Representing our Father

Want to be a missionary? It's not as hard as you think. You don't have to raise thousands of dollars for support. You don't need a theology Degree.You don't need a big mission organization behind you.  You just need to be Christ's light where you are. I have found that I often am focused on my missionary job description here in Uganda and get discouraged if the day-to-day routine does not always fit with what I came to do here in Uganda. I came to teach people about farming and through this make followers of Christ and to minister to the poor alongside the local church. This work is great and very exciting –even very unique. I feel it's what I was made to do! Agriculture missions are not the most common type of missionary work so they are often miss-understood or undervalued. But that's OK (and that's NOT why I'm writing this). I find the challenges for me are not always “at work” but in the day-to-day life and how I respond to those around me. How do I respond to the taxi driver who wants to cheat me? To my Muslim friends who work for me? How do I drive? What do I spend my time thinking about and doing? How do I treat my children and wife? These are the things that many others notice (and Ugandans are VERY observant people). So, this helps me when I feel discouraged that I'm not doing all the farming and agriculture teaching that I would like to. I can relax and realize that I have the opportunity of being a missionary 24 -7. I can take time to talk to my carpenter about polygamy. Or be courteous to a rude taxi driver (that's hard!). Or make sure I treat those who work for me fairly and those who live with me like the father and husband they need me to be. It is in the day-to-day circumstances that hold excitement, disappointment, sorrow and difficulty that we will have an opportunity to display what God has worked in us. It will be of little use in the Kingdom of God if I have large training programs in farming but fail to be an example of how one of our Father's children should behave when the pressure is on. If we are not careful we can “do God's work” but fail to represent Him. So, you can be a missionary anywhere – just as long as you are representing Christ. Our troubles with missions is not always failing to go to the ends of the earth (yes we should do this!) but having difficulty showing the people at the ends of the earth what kind of Father has sent us! By God's grace may we truly represent our Father and His Son as His Spirit guides us to be the fragrance of life to those God is leading to salvation.

Posted via email from The Sperling's blog