missions Archives

October 18, 2016

Adventure.

Alaska was always this magical land where the sun never sets and then turns around, refusing to rise. A place with wild creatures and snow covered peaks, glaciers, and villages. A place I dreamed of visiting, never thinking the day would come.

Then I went twice in five weeks.

My job has taken me all over the world. I get to travel with short-term mission’s teams, love on the lost and restore hope. When I was assigned two separate Anchorage trips, I did not know what to do. All of my “mission’s clothes” were made for summer heat and humid thunderstorms; I had been working on my Spanish all year long. Now, I was going to serve a group of people I knew little about with teams I had never met.

This is adventure.

On my first trip, I was able to work with teenagers who had never picked up a Bible and knew little of Christ. Our team helped them fundraise money to go to camp by selling hundreds of donuts in parking lots and on street corners. One of the girls raising money had only stepped through the doors of church a week prior to our arrival; she was looking for someone, anyone, to pay attention and notice her. Our team poured into her life, praying the week after we left as she went to camp she would come to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.

As I stepped out of the airport five weeks later, nearly the first sentence out of my mouth was a question about her.

She had yet to accept Jesus as her Savior.

I was heartbroken.

Coming off a June of anguish and confusion, and a July of change I did not ask for, I needed this. I needed her to have said yes to Jesus. Why was my hard work of pouring into her not enough?

MY hard work. There is the problem.

I had spent my whole first trip pouring into her out of myself, not out of my abundance of Jesus. I tried to save her. Me. Jamie. I had forgotten saving was not my job.

It took two nights in Anchorage the second time around for me to get it. I cried out to God asking why she had not yet been saved. Wasn’t I doing enough? Jesus gently spoke to me in the way only He can,

“Jamie, it’s your job to point to me, it’s my job to run to her.”

Wow. What a beautiful reminder of how Jesus loves us. Of the prodigal son’s return. The rest of my second stay in Alaska was spent watching her grow and lead in our VBS, right alongside the team from Alabama. As she watched our team love kids and love Jesus with such abandon, I saw her begin to change. At the end of our trip, she prayed with another leader on our team the prayer of salvation.

We rejoiced with Jesus. She had found the hope she was longing for.

This is why I am a missionary. This is why I spend agonizing weeks fundraising my salary, preparing teams for travel, flying around the world. I go for the one.

Thank God for big reminders like Anchorage.
Thank God for not giving up on me.
Thank God for HOPE.

September 27, 2016

Complacent

A couple weeks ago, I embarked on a backpacking adventure to Iceland. For four days, I hiked the Landmannalaugar trail. The scenery was breathtaking. The weather was perfect. “Not too cold, not too hot. All you need is a light jacket” (If you guess where this quote is from you win! I don’t know what you win, but I’ll find something…).

I felt so adventurous as I crossed and jumped over rivers (I now have a love/hate relationship with rivers due to this trip), quickly set up a tent in the rain and snow, ascended and descended high mountain tops, and rehydrated meals with a little fuel tank and some boiling water. I was unstoppable! I felt amazing! I felt like a new person.

Now see here; when you venture out into the Icelandic wilderness with 30 pounds on your back and hike between 7 and 10 miles a day, your mind starts to race.

My mind would not stop spinning especially about the glory of God and His will for my life.

As I stood on top of a hill and scanned the landscape, I could not help but praise God. The scenery was amazing and to know He created this was absolutely astounding! I could also not help but think about the lives of the people of Iceland and of those in other parts of the world. Do they know Christ? Have they heard of Him? Is there someone who can speak to them about the love and mercy of our Lord? Then my questions shifted…

“Can I be that person to speak to them about the love and mercy of our Lord?”

“Can I be the voice proclaiming the Gospel?”

“Can I go and be a witness and light to others?”

These questions soon became my prayer for the rest of the trip. I began to pray for clarity for the plans God has for my life. I began to pray on how I can witness to my community and to other countries.

I am now back at work and feel complacent. I feel annoyed. I feel bored. I am tired of feeling safe. I am tired of working at a job where I have to walk on eggshells because of how the employees and employers are connected. I want to go out and not be afraid to share my faith. I want to go out and be a light in the darkness.

I have been listening to different sermons from Francis Chan and the fire for preaching the Gospel is blazing. In one of Chan’s sermons, he talks about how American Christians get caught up in living a “safe” life. We only hang out with others who are Christians, we won’t go to certain events unless they are Christian-based, and so on and so on. We get caught up in what our church building looks like, how good the band is, if there is a cool light show, and how many people are in attendance. What Chan says next is the cherry on top. Now here you go. Are you ready?

God did not call us to live a SAFE life.

God did not call us to only stick with fellow believers. God did not call us to sit in a building with thousands of people as the lights are flashing with an awesome slideshow and the band singing Hillsong’s “Oceans”. God called us to go. Go. Go and make disciples. Go and spread the good news. Go into the world and proclaim His name.

Now I am not saying not to hang out with your Christian friends. I am not saying to not attend church and be fed. I am not saying that your church is bad if it has a light show and has a band that sings “Oceans”. I am not saying to be of the world. I am simply saying to go.

I know it is not easy to be a Christ-follower. Our lives have been radically changed forever. We want everyone to know about the love of God; yet, when we open our mouths, we get judged. People don’t want to listen to you. People start to look at you differently, especially in the Bay Area, which is the most un-churched area in the Nation.

In all of America, the Bay Area reigns supreme as the most anti-God community. The minute I mention that I am a believer, the look on people’s faces resemble the face of a baby that has tried a piece of a lemon for the first time. Mentioning my faith in God equals to an obscene comment or gesture in the Bay. Funny how an area that heavily promotes love, equality, and acceptance, doesn’t really show love or acceptance to all people. Yet, we can’t let that un-acceptance and the judgment stop us…

Being a Christian, a Christ-follower, means that your life is changed forever.

It’s changed in a glorious way. We have experienced how glorious Christ is and it is time to share that with others. Whether it is something simple or extravagant, local or global, the message of the Gospel must be told to our communities. We must go.

September 9, 2015

Go Global

There we were, in the Houston International Airport, about to board another flight, this one heading to Managua, Nicaragua. We were a group of twelve, ready for a week of serving and scared of the unknown. The flight to Houston for three of us was the first time in a plane. The next flight to Nicaragua for most was the first time ever out of the country.

The plane took off and all eyes were glued to the window. The months of fundraising and praying were combining with feet-to-the-ground action in just a few hours. The excitement of it all mixing in giddy laughs at 39,000 feet. The seven days that followed were a complete blur of laughs and tears, tickles and spins, photographs and prayers. And there we were, in the Houston International Airport, again. Only our memories to keep us company.

Nicaragua had captured my heart long before this trip, and now had the other eleven from my group in her grasp. That’s what missions does to people. It changes you. How could it not? Anytime you remove the comfortable and replace it with Jesus, the radical happens. When we take one step towards Jesus, He pulls us deeper than we ever thought we could go.

So, when are you going to go? Yea, that’s right, you. When? Where?

Now, you probably think I’m crazy. You have a life full of commitments and obligations. You could never find the time or the money to go. It’s better to just send others fundraising money then send myself. I have a year’s worth stories that say otherwise. When we actually GO, we get to see firsthand what Jesus wanted us to see: the poor, the orphans and the widows. Sure, you have people just like that in your community, but you never truly see them, do you? We’re always in a hurry to get from work to home, from this meeting to the next, from Monday to Friday. When you go on a missions trip, the focus comes off you and your schedule and it becomes about Jesus and His schedule.

And eyes are opened.

I firmly believe that if you go on a missions trip, it will drastically change how you serve Jesus in your own community. A little perspective is all you need. So, I’ll ask again, when are you going to go?