By Allen White
The LORD had said to
Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go
to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1 (NIV)
When I was 19 years old, I packed my bags, hugged my parents
at the Kansas City International Airport and traveled 36 hours to the other
side of the world to serve as a short-term missionary in Hong Kong. Word of
advice: a window seat is not that great. Blue sky and blue water look exactly
the same. Choose an aisle seat close to the bathroom. Just sayin’.
While I was there, I had the chance to sit down with a
veteran missionary, who was a legend in our church. He very quickly gave his
opinion of my summer mission trip, “I don’t understand why you kids have to
come check out the mission field to decide whether or not you want to become a
missionary. If God has called you, then you should just come. You don’t need to
see if you like it first.”
I left his office, hat in hand, ready to finish my
“vacation.” Our team saw God do some pretty amazing things in the hearts of our
Chinese friends that summer. Apparently, God has a much different opinion of
short term missions.
That trip opened my eyes to a lot of things. Sitting here
writing, I can’t believe that it was over 25 years ago. But the difference
between my trip and Abraham’s was vast. I had a 747. He had a camel (and not
even a Sopwith Camel). I had a place to stay, people to take care of me, food
to eat, and a clear picture of what would happen. Abraham had little of that.
The biggest difference was that at the end of the summer, I
knew that I would fly back home and return to college. Abraham was on a one-way
trip.
Did my journey require less faith than Abraham’s? Not
necessarily. God gives us the faith to accomplish the things that He puts
before us.
What has God put before you? What is He challenging you with
today? He will give you the faith and ability to proceed as He directs.
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights
reserved.
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