Mission Candidate Kindergarten
Do you ever feel the Holy Spirit is drawing you outside the box of everyday Christian life, sitting on the side lines without enough faith to make that first step that will take you to the regions beyond? Me too, and I like to think of it as mission kindergarten and I suffered through it in my early years. After all my years with missions, with all the daily demands, that first step was the most fearful of all.
After one long year of wrestling with the Lord I came home from work and informed my wife it was time to go to mission training and sweetheart, today I quit my job. Panic set in and I could see it all over her face, I knew she was thinking of three little boys. How is this going to work she thought as we filled out the applications with New Tribes Mission and waited to see what the outcome would be.
As we waited, then it happens, the Holy Spirit began to teach Janie and I the first thing we must overcome in this journey to the regions beyond. The Holy Spirit took us straight to the Word of God and right from the lips of Jesus our first lesson began. Oh, you of little faith, Jesus knew just where to start.
Matthew 6:25-34 and Jesus was the teacher, He said, “Do not worry”, and He knew we were very nervous thinking about how all this would work. “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” Look at the birds Jesus said, and to this day I love watching how God cares for them.
“So why do I worry?” Jesus said, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” Then He reminds us that He knows just what we need. It was just like a father saying, do not worry son, I have got this. After all these years, what I learned in mission kindergarten is a stake I tie my rope to when worry and fear sets in.
Where is your faith? If your faith is in yourself, forget about going to the mission field. If your faith is in Jesus the Lord of the harvest, wrap Matthew 28:18-20 around you like a coat of armor and enter the fields that are white to harvest.