Contribute by VBC graduate Stephanie Houde
Around this time last year I was sitting in a second year VBC class listening to Pastor Paul Daugherty speak about short-term missions. There was a moment when the entire class went quiet and sat at perfect attention. Pastor Paul began to share his burning heart for people, and with such compassion and conviction in his voice he said: “Until you have wept for the people you are going there to reach, you have no business being there.” The atmosphere was filled with the tender conviction of the Holy Spirit and we all sensed it. The following week when we had a guest speaker in that same class, he asked us what we had been learning in the weeks before. I would dare to say that three out of four people who shared brought up that very sentence that Pastor Paul had spoken the week before. Something tangible about those very words stirred inside of us and continued to quicken our hearts one week later. Our leader is truly compelled by the love of Christ, and there is no doubt about it.
Here’s the deal, every Spring and Summer, without fail, my husband and I (along with most of our friends) get bombarded with letters, Facebook events, and Go Fund Me campaigns that are asking us to put our hard earned money toward someone going on a missions trip. While I whole-heartedly believe in giving our money to advance the kingdom of God and to further the message of the gospel, something about these “strategies” rubs me the wrong way. I recently spent some time thinking about why this type of fundraising bothers me like it does and I realized a few things that I feel might offer some fresh insight to those going on missions this summer.
Before we give money to a missionaries campaign, we should always ask, “Is this person good ground?” I believe the real question we should ask is, “does this person have a heart to serve in their daily life and does their heart burn for this country? Or am I paying for a cool and exotic vacation where they will “kind of help some people” and take a few pictures with foreign kids?”
I understand that this is probably stepping on some toes, but before you decide to publically flog me for this, allow me to tell you a personal story of my own.
Years ago, when I was part of the IMT program, my team was planning a summer missions trip to Brazil. For those of you that don’t know this, my second language happens to be Portuguese, the native language of Brazil. When the trip was announced it sounded like a no brainer to me, of course I’ll be going. I thought: “Surely they will need me to translate and I could be a real asset to the trip.” Wrong.
When the time came to apply for the trip, I had absolutely no peace in my heart about going. I wrestled with God about it for weeks until I finally decided to surrender and let it go. All of my friends boarded a plane and took off to a place I had been dreaming of going to for many years. The honest truth is, I wanted to see Brazil because it would be an adventurous experience, but not once in those weeks of wrestling did I go before God and say “but Lord, the people, they need you and my heart is burning to bring your Word to them.” Not once. I later realized that I most likely would have been more of a distraction than an asset by speaking broken Portuguese and taking selfies the whole time. Seriously.
A few years later, the Lord spoke to me in a quiet moment and said “you will be going to Brazil soon.” I jumped up to my feet with an unexplainable joy and shouted “really?” He said nothing else. I kept quiet about what I had heard and a few days later a young woman approached me and said “Steph, I have been looking for you. My family is starting an internship in Brazil this summer and we feel you would be perfect for it.” I told her I would pray about it but I knew in my heart that this was it. I had no idea where the money would come from so I asked God to give me fundraising ideas for missions and He did. I got out into neighborhoods and sold baked goods. I bought the supplies I needed and detailed cars for donations. Then I sent out personalized cards and asked for donations. When faced with a financial deadline that looked impossible I got before God and said “You told me to go Lord, so I will do whatever it takes to go, but I need you to pay for it. I need a miracle.” An hour later someone approached me saying: “God said to buy you a plane ticket to Brazil.” Another person came a few days later saying: “God told me to pay your car insurance for the entire summer.” Long story short, every dollar came in along with some spending money for traveling. I spent that summer serving the Brazilian people with all of my heart. I was able to spend a few months discipling a group of young teens, I wept over and ministered to broken women, and I preached the word of God with passion to Brazilian young adults. Unexpectedly I was also given the opportunity to speak on a Brazilian talk show and shared the word of the Lord on national TV. I’m thankful that the Lord held me back from going on that first trip because in my heart it was about me. In the three months I spent in Brazil I had a whole myriad of adventures and returned with friendships that are still precious to me to this day. (I even got to take a few selfies with these friends and their cute kids.)
Here is the bottom line. If God has called you to go on summer missions this year, go. Whatever it takes, find the means. It’s easy to sit back and hope that the funds come in because you asked on Facebook but if your heart is truly burning to reach this people group, you will put the time and sweat into getting there to minister to them. Wash cars, bake cupcakes, babysit, pick up trash, make tee shirts, and write letters.
Ask God to show you His heart for the trip and ask Him to show you the people. Allow the love of Jesus to compel you. Pray for the people now and invite the Holy Spirit to inspire your heart to burn for them. I promise that when you sow your heart and your time into this trip before going, He will exceed all expectations that you had in the first place. Let people see your passion and your commitment, the funds will follow.
If you’re going to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to another country this summer, do it with all of your heart. Starting now.