Now Entering the Mission Field

Posted on 01. Jun, 2010 by ajohnson in Campus Chronicles, Featured Article

By Kelly Hayes | Campus Chronicles {vol. 10, is. 1}

It had been over 30 hours since I had slept–not to mention it was hot and humid-and there I sat in a church service. My team had flown “red eye” into Jamaica and most of us didn’t get any sleep on the flight. It was so hard to stay awake and pay attention because we were so sleep deprived. I do not remember much from that church service because I was so tired but what I did take away has had a major impact on my life ever since. Above every doorway leading outside a sign read, “You arenow entering the mission field.”

There I was on a mission trip to Jamaica; and, in this church, they knew and proclaimed that every day of their lives is lived on the mission field. It hit me big time and that epiphany will never leave me. It is so true. Every day of our lives we are on the mission field. It is not just when we go to another country or a rough part of the United States, but every single day of our lives.

I remember a discussion in an English class at Sierra College. It had something to do with poverty and related statistics in the U.S. It really got me thinking about the way things are here. Yes, we have so much more here than in other places in the world, but there are hurt, hungry, and dying people in our neighborhoods too. However, the most important thing to remember is that there are lost people who do not know Jesus Christ.

That discussion really started to change my mindset about missions. I began to think about home missions. That trip to Jamaica, followed by an evangelism training class at my church, and then a two-month missions trip to Vienna, Austria began to really change my thinking.

Everywhere I went and everything I did reminded me that the mission field surrounds me everyday of my life. I am a missionary. I love going to different countries and reaching out to the people in those cultures. I love learning other languages and cultures. I love helping and serving. All of those things do not have to stop once I come home, though. Jesus says, in Acts 1:8, “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” and in Matthew 28:19-20, “ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus started with Jerusalem, where they were. Then the word went out to the surrounding areas, and then to all nations, and then to the end of the earth. We should proclaim the Gospel, the Good news, and make disciples. Everyone should know of His greatlove and saving grace.

I do not want to down-play foreign missions. I am all for them. However, I wanted to share with you what I learned my first night in Jamaica. It’s something for us all to remember: live the mission field everyday!