What do I Bring?

On my first every international missions trip, I travelled to Russia along with a team of 7 other college students for two months as a summer missions intern with a large missions organization.  Our translators were Russian nationals we hired to come alongside us for the two months and help us with all our translation needs as we travelled around the country.  Our main translator, we can call her Anna, was not a professing Christian.

On the day we met Anna she asked us a pretty straightforward question: Why are you here?  Why would a group of college students raise all this money and commit two months of their life to travel to Russia?

We told her that we sought to bring the message of salvation found in Jesus Christ to the children and teens of Russia (we were doing a traveling VBS-type program).  Of course, we also hoped to be a witness to Anna, and hopefully be able to minister to her as we did these programs across Russia.

As we answered her, she stopped in her tracks and looked at us, very confused, with a hint of disdain: “We (the country of Russia) have had Christianity a lot longer than you (America).  You have wasted your time and money.”

And so began our summer.....

As we go out and become fishers of people, we need to be able to understand what we are bringing to the table.  Yes, we bring a message of hope and salvation, but we must not think that we therefore have all the answers.  While there are certainly people in this world who have never heard the name of Jesus before, a majority of the people we interact with have, and sometimes there is another roadblock that keeps a person from giving their life to Christ.

In the case of Anna, she has known many Christians in Russia, and in fact translated for many missions teams over the years.  She knew full well who Jesus was, but the Christians she knew were ones who spoke out of two sides of there mouth.  Several  missions teams she had translated for, she told us, were among the worst.  It wasn’t a matter of lack of knowledge, it was a lack of whole life witness.

As we go and heed the call of Jesus to fish for people, let’s remember to seek God first for counsel as to how to proceed.  Often times, living our lives as a witness to God’s glory will be example enough for the people-centric ministry that God has called us to.  Other times, we will be called to use words and share with those who don’t know.

Either way, let’s be ready for those that God is going to place in our lives as we humbly set out and go!