Missionary and Mission

Last week I wrote that I was praying for a revolution in the Church.  We need to rethink many aspects that have taken on a particular meaning.  I hope to unwrap some of those thoughts over the next few weeks but at this point don’t know how far I’ll get.  So here goes with the first one:

The word ‘missionary’ conjures up in the minds of most people an image of someone like David Livingstone going to ‘darkest Africa’.  Such people gave their whole lives and devoted themselves to the people for whom they left everything.  A more up-to-date equivalent would be someone like Mother Teresa who devoted her life to the poor in India.  The world has changed much since the days of David Livingstone and those who go on missions abroad nowadays often do so for shorter periods of time – some for only a few weeks.  I think of people like friends Julie and Dick Hogben (he is a GP and she works at a [different] surgery).  They link up with a charity in India called Asha and go every year to encourage and help in the slums.  You can follow their story here and here.

Margaret with some of the children she has helped

At one time it was thought that some sort of specialist training was needed to go abroad on some mission, particularly in medicine or education.  My friend Margaret also thought this for many years and it saddened her to think that she didn’t have any such qualifications but really felt she should become a missionary.  But now, retired from work and still without those specialist qualifications, she volunteers for 9 months every year in Nicaragua to help those who live in poverty and works with the charity SIFT to encourage (and pay for) the children to go to school and even university so they have a chance of getting out of the poverty trap.  With donations she receives from friends she is able to help many poor families in many other ways too.

I have other friends, Jo and Ian Storie, who are in Latvia, living and sharing life with others, helping to sort out problems of everyday living like heating their block of flats and making authorities aware of the problems of wild boar on the land where people need to grow food.  Their work is not connected to any particular denomination or charity.  Jo writes an update of their unfolding story every Monday.  You can follow their story here.

 

Although missions abroad have changed, not everyone feels any urge to serve God in this way.  Indeed, God does not ask everyone to do this.  So let’s rethink this whole idea of missionary in this 21^st century.  The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines mission as ‘a particular task or goal assigned to a person or group’.  So when Jesus commands His followers to go, share and show God’s love to those who don’t know Him, that includes all who follow Him.  That is the mission of each of us.  It’s a mandate, not just for those who feel a calling to go abroad, but for all of us, wherever we are.  A missionary is a person with a mission. 

 

There are countless charities that organise fundraising events in which many enjoy taking part.  Those who enjoy keeping fit often join in sponsored running or swimming events to raise money for their chosen charity.  But, if like me, you’re not particularly into that sort of thing, we should not feel that we cannot contribute anything or fulfil this mandate that Jesus left for His followers.  God knows what we can and can’t do – after all He made us.  We can make a difference without travelling to another country or partaking in any strenuous event but simply by sharing and showing God through our daily lives at work or where we live – stacking the shelves at the local supermarket; showing friendship to some elderly, lonely or vulnerable person; being a good neighbour; contributing to a food bank … … No doubt you can come up with many other situations.  We have a mission; we are missionaries just where we are; doing the everyday things; being involved with people.  We can use the things that we enjoy doing and make a difference.  The original mandate of Jesus was not building centred, it was focussed on people, their circumstances, their needs.  God is not really interested in how many names we can add to the outreach project of our particular organisation.  God just loves people, full stop.  We are all missionaries in this revolutionary Church.  Wherever we are and whatever abilities we may or may not possess, we can make a difference in the life of someone.