Her parents took her to every assembly: Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night. She was there when the missionaries came to give their talks, show their pictures and try to raise some funds to continue their work. It seemed so romantic and exciting! Those visiting missionaries were bold and brave and this impressed her young heart. Very early she decided that she would like to be a missionary in some foreign land.
As she grew older, school activities and boys captured her attention but in the back of her thoughts the dream of mission work quietly rested.
The example of her parents also made an impression. There were the regular Bible studies in her living room and around the dining table as her parents sought to win souls to Christ. She was there when those souls were immersed into Christ. She felt the joy, fulfillment and excitement of it all.
One day in her late teens, she told her parents she would like to be a missionary. They smiled, gave her a hug but reminded her about her college plans and the family she hoped to have some day. Puzzled by their lukewarm response, she didn’t broach the subject again until high school graduation drew close. She had heard about a missionary intern program at a ministry training school where she could study for a few months then be assigned to a missionary mentor in a foreign country for a year or two. She reasoned she could do this for a couple of years, return and go to university. But, when she mentioned this to her parents, their reaction surprised her. Again they reminded her of the hopes and dreams they held for her: education, a good-provider-all-American husband, and lovely grandchildren to bounce on their knees. Their blessing on her plans was reluctant, cool and slow in coming.
All of this was very puzzling to her. She reminded them of the missionaries they so admired. She reminded them of the Bible studies in their home. But, they replied, they never thought she would want to leave them to go some place far away. They reminded her of all the lost people “…right here at home.” Couldn’t she just seek and save the lost here in America? She responded by reminding them of all the workers and resources already here and the great need in other places.
Whose opinion prevailed? It could go either way. In the case of our young lady, she went off to the intern program and returned home with an even greater desire to be a missionary. She went to university, finished her degree, returned to the training school and found a husband with the same missionary spirit. They joined a mission team, moved to a major foreign city, began making disciples and gathering them into fellowships. As her parents read the reports of God’s work being done through them…the selfless sacrifice of their daughter and son-in-law, pride blossomed.
The reluctance of so many Christian parents to give their children to the Lord’s work reflects how far we have drifted from our understanding of the very purpose of followers of Jesus Christ. The incredible success of one major cult (whose identity you can guess) is due to one major reason: mission work is a part of their culture. Not only do they expect their children to give at least two years of their life to spreading their message, but they support and encourage them in every way, including financially. Their missionaries don’t have to travel thousands of miles begging someone to help them do what they understand Jesus has commissioned. As a result, their cult has a major, visible presence in nearly every population center in the world.
The efforts of churches of Christ are puny by comparison on nearly every level and will remain so until we have a major attitude change. Thank God for parents who encourage their children to be missionaries. Parents like this are very special indeed…but all too rare.
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.