Raise Your Hand
A murmur of excitement spread across the room full of children as pictures of elephants and giraffes and zebras flashed across the overhead screen.
"One of the great things about traveling to another country is exploring and seeing animals like these!" Kristen said as we scrolled through her pictures from Kenya this summer.
Eight of us nursing students spoke for the children's "mission night" at their Wednesday night devotional. We shared stories from our mission trips, showed pictures, and taught the children cultural greetings.
"I went to Guatemala just a few weeks ago," Meghan introduced herself. "Have you heard of Guatemala? Do you know where it is?"
"Guatemala! That sounds like guacamole!" one excited little girl announced.
We continued to share fun facts, adventures, and kid-friendly stories from our different trips to Tanzania, Ghana, Guatemala, Ukraine, and Kenya. We allowed the children to ask questions, and at the end, we wrapped everything together by asking them one last question.
"How many of you are missionaries? Raise your hand if you are a missionary."
A few hands were shyly raised, then lowered quickly when they realized what was asked. Most of the children sat confused and motionless in their seats. They were quiet, but I was getting very passionate.
"Let me share with you the most important thing you will hear tonight!" I exclaimed. "Every one of you can raise your hand! A missionary is simply someone who has a mission. When we follow Jesus, our mission is to tell people about Him wherever we go and to love and serve people like He would. Now, who has a mission? Who is a missionary?"
I smiled as every single child and even the adults in the back of the room threw their hands into the air eagerly.
"You may not be going to Africa or Guatemala tomorrow, but raise your hand if you are going to school. Now raise your hand if you are going to softball or baseball practice. Raise your hand if you have a piano lesson." The room began to fill with talkative children telling their neighbors what they were going to do tomorrow. "All of these places are your mission field where you can tell people about Jesus."
Sometimes I, too, get caught up in thinking that I will finally be missionary when I board the plane to Burkina Faso this summer. Missionaries travel abroad to China and Uganda and Guacamole, right? Then I hear the Lord gently prompting his children, "Raise your hand if you are a missionary." Sometimes we are slow to grasp the significance of this question, but then we remember who we are and the mission that He has called us to do. And we raise our hands in the air excitedly, saying, "Here I am, Lord, send me."
Send me to Burkina Faso, God, but in the meantime, send me to the hospital, send me to class, send me to Wal-Mart and the gas station. Send me to my work place, send me to my dentist appointment, send me to the laundromat, and send me to the hardware store.
Raise your hand, everybody, for we are all missionaries.
"One of the great things about traveling to another country is exploring and seeing animals like these!" Kristen said as we scrolled through her pictures from Kenya this summer.
Eight of us nursing students spoke for the children's "mission night" at their Wednesday night devotional. We shared stories from our mission trips, showed pictures, and taught the children cultural greetings.
"I went to Guatemala just a few weeks ago," Meghan introduced herself. "Have you heard of Guatemala? Do you know where it is?"
"Guatemala! That sounds like guacamole!" one excited little girl announced.
We continued to share fun facts, adventures, and kid-friendly stories from our different trips to Tanzania, Ghana, Guatemala, Ukraine, and Kenya. We allowed the children to ask questions, and at the end, we wrapped everything together by asking them one last question.
"How many of you are missionaries? Raise your hand if you are a missionary."
A few hands were shyly raised, then lowered quickly when they realized what was asked. Most of the children sat confused and motionless in their seats. They were quiet, but I was getting very passionate.
"Let me share with you the most important thing you will hear tonight!" I exclaimed. "Every one of you can raise your hand! A missionary is simply someone who has a mission. When we follow Jesus, our mission is to tell people about Him wherever we go and to love and serve people like He would. Now, who has a mission? Who is a missionary?"
I smiled as every single child and even the adults in the back of the room threw their hands into the air eagerly.
"You may not be going to Africa or Guatemala tomorrow, but raise your hand if you are going to school. Now raise your hand if you are going to softball or baseball practice. Raise your hand if you have a piano lesson." The room began to fill with talkative children telling their neighbors what they were going to do tomorrow. "All of these places are your mission field where you can tell people about Jesus."
Sometimes I, too, get caught up in thinking that I will finally be missionary when I board the plane to Burkina Faso this summer. Missionaries travel abroad to China and Uganda and Guacamole, right? Then I hear the Lord gently prompting his children, "Raise your hand if you are a missionary." Sometimes we are slow to grasp the significance of this question, but then we remember who we are and the mission that He has called us to do. And we raise our hands in the air excitedly, saying, "Here I am, Lord, send me."
Send me to Burkina Faso, God, but in the meantime, send me to the hospital, send me to class, send me to Wal-Mart and the gas station. Send me to my work place, send me to my dentist appointment, send me to the laundromat, and send me to the hardware store.
Raise your hand, everybody, for we are all missionaries.
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