Missions...

You may have noticed this past week a new item on the right side of our blog for the unreached people of the day. This is a subject that is close to Alexa and I. Two years ago for spring break we went on a mission trip to Piriti, Panama in the Darien Jungle. This was something that we had been looking forward to doing for a while and when the opportunity came up and we signed up right away.

Our trip was one of the best experiences of my life. We were able to help these people out and get more things done around the village in one week than they do in a month's time. The best part of it all was their appreciation towards us. They didn't take us being there for granted. They were accepting of our help and were glad to answer questions and talk with us whenever we wanted, even with the language difference.

There were so many great experiences that I still wish I could go back and spend another week there. If you have never lived a week with no worries, no cares, and no stress you would understand what I mean. These people aren't worried about who is winning the football game, who was elected president, or what time of the day it is. These people continue to live their lives as though it is their last day, always smiling and showing their gratitude towards you.

The joy of all this is that these people know who God is and that Christ died on the cross for them, just as he did for us. This is something that we take for granted so much. We grow up in churches being told what to believe, but never understanding why it is we believe it. We have trouble understanding that Jesus really was a man that walked on this earth just as we are now. He came with one purpose, and that was to do the will of the Father who sent Him. We were able to spend our nights in Panama worshiping God for what He is and what He did for us. If you have never heard someone in another language pray or sing praises it is an amazing experience and sends chills up your spine. To think that one day we will be walking around in heaven with these people all in the presence of the same God just blows my mind.
Here, though is where the bad news comes in as you can see in the map above. There are 6,630,000,000 people on this earth, 2,670,000,000 of them have never even heard of Jesus. That is just over 40% of the people on this earth who have never heard that there is one true God and His Son came to this earth as a man only to die and be raised to life in order that our sins would be forgiven. This is tragic because we who know this keep it to ourselves. We are commanded to spread the good news, so what are you doing to help the kingdom of God expand? What about that person you work with, or the person that always sits next to you in class? Ever thought about asking them?

We tend to hear big pushes for people to go overseas to go on mission trips, but I am starting to realize more and more now that there are so many people around us who don't even know. They could even be sitting next to you in church. How will you know unless you ask? The people in Panama just a couple years ago were walking around wearing loin cloths living off the land and being self-sustaining. They now are wearing clothes as we do and taking trips into the city to buy things to make life easier. A couple years ago they were worshiping spirits, in touch with the evil side and doing powerful things with it. They now know about God and His Son from people who cared enough to learn their language and teach them about God. There are billions of people out there just like them and we have everything necessary to give them this message, will you be ready when your time comes?