The How and Where.....It's Personal!

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It is “personal” because a short or long term mission trip requires a “right heart attitude”. I knew my decision was between me and the Lord, but my heart had to be right. 

 

In his book, “Medical Missions”, Bruce Steffes shares…

“Proper preparation requires clarification of your call to go. Although it is usually not an audible voice of God, you must have a sense and conviction that God’s will for your life includes your proposed trip. You must know that you will have a defined purpose in God’s economy and plan to carry it out, even if you have no idea what it is.”

 

“Your overriding motivation for the trip must be that you have realized that God has called you to provide service to the Lord, the missionaries on the field, and the hurting people surrounding them.”

 

“You are going because of a realization that an understanding of the Great Commission has made it imperative to go and to help bring the good news of His salvation to every man, woman and child. You have a personal responsibility to fulfill the Commission. You are obeying. 

 

So, for me, the desire to go has been stirring in my heart for a least a year. I did not know when, how, where or why, but I knew I was going sometime, and somewhere when the timing was right, and when my heart was right. 

 

In the midst I continued to see, learn, grow and engage in Jesus.

 I completed discipleship in June. A few days later I was blessed with an open door to lead a great friend to the Lord. That was an amazing day!!!

 We began our 1:1 discipleship the next week. 


I was also blessed with time to go on church sponsored mission trips. 

I signed up for every “trip” the church offered and was blessed to travel to Michigan, Mississippi and the Philippines.  

I was exceedingly abundantly blessed during every trip. 

My heart was changing, my heart was “getting right”. The Lord was teaching me valuable lessons that were preparing me for “going”. 

 

I look back on all my journal notes over the last six months and I see the hand of God in all of them. 

Me, tossing out thoughts and ideas, and the Lord keeping some ideas open and closing the doors to others.

 

In my free time I began researching the how and where.

I learned that there are many “sending agencies” that will help with all the logistics to choose from. 

 

I consumed long hours in prayer, bible study, journaling, and researching. 

 

At last, many months later, I was led to the Hospital of Hope, Togo, Africa. 

 

The description lined up completely with my “mission” statement and my skill set, and it was in a country that I have “some” cultural understanding and experience. 

 

Though built and run through the Association of Baptist World Evangelism (ABWE), I chose to be sent by Samaritans Purse as my sending agency, as they would pay for my airfare. 

 

The following is the description for the Hospital of Hope. 

 

https://hohmango.org/about-us/

 

https://abwe.org/hospital-hope/

 

https://vimeo.com/442816918

 

When I saw the picture of all the people sitting outside the hospital waiting for care, my first thought was..........

“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest”(Luke 10:2)


My next thought was “Send me Lord, I will go”.



 

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