HI All!! So here I am about two weeks into training. Training has consistently had a lot of sessions that we all go in and out of. We are all feeling pretty tired and drained, but we are all sticking with it! All of the information we are learning may seem really overwhelming but as a whole it is all really important for us to learn because we will more then likely be using it at our placement sites. Today we spent the whole day at the center for the General Board of Global Missions in New York City. We went through all the health benefits and other policy info we all need to know before going on our adventures.
There are a lot of things about being a missionary that I am preparing myself for. As US-2 Missionaries (which are missionaries that hold a two year term within the United States, if I haven’t explained it already) we are asked to take a vow of poverty, work with whatever partner organization we are assigned to wherever we are assigned to, we need to be able to live with the health care we are provided, we are asked to absolutely stay on top of self-care, reach out to other churches, Blog, fundraise, live in and minister WITH communities rather than minister TO communities (to get a good idea about what that means visit http://www.ministrywith.org/) and be confident in our discipleship (which takes a lot of self-study). And of course once we get to our placement site we are handed a number of other responsibilities. Being in the position, I can say there is pressure; it can feel overwhelming, burdening, and frightening. Though I should tell you more about how that is going.
The point of being a missionary to me is to go to communities and be a presence there, to ask what they need, and try my absolute hardest to make that desire come to life legally, spiritually, and religiously. I don’t feel that I need to go around the world, preach and baptize, there is so much more to it. In the great commission Jesus spoke “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20). Yes, Jesus gives us the order to baptize and obey everything He commanded us to do, but there is still more. The question I pose is, how does one person get people to that point where they are ready to be preached to? The honest answer is, it’s not up to us when someone is ready to be preached to, it’s up to that person to make a choice. Therefore, I can’t go around just yelling out the Gospel to the pour, sick and homeless. After all, feed a man and you feed him for that day, teach him how to find food, cherish him, comfort him, and support him, that will be a ministry that sticks with that person for life. Preach by example!
Programs like US-2 are bringing other ways just like that to life. We will be living in communities, talking with these communities about social building, stabilizing, being there for one another, fighting for one another, and bringing each other out of hardships. Jesus did these same things when He was walking amongst the Earth in the flesh, and He still continues to do it through people. By being a presence first, and showing the love of Christ through action, I believe that people will reach out to try to understand the love of Christ. God has done wonderful things for me, and I have absolute faith that He can do wonderful things for anybody from any situation.
To make programs like the US-2 and the three year Mission Internship assignments that young adults also go on, there is a way you too can support such ministries for social justice and strengthening. It is a organization out of the United Methodist Church called The Advance. The funds that go toward The Advance support missions being lived out by Young Adults Worldwide. I too am connected with The Advance, and if you feel so led, I ask for your prayers and support. You can link on to the website by going to http://new.gbgm-umc.org/Advance/. From there if you want to donate you need to go to the tap “How to Give” click the tab and a sub-window should drop down, then click on “Give Online Now”. On this page there is a spot that reads “Find Project” with a text box next to it. If you type in the number 3021356 and click find you should see my name pop up under the results. Simply click on that and follow the instructions. You don’t have to just donate using my number, there are twenty-five of us young adult missionaries that are being commissioned to go on worldwide mission, and there are missionaries already in service. I will be posting a list of the blogs of my missionary class in the coming weeks.
Thank you all for your wonderful support in helping grow the Kingdom.
+PeAcE+
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