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missions

Go Therefore, Missionary

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For many years now, I’ve kept some form of an online blog as a place to let my journals overflow into the hands of my friends and family (and the occasional stranger). It’s been a strange experience to see the places those once-private thoughts have landed, but I believe that the Lord gives each of us stories of grace, redemption, hope, and imperfection that are longing to be told to display His glory. Since being back in Thailand over the past few months, I’ve found that my blog has stayed silent while I’ve hashed out my thoughts through my social media accounts. Despite many of my posts turning into mini-blogs, I’ve felt the stories crying out to be told fully, and so this week I’d like to invite you into the uncut versions of my social media feed, in hopes that the words of the Lord find you and lift up your weary or discouraged hearts.

 

Go Therefore, Missionary

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

WednesdayPeople are quick to attach the label “missionary” to me these days, and I’m not quite comfortable with it. The truth is, despite being a believer in a foreign country, which I guess helps me meet the requirements for “missionary,” I’m not really doing anything seriously different from what I did at home.

In America, “missionary” would hardly be on the list of words to describe my life, but now that I live in another country, it’s all too common to be described that way. If we’re going to call me a missionary, then can we please call you missionaries too? We may be separated by miles and oceans, but those miles and oceans do not make me any more or less of a missionary than you are.

The power of God is just as present in your life, in your church, in your small groups and in your faith as it is here. The presence of God is just as accessible – whether you are in small-town USA, the African bush, or a district of Bangkok.

There’s a huge misconception in that you have to get on a plane to be a missionary. You have to leave the country to be “on mission.” Here’s the truth: You don’t have to pack everything you own in a backpack and leave the country for life in a hut. You don’t have to leave America to serve Jesus and serve others. For a lot of you, you don’t even have to leave your own home to find a “mission field” to call your own.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned about my faith in the past couple of years running around the world with Jesus is this: you just have to be willing to say yes. The “where” is not the answer. The “Who” is.

It looks different for all of us, but most of the time I’ve found that “saying yes” looks like have conversations. It looks like saying yes to the awkward small talk that leads to building relationships. Saying yes to being the only one and risking looking silly. Saying yes to the possibility of failing miserably. Saying yes to rearranging your schedules and priorities, or to that Bible study you’re not sure about.

You don’t have to wait until you’re overseas or in a different city to live missionally. You don’t have to wait until a special event to invite a friend to church. You don’t have to wait until a scheduled service project to meet the needs of your community. You don’t have to wait until the clothes don’t fit anymore to donate them.

Maybe I’m speaking for myself, or maybe I’m speaking for more of us – but where does Scripture say “Wait until disaster strikes and then go into all nations,” or “Go make disciples of all nations that aren’t the nation you live in?” We must be going every time our feet hit the floor. Every interaction you have with another person, you are “going therefore.”

Go therefore to Target and make disciples. Go therefore to that delicious pizza place and make disciples. Go therefore to biology class and make disciples. Go therefore to the gym and make disciples. Go!

Chelsey

A God Who Listens

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For many years now, I’ve kept some form of an online blog as a place to let my journals overflow into the hands of my friends and family (and the occasional stranger). It’s been a strange experience to see the places those once-private thoughts have landed, but I believe that the Lord gives each of us stories of grace, redemption, hope, and imperfection that are longing to be told to display His glory. Since being back in Thailand over the past few months, I’ve found that my blog has stayed silent while I’ve hashed out my thoughts through my social media accounts. Despite many of my posts turning into mini-blogs, I’ve felt the stories crying out to be told fully, and so this week I’d like to invite you into the uncut versions of my social media feed, in hopes that the words of the Lord find you and lift up your weary or discouraged hearts.

 

A God Who Listens

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he bends his ear to listen, I will call on Him as long as I live.

Psalm 116:1-2 (ESV)

TuesdayIn my journeys over the past couple of years, I spent a month in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It’s a city where you can’t stick your arm out without hitting one of three things: a backpacker, a motorbike, or a Buddhist.
I remember sitting in a coffee shop with a sweet new Buddhist friend learning about her life and about her current curiosity about Christianity. One of her Christian friends had begun praying over some personal problems she was having, and my new friend was seeing things change for the better. She was so confused how her Christian friend’s prayers were being answered while her prayers and offerings to Buddha were being ignored, and the words she said next rattled me to my core and rooted themselves in my heart forever. “Your God listens.” I still get goosebumps when I think back to that conversation in that coffee shop in that Communist country.

In Thailand, where I’m currently living, there is a saying: “To be Thai is to be Buddhist.” Despite being a country that speaks of religious freedom, the Thai identity is tightly secured to Buddhism. From the moment you are born, you are legally marked as a Buddhist. To convert is almost to betray your country and disrespect the king. All schools, even the Catholic schools, are required to teach Buddhism rather extensively.

Learning all of this has made me more and more curious about the testimonies of the people I work with, who are all Thai Christians. One day, I asked one of our teachers how she became a Christian and what it was that made her see Jesus as Truth over Buddha. She launched into her story of the way her sister’s conversion helped to peak her interest, and what she said next sent me back to that Communist coffee shop. “I realized that for all the offerings I gave to my idols, nothing happened. My sister told me that the God she believed in listened to His people and He even spoke to her. And I knew that a God who listens is what I wanted.”

Our God listens. It seems like such a simple truth, but it is one that I’m learning the true weight and beauty of more and more. Those three words hold such power: Our God listens. He hears your prayers, He hears your joys and your sorrows, and He’s listening.

Chelsey

The Unexpected Waters of Obedience

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For many years now, I’ve kept some form of an online blog as a place to let my journals overflow into the hands of my friends and family (and the occasional stranger). It’s been a strange experience to see the places those once-private thoughts have landed, but I believe that the Lord gives each of us stories of grace, redemption, hope, and imperfection that are longing to be told to display His glory. Since being back in Thailand over the past few months, I’ve found that my blog has stayed silent while I’ve hashed out my thoughts through my social media accounts. Despite many of my posts turning into mini-blogs, I’ve felt the stories crying out to be told fully, and so this week I’d like to invite you into the uncut versions of my social media feed, in hopes that the words of the Lord find you and lift up your weary or discouraged hearts.

 

The Unexpected Waters of Obedience

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

Matthew 14:28-29 (ESV)

MondayNearly two years ago now, I was jumping on a plane to Manila, Philippines, and had no idea where it would actually take me. Before that first plane ride that would begin a round-the-world journey, I felt the Holy Spirit asking me to release the plans I had for myself and trust Him. I said yes, and spent the next year of my life meeting and serving with brothers and sisters in countries I had never dreamed of stepping foot in.

The funny thing about obedience and trust and faith and this whole journey with Jesus is this: in the beginning when we’re simply dipping our toes into the waters of obedience, we hope that this is the biggest step we’ll have to take, only to find ourselves submerged and swimming deeper years later.

The taste of obedience, even if it may be bitter or painful at first, is one of the sweetest things we can experience on earth as it draws us closer and closer to Jesus Himself. And so, one step turns to two, turns to two hundred, and on and on until you find yourself in one of the last places you expected. For me, that place is sitting on the floor of a classroom in Thailand, wondering when in the world this became a part of my 5 or 10 year plan.

Spending time in churches and the homes of believers around the world has shaken my life and faith in ways I cannot begin to describe. Being back in a country that claims religious freedom yet sees anything other than Buddhism as an insult to the king and the country invokes a mix of emotions to swirl in my heart – fear, hope, joy, burdens and more. I’m learning though, that part of what makes this whole journey so beautiful is recognizing that I have no idea what’s going to happen next. I don’t have all the answers; I don’t even know all of the questions!

None of us do, which is why it is so important to embrace and fully live in the places God has called us to and placed us in. Living cross-culturally and living missionally aren’t limited to visiting or moving to foreign countries. It’s not about grand experiences or great photos, or even miraculous stories. It’s about learning how your neighbor lives – your neighbor across the street or across the globe – and joining them, walking the streets they walk and listening to the stories they’ve lived.

We consistently see Jesus meeting people where they were: Zacchaeus in a tree, the woman at the well, and more. Let’s follow his example and take notice of our neighbors around us seeking His love and acceptance.

Chelsey