I love short-term missions. However, there is a sort of downside to it. The return home. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, I love my church, I love Arizona and wouldn't want to really live anywhere else...except for Colorado. ;-) What I mean is the return home to the routine...the comfortable...the daily grind.
When you are in the field, sharing the Gospel, serving at a church, living on an island with a hundred crazy Ukrainian, Australian, and New Zealand people, you feel more alive than usual. Why? Because your entire focus is at what is in front of you. Your whole being is in "servant mode" and you are absorbing cultural and societal differences.
When you get home, there is a brief period when you almost despise the things that are here. I call it reverse-culture shock. Believe it or not, it's a good thing.
We need these reminders of just how non-important some of the routine is in our lives. We need to see the bigger picture of what God is doing in peoples lives around the world. That way, we can be changed here. And that's what I want to encourage you with today. God has you HERE, wherever that is.. For some of you reading this and following our blog adventures, that's in Arizona. For some, that's in your city or state where you are sitting reading this. Be of good cheer..God has a plan for you RIGHT HERE...RIGHT NOW. If you feel that God is moving you to do long-term missions, then start praying and get ready to go. In the meantime, get your sights upon Jesus, walk with Him in the place you are currently at and praise Him for His marvelous grace and mercy.
One last thing from me right now...I can't wait to go back. The relationships I've built with Pastor Wayne and Olya, Danny and Lise, Yura and Oksana, Alonya, Anna, Magdala, Petya, Nazar, Sasha (the many), Lyena, Katya, Dan, Priscilla, Jono, John, Ruth-Ann, Tanya, Natasha, Max, Vova, and all the others... what a privilege to know and fellowship with these awesome people. It's what heaven is going to be about...relationships with Christ-followers as we WORSHIP together, SERVE together, and even EAT together. (Borscht is of course the official soup of Heaven...every Ukrainain knows this)
Until we meet again...here, there, or in the air... Grace and Peace!
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