4500 Reasons to Do Missions

4500 Reasons to Do Missions

Today we made our way up to the village of Naranjo. This is a two hour ride up the side of a mountain in the back of a pickup truck. Today was our first day of children's ministry on the trip. As we arrived we began to set up for our VBS and some of the children began to arrive as well. By 11am we had well over 100 children packed into the feeding center there in Naranjo. Some of the children walk two hours just to come and get a meal to eat. It is hard for us to imagine that some of the children that came today had not had a meal since Friday (today was Monday). 

I can't imagine my boys not having anything to eat all weekend! But for the children in Naranjo, and many other villages in the mountains of Eastern Guatemala it is a reality that they live with each and every day. The air is thin in Naranjo because the village rests over 4500ft. above sea level. Hence the title of my blog today, "4500 Reasons to Do Missions!" 

Many people look at missions as a waste of precious time and resources. They ask questions like, "why don't the church help people in South Carolina and the United States, we have people in need here too?" That is a legitimate question but the problem is that people in third world countries don't have the "help" that we have in the United States. In the USA there are programs as well as churches that reach out to those who are in need. But what about those who are 4500 feet above sea level in the mountains of Guatemala? Who is going to reach them? Who is going to feed them? For many the government does not even consider them to be a person. This is what Jesus said...

Acts 1:8 (NASB) ⁸  but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." 

Jesus said that we would be witnesses after the Holy Spirit came upon us, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the remotest part of the earth. 

Now let me ask you a question. Are we to just stay in Jerusalem? Are we to just stay in our home town, our state, our nation? That's not what Jesus said is it? He said that we should go to the remotest (uttermost) parts of the earth. Filled with the Spirit we are to do all of those things, not just one or the other. 

So yes, let's be Christ in our community and city, and surrounding areas, but we can't leave out the fact that Jesus mentions the remote parts of the world. The places 4500 feet above sea level, in the mountains of Guatemala, in a village called Naranjo. There are people there, precious people, real people. People with jobs, families, and problems, just like you have. But many of them have children who are starving to death.

Today we helped to change the lives of those families and bring a smile to the faces of the children there. I can't help but hear the words of Jesus who said...

Matthew 19:14 (GW) ¹⁴  Jesus
said, “Don't stop children from coming to me! Children like these are part of
the kingdom of God.” 

In this blog I have given you 4500 reasons to do missions, but there are so many more. I think the number one reason is that it's the heart of God. God is seeking. He desires for all to come to the knowledge of the truth. He is looking for someone who will be willing to go and do the work that he has called them to do. Will you go? Will you even begin to touch Jerusalem (your city)? 

How many reasons do you need?