I have a confession...

I am not a missionary. Don't get mad at me, yet...

When I moved home from China that completed my 5th or 6th "mission trip", but I have never considered myself a "missionary". I was approached by someone asking about how I like being a missionary and I thought, "Well, I'm not, I'm a Christian and I am just living out what He has called me to do." I guess I never looked at myself as a missionary mainly because I never thought of myself as someone who could stand in front of a crowd or walk up to a stranger and share God's word to bring them into a personal relationship with Him. Or that I had to live over seas or travel to another country to be one. In my naive christian eyes that was a missionary to me and I did not fit all of that bill so how could I be one?

Until God showed me more.

I had a realization awhile before moving to China that the Lord used in my life to set me free of the pressures of that word. I always expected that to wear the badge of "missionary" that it has to come with a tally of those you have saved, like "we" in and of ourselves actually do the saving, ha! I was always so nervous to carry the weight of it because I knew I could not live up to it. God showed me that His word does not say "Missionaries, go out into all the world and make disciples...." it says simply, "GO!" That's when the burden lifted and He showed me that its the duty of all believers to be a light to this world, not just someone who is deemed a missionary and there are many ways that He uses us to share the word of God in order to lead others to know Him. I learned long before China that I had a gift for building relationships with people I did not really know and He has used that to bring others to Him by just living among people and being in each others lives. Some, have the gift of just saying, "hey you need Jesus" and people come to know Him and its Amazing! I think that is the beauty and complexity of our Lord. We assume because we do not live or travel to foreign countries that we are not missionaries, but brothers and sisters, you are! You are a believer and you have a gift inside of you that He desires you to use! The word tells us that they will know we are His disciples by our love. It should flow out of us like oxygen and His spirit in us is not something the world can ignore! Sometimes you just give someone a cup of water, others you give the word of truth and sometimes you end up giving the non-homeless guy you thought really was homeless fruit snacks and all can be used to lead others to Him. The good news is when He does call you to speak, He is faithful to fill you up with words, I have seen Him do it in my life many times. We are by default, missionaries, by simply living the life He has called us too!

Therefore, GO!


I guess I have a confession...

I AM a Missionary ;)

In His Love,
Rae