How is it that we are missionaries? How is it that the call on our heart became such for us that we knew it was an invitation from our God to work with Him in the jungle regions of Peru? Have we and do we continue to do all we can to fulfill this amazing invitation? Many times I wonder if there is not more we should be doing, saying, praying? Yet His word tells us to wait on Him...to be still and know that He is God....oh how humanly weak we are and so self-focused to think we could do anything for God beyond what He has called us to. And what about our dependence? Where does our trust, peace and confidence lie? What has become of the true call to missions...what has become of the true mission? Look at the work of missionaries in this current world. We have become humanists focusing moreso on the physical needs of the world than their spiritual needs. This is not to say that there are not certain areas where we can aid the wounded and hungry but when we depend on sources from progressive countries to provide the funding for the hospitals we build, the schools we construct, the feeding centers and nutritions centers,we've done nothing more than create a dependency that cripples the receiving countries. In these times where the economy is crumbling around us, funding for these good intentioned projects have either been diminished or totally abandoned, not for lack of desire but for lack of the good old almighty dollar's power it once had.
We need to get back to what Jesus modeled for us as Christians...to preach the "Good News" that salvation comes to all who believe in Him, repent of their wicked ways and follow Him. And with this comes the promise of eternal life... redemption....peace and joy....beyond measure...
We need to empower nationals to seek God for both their physical and spiritual needs, maintaining their culture yet leaving behind that which God calls sin. We need to teach them to set up their own nutrition centers funded and run solely on local support from both secular and christian sources. Hospitals need to be set up so as to be able to continue whether the missionaries are there or not...whether good hearted people fund it from outside or not....what testimony do we leave if we can no longer support that which fed the needs of the people. There has been such a history of this even here in Peru...we see where years ago Swiss missionaries came and set up bible schools, built churches and medical clinics only to have them abandoned once the missionaries returned home. The nationals never took ownership but continued to see them as buildings, works etc belonging to the outsiders. One example is given of a church once built entirely by outside funding. Once the missionaries left some years later they received a letter from the nationals telling them that the roof of their church (the missionaries') was leaking and they needed to come back and fix it.
I may be wrong but as I study the word of God and His direction for those who follow Christ, no where do I see that we are to be pouring money into buildings or projects. We need to get back to basics. Heal the sick, feed the poor, take care of the widows and orphans in such ways that their lives are made better for it and they can then support themselves and go on to bring the Good News of God's great love to others.
Look at Jesus....He healed the sick and them left them to carry on....He fed the hungry by showing them how to use what was available to them ...He spiritually filled them and then sent them out on their own to mature and grow in the ways of God.
My heart is crying out for the many feeding and nutrition centers I hear that are struggling and near shutting down...for the hospitals that cannot go on for lack of pay for the doctors....and for the churches once dependent on foreign funds that they are barely surviving.
God help us all.
Lord I pray we keep ourselves pure and humble before you in all we do and say. Forgive us for making the Great Commission more than what you mean it to be. I do pray for all those whose project support has been cut or lessoned and pray that instead of pleading for funds that your Spirit will fill them with creative ideas to teach the nationals, or encourage the nationals to take responsibility for these programs themselves. If they don't then maybe we need to take a step back and come to realize that maybe these great projects were never Your plan in the first place but from the sympathetic heart of man. You never called us to have pity on the lost but compassion. You never called us to solve their problems but to provide the knowledge of the Great Provider. Father, even as my heart desires to do so much in the name of missions, may it be set on You and You alone, obedient to Your direction only....and may we all as missionaries come to be a blessing and not a hindrance to your great Commission.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life! He is the only means by which man shall be saved and although some think men need no saving I beg to differ and say look at the depravity around you. In Christ Jesus we have a hope and a promise. Seek Him and He will be found by you.
For He cares for you and will never leave you nor forsake you.
this is my prayer in Jesus name...
Amen!
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