier option. I self-financed. Then came the best parts of the mission trip, things like prayer, practicing my tuba with the orchestra and recording our music for the trip, and finally going on tour through Peru. We performed Godly music at least once every day and the crowds of people coming to hear were exciting to see. The local pastors then preached in churches and on the streets and gave out free CD’s and gospel tracts to the needy people. Thus, with a lot of planning and preparation, we were able to have a successful mission trip.
And so, my mission story is like many others. I sometimes get the impression that when we think and pray about the ministry of missions, we tend to emphasize the travel – airplanes, diverse foods, foreign languages, and high costs – sometimes to the depreciation of the gospel. Did you notice that I barely mentioned the gospel in my story? So I wonder if there might be a way to minister the good news of Jesus Christ as a missionary without emphasizing the travel. I wonder what it would be like to share the gospel while still enjoying the food I like, still speaking the language I already know, and without spending thousands of dollars on airfare. What if, instead of going on a mission trip, we could stay on a mission trip, right where we live? And in our present American culture, there are more lost people living here, right in the USA, than ever before. There are literally missionary opportunities with lost people all around us, right where we live. Why not stay close to home and be a missionary to the people down the street? And when we do this type of ministry, right in our hometown, I propose that we call it a stay-mission.
Now this stay-mission will take planning, too. It is not just going to happen by accident any more than a trip to Peru. We will have to spend some time praying about our mission and for the people we intend to meet. We will also want to prepare ourselves by reviewing the gospel and finding some gospel tracts that we can give out. And then we must commit some time – a couple hours or even a couple days – from our busy schedule. If we do not designate our time, it will never happen. But we will not have to get a passport. We will not have to allocate thousands of dollars to make it happen. We will not have to learn to eat new foods. And, we will not have to learn a new language. And finally, when we discuss our stay-mission with our fellow believers before and after church on Sunday, the only new and exciting thing that we will have to talk about will be the gospel!
Now, I am planning on going on a stay-mission this Sunday. After church, I am going to drive a whopping 12 miles to Devils Tower and see who I can talk to about Jesus. Care to join me?
“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38