Someone might wonder, “Why in the world would you take your family halfway around the world just for a missions trip? Is that not pretty expensive? Could you not be doing other things with your time?” I wanted to give several bullet-point answers as to why our church is going to the Philippines.
Because the Missionaries Ask Us to Come
First, because almost every missionary asks us to come. That is the first reason right there. I have never been on their side of it, and I do not think we are a particularly encouraging group or anything like that, but I think there is something encouraging when someone takes the time to come from America to see the work you are doing, or to come help you in a work you are giving your life to. A missionary wants an opportunity to get a lot of work done with some volunteers who will come pass out tracts on his behalf. So it is an encouragement to the missionaries, because they so seldom get visitors. Sometimes it is years between the times they might see another American. Sometimes it is that long since they have spoken English with someone else. So we are no one special, but we want to come just to be able to bring gifts to our missionaries. We are loaded with Bibles and American snacks, even gift bags for the church people, discipleship materials, and as much as we can fit on the plane and into our luggage. We are just trying to bring it with us to be a blessing to the missionaries, and we want to be extremely generous. Some of this trip has been sponsored, so we are able to bring a few extra goodies along with us, and I believe that will hopefully encourage the people of these churches we are visiting and help them see, “Look, there are people on the other side of this missionary.” These are not just nameless, faceless United States dollars coming in from the support this missionary is receiving. So that is the first reason we are going: the missionaries have asked us to visit, and they want us to visit. Almost every missionary I talk to says, “You have got to come visit us,” and I go, “Man, we will add it to the list. I hope we can come and see you one day.”
For the Gospel’s Sake
The second reason we go on missions trips is for the gospel’s sake. We want to personally preach the gospel, not only in our own town but also across the world, and going on missions trips allows us to partner personally with others around the world who are preaching the gospel to every creature. What an opportunity to preach the gospel! We have many opportunities on the Philippines trip coming up to spread the Word on the streets, to spread the Word in public schools, to have youth evangelism opportunities and church services. We will have many, many chances to preach the gospel on this upcoming trip.
For the Exposure
Third, we go on missions trips for the exposure. I love that my kids will see a place that is so much different from California. We visited Durango, Mexico, a few years ago, and that allowed us to have a lot of good conversations afterward. Maybe they are fussing and arguing about something, and it is like, “You are just being selfish.” I love that we can expose them to the needs of this world. It helps put our lives in perspective, and that is such a good thing for us. It not only exposes us to the social issues more clearly, but it also exposes us to the spiritual battles more clearly. The missionaries see spiritual warfare. Sometimes it seems like they see it on a much clearer level than we often do. It seems like they are exposed to some of the strongest spiritual battles out there on the front lines, and missions trips allow us to be exposed to some of that as well.
A Challenge to Our People
Fourth, missions trips are a great challenge to our people. If we can minister overseas, then it is like, “Wait a minute, why can we not do that at home too?” Or if someone can enjoy church and love Jesus without all the nice things we have in America, and we see church members overseas doing just that, then it is like, “Well, why are we getting all upset about the silliest things?” So missions trips are a great challenge to our people. It challenges our people in the preparation. We want to prepare more. We are preparing now for singing and soul winning and ministering in ways that are outside our comfort zone, but we should be doing that at home too. It challenges our people to pray more. When we hear our missionary updates, we now have a real-life example of what they are talking about, and sometimes we know the very people they are talking about, so we can pray more specifically too. It challenges our people to give more. It is amazing to us to see how far our U.S. dollars spread. I want to give money toward eternally rewarding things, and giving to missions, I believe, is the best place for my money to go. I mean, it spreads the farthest when it goes overseas, and so it challenges our people to give more. It also challenges us to be more zealous. When you reframe your thinking in terms of what this missions trip is about, man, it changes everything about your thinking. Your Christian zeal is then contagious when people come home, and others see that your whole life is turned around, your whole perspective is turned around. It changes our zeal, and it also changes us in our zeal for souls. The fact that we are going overseas, seeing that people need the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and being passionate about their souls, well, that ought to be the way we see every soul everywhere, including the ones back here in America.
An Inspiration
Fifth, missions trips inspire us. So it is not only the challenge side, as in the previous part. It is not just guilt. I am not just guilted and challenged to do more, but man, missions trips inspire us to do more, to be more, to pray more, to give more, to serve more. It is not that I have to because I feel guilty, but it is like, “Man, I want to,” and missions trips help with that.
Appreciating What We Have
Sixth, missions trips help us appreciate what we have. I know I so often take for granted how much I have, and missions trips help me just be more thankful for the many blessings of God. These blessings include resources. It is just so easy to open up a computer or phone and get whatever I want, right at my fingertips, as quickly as I want it. It is the resources we have available at our church. I am so blessed by our church family. We are so blessed by our church services. Brother Jason Russell, a missionary to Papua New Guinea, recently talked about coming home on furlough for the first time. His first furlough was such a challenge, because he heard a church choir special and went, “Man, the music was just so powerful.” He said, “I was almost tempted just to stay in America and enjoy the blessings of the simple things, like choir specials, again.” And he said, “I do not hate the blessings of American churches. I just love Jesus more.” He was called to take the gospel to Papua New Guinea, and that is his calling. But missions trips can remind us we have so much to be thankful for. We have so many comforts here in the United States to be thankful for. It reminds us of our comforts. It reminds us of Wi-Fi, and pest control, and checks and balances on government power, and the police we enjoy here, and the food safety standards we have here, and soft beds, and constant power instead of these rolling blackouts or brownouts, and good health care, and so much more. We are just so grateful for all that we enjoy, and missions trips help us with that.
Hearing the Call of God
Seventh and last, missions trips can provide an even clearer opportunity to hear the call of God. It may be that God calls someone to give his life as a missionary. It is often the testimony of missionaries; we will hear them say something like, “Our church went on a missions trip, and it was on that missions trip to this country that God made it clear that I needed to give my life on the mission field. I came home, got some Bible training, went through the process, and now I am a missionary.” I love those testimonies. That is something I am praying God does in our church one day. Who knows? Maybe that is going to happen this year. I know God is not doing less calling than He used to, but it just seems that fewer and fewer people are surrendering to that call of God. Maybe they are distracted. Maybe they are not being exposed to the need around the world. I do not know, but we want to present the call. It is a possibility that God might call someone out of a comfortable life to go overseas and preach the gospel in Jerusalem, and in Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth, as we see in Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Well, I am praying that this video might even be part of the process God uses to confirm His call, perhaps in your heart, perhaps in someone you know. So these are a few of the reasons we go on missions trips. Please pray for us as we minister in the Philippines. Maybe by the time this video is out, we will already be in the middle of that trip. But pray for missions trips in general, for the cause of Christ all around this world. We hope to see you when we get back, and we will catch up with you in the next video. God bless you.
