My dad grew up in Western Tennessee on a farm. He was actually born in a farmhouse in Obion County. He has related to me the opportunities he had to milk cows, harvest corn, shell peas, well, farm life. He has also told me about hoeing cotton. He said it was an arduous job…long and tiring…row after row. But at harvest time, the field was white with cotton bowls.
Yesterday was our mission Sunday at church. We’ve been talking about it for weeks and weeks, encouraging the congregation to be in prayer about what they might give toward our goal so other people might have the opportunity to hear about Jesus. I don’t know where we are at on the numbers yet but I do know this church is a very generous group of people.
We support and go as far away as Kenya, Africa to help an orphanage of 40 deaf children. We buy Bibles through Eastern European Missions which puts the Bible in schools in places that the USSR used to prohibit. We support a church in Campamento, Honduras, helping create a clean water source and a daycare for the locals. During the summer, we cook all the meals all week long at a camp in Texas for at-risk-kids from the Dallas area. We serve our own community through the Big Event, Meals on Wheels, GP Pregnancy Center, Lifeline Chaplaincy, and GPISD.
Our group is a generous, selfless bunch who just want to look more like Jesus. It’s fun and exciting to be with people who want nothing more than Jesus’ story to be told and do that telling in lots of different ways. But don’t wait for the big “splash”. Don’t wait for the “right moment” before you jump in to help tell the story.
You see, this weekend, I was at a local mall trying to sell my book, Beautiful Interference, which published in June. Sales were…okay. But what struck me was the conversations. I was reminded people are hungry for the truth and a church (or group of people) who also are living for Jesus and the truth. The conversations I had were genuine and authentic. They were people who have been looking for something their life has been missing. His Name is Jesus.
We are called as Jesus’ disciples to share the good news. To BE Jesus to those around us and you don’t need to go to Kenya, Europe, or Honduras to do that. Your neighbor is looking for truth. Your coworker is looking for the answer. Your family member is hoping to find something worth fighting for. The mission field is right around you.
So don’t forget a simple smile, holding the door, allowing someone in the traffic line, a kind word at the bank or post office, sharing a meal with someone in need of a listening ear…these are all mission fields you can be a part of today. Go out and BE Jesus today. Jesus said to his disciples in John 4, “The fields are white, ready for harvest.” And he says that to you and me today.
Take some time this week. Look around. Jesus story needs to be told or even better, shown to all those looking for answers. Be the light. Look around. The field is white and we get to walk among the rows! Blessings on your journey.