I am a missionary.

The above photo is from missionary Chapel during Teen 1 last week. The missionary (Pete and Liesl Hypki - en route to Mexico with New Tribes Missions) did the above illustration to show the support group for tribal missionaries. On the far right is the Tribal Missionary couple - the rest are support staff including but not limited to airplane pilot, guest house manager, accountant, IT technician, printer, teacher, supplier, local church body. It was a neat illustration because I had never stopped to think about how many people are needed (and how many positions are avialable) to send out foreign missionaries. Then, after all the various positions were on stage, they all flipped over their signs and instead of titles they simply read "missionary". Each of them is a missionary for each of them are helping advance the message of Christ. I paid alot of attention to two of the mulitple things that Pete pointed out in this lesson: 1. Many people are needed to support foreign missionaries besides just the missionary themself and we can help with foreign missions even from our own home 2. Missions here in the states, in your own home, in your own homefront field doesn't require all the support staff!

Many times Chiristians think that they are not "called" to "missions". However, the Bible commands us to go out and preach the gospel, make disciples. This is not a call for a few select to go, but for each of those who have a personal relationship with the Lord. We are called to minister to any and every person we come in contact with. God does call some people to reach out in love to others on a foreign field, but most He calls to reach out to their families (yes, those who have hurt you), their friends (yes, those whose opinion we highly esteem), their co-workers (yes, those who make our lives difficult), thier classmates (yes, those who show us up), their neighbors (yes, those who are nosey, annoying and persnickity) and even unto strangers (yes, the homeless, the rich dude, the widow, the child).

A few days after this lesson I was thinking of this very truth once again and was reminded that I am a missionary. And that this summer, Lake Lundgren Bible Camp is my mission field. I have been sent out by all of you to serve, to love - to make disciples. I know where my summer mission field is - where's yours?