PBA has always been overly obsessed with 4 things:
-Marriage
-Leadership
-Globalization
-And over seas missions. (the above topics are blogs for another time........)
Being an firm believer in Christ and His call to spread the Gospel to everyone, I am not opposed to missions AT ALL! This is not a blog bashing missions or missionaries, because that, my friends, is pretty much blasphemy.
(BTW, blogger is being quite difficult right now by not letting me make new paragraphs by pressing "enter" -__-)
When someone says "missions" or thinks about "missions trips" a stereotype always pops into the minds of people. It's like glued to the term, almost. You (I) always think of poor children in Africa or Haiti being handed food or Bibles by white Americans dressed in Jesus T-shirts, base-ball caps and baggy basketball pants (don't forget the ratty sneakers or converse). Missions, to some people, are either in the depths of the rainforest with "uncivilized" tribes or in the dry, crusty dirt of Africa with goats following you. Or, of course, the camp sites in Haiti (how could I forget THAT one?)
If anyone has gone on a missions trip in those conditions, great for you. Really. That's quite a culture shock, and rough conditions.
But when do you EVER see someone stoaked about a missions trip to Sweden (whose religious population is only 1% of the WHOLE COUNTRY), or France, or Turkey? Not often. Mostly because it costs a lot more than going to Brazil or Dominican Republic. Also, because the people there are not exactly in the same "poverty" as some people in South Africa (which is their country's fault that they are in poverty, not America's... but that's a different subject). And, of course, they aren't as accepting of the Gospel as other countries like Africa and Western Asia.
The point of missions trips is not simply, "oh lets fix someone's roof," or, "lets give this poor child a... chicken..." Many "missions" trips should be called "service" trips. In fact, like a good 80% of PBA's "missions trips" should be entitled "service trips" and be scheduled by Workship. Service is showing love to others by performing acts of service or help to them. Missions includes that, but is NOT all that.
Missions, I think, should be taken way more seriously
((Also, why do people go on only a weekend or week long missions trip? If you want to make a bigger impact, stay there, I mean it. I have much-o respect for people who live in the country they minister to))
What does "missions" mean? It is referring to the command Christ gives His disciples right before he rises to Heaven (this is AFTER he has risen from the dead and stayed a while on earth appearing to people). In Matthew chapter 28, Jesus says to go into all the world and make more DISCIPLES (not converting people OR painting houses for people), BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what we call "the mission." We don't want our friends, family, and fellow homo-sapiens spending eternity in hell and making all the painful choices on earth as well. So our "mission" is to tell them they have a better option, and that there is a God who loves them and a Savior who proves that. Simply handing out Bibles and saying "Jesus loves you" does not cut it (save those very rare occasions where someone needed JUST that and so you changed their life...).
If I were able to plan a missions trip on my own with unlimited funding, time, and supplies, I would not say "oh let's go to Mexico and paint some houses..." (that would be a SERVICE TRIP). I would freakin' go all out and be like, "Let's spend at least a few months in Sweden or Ireland or England or Colorado or China and legit connect with people to show them through my actions that I care about them and therefore they can trust me when I tell them there's someone else who cares more." Yeah. Unlimited resources would make me do that. But, I am a poor college student who had no means or time for that (yet).
The countries that are starving for the Gospel like African countries, Haiti, the Dominican, and China are indeed important places to spend time in. But I feel like everyone overlooks nations that are spiritually starving and don't even know it like Sweden, France, Turkey, and AMERICA.
You probably realized I mentioned Colorado earlier and might've thought "Skye... that's not a country silly." I am aware of that. But this leads me to my next and almost most important point:
We keep talking about missions trips in other countries, like missions trips HAVE to be abroad or they don't "qualify" as a missions trip. My friends, this is ridiculous. Our own country is about to hit rock bottom, has broken our ties with tons of other countries that were once allies, and is slowly stamping out the fire that this country was originally built upon: God.
My generation, generation Y (1986-2000) is a generation obsessed with "no absolute truth" and acceptance of spirituality as long as it is NOT Christ. Internet has opened up new windows of opportunity for evil to enter into the hearts of people. The definition of beauty has been corrupted by society.
In other words, we suck. We have many advantages, however. Like how we have freedom of religion (for now) and we are able to have Christian clubs at school. That's a big thing we take for granted. Ya think China can say the same? Or the former USSR (before my time, yes, but at least I know my History)?
In my mind, before we always go out into the world to spread the love of Christ, we need to focus also on our own stinkin' country! The Bible belt in the Eastern part of America is becoming rusted. Florida is abnormal for having many cities that have a church on every corner. In Colorado, the atmosphere is dominated by Post-modernism and experimenting with different faiths (except for Christianity).
We have people dying inside every day here in America. The difficulty is how turned off they are by the modern misconception of the church and Christians (thanks a whole lot Westboro "Baptist" Church -___-). That is why we need to stop the trend of thinking Christians are close-minded hating prudes and inject the love of God into our lives to share with them.
So, PBA, give me a missions trip to Colorado, Washington, New York, or New Orleans. Their bones are as dry as the ones in Haiti, if not more so.
I might be alone in having the biggest heart for the people in my own country more than rural, poverty-stricken countries in Africa, but I think God can use that. That is why I am a student ministry minor, isn't it?
((I bet nobody read this, btw.))
