Helloooo everyone! Thank you so much for visiting my fundraising page for this Summer’s Ethiopia mission. I wanted to share a brief overview of the trip and my reasons for participating. I have historically been skeptical about the impact of short-term missions when the right organizational structure is not in place. However, after thinking through and praying about this particular mission for over a year, I have outlined my thought process below as well as the answers to my own original skepticism and objections.
To begin with, God has called us clearly to the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Our purpose on Earth is to know God and to make Him known. If we love God and our lives have truly been changed by Him, then we should answer the call on our lives to go and make Him known. 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
For those visiting this page that might be unfamiliar with the Gospel story, here is a quick recap, as summarized by the following verses in Romans:
1. Romans 3:10, “as it is written, none is righteous, no not one”. All of us make mistakes and are imperfect!
2. Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. We are separated from a perfect and just God. Every other belief system imposes an action based system to earn one's way to God. This, however is impossible to accomplish! How can we attain a call to perfection?
3. Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is the most beautiful act in all of history!
4. Romans 6:23, “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Despite our imperfections, God loved us so much that He sent His only son to die for us on our behalf. He has called us worthy because of what Jesus did for us.
5. Romans 10: 9-11, “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” We do not earn our way to God. We are saved by grace through faith.
6. Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
My life has been profoundly impacted by what God has done for me, and I want to give everything that I can to share that same joy, peace, love, and hope with as many people as I can.
My prior Contemplations/Objections
1. Objection: Short-Term Mission trips are simply fun vacations to places around the world
a. Response: I have had friends and my twin brother Brandon go on this mission in prior years, and they have all echoed how challenging this trip is. It is sunrise to sunset sharing of the Gospel message with no scheduled side trips or vacation days. Making God known is the primary goal of the trip. Naturally, I know that I will also grow in my own dependence on God through the trip which I look forward to as a secondary benefit. I know that it will be joy-filled too, but this is not a vacation.
2. Objection: Why are foreigners from halfway across the world helpful for local churches in another country?
a. Response: This is a matter of top of the funnel marketing versus bottom of the funnel marketing. This trip partners with local church partners to reach new people. Because we are random Americans, it is easier to start conversations. I remember Brandon telling me that one of the local partners remarked that they had been trying to have a conversation with this one local for a long time that Brandon’s group was able to help kickstart a conversation with. This is purely because people want to meet new faces - that is one of the joys of life! During the short trip last year, the Gospel was shared 1570 times! There was not a single person that the group passed last year who they did not received the Gospel story. Each of these conversations was direct, intentional, and face to face. The goal is to not then disappear from these people's lives, but to point these people to the local church partners that we have in Ethiopia (they walk with us). That way, each person has a chance to fully plug into a local church community. The locals that we will travel with give their numbers to anyone who wants to connect further. Lastly, 67 people from the prior trip put their faith in Jesus, and who knows how many people might later come to faith in a process that first began with the seeds planted from this trip. That is powerful!
3. Objection: Short-Term missions seem expensive versus the opportunity to directly finance the local churches?
a. Response: The answer to this objection is supported by the previous objection’s response. My church has partnered with this ministry for 15 years and the support also includes directly assisting with financing of the local church partners throughout the year. This is a long-term relationship that is driven by the desire to help spur each other on towards building supportive Christian communities in each of our respective countries. We are able to sharpen each other in community, pray for one another, and share in the joy that comes from that togetherness.
4. Objection: Isn’t there a lot to do here in the States? Why travel around the world?
Response: The Great Commission states that we are called to make disciples of all nations. That means that we need to prioritize both local and international missions. I am personally passionate about plugging in locally in any way that I can, and I try to regularly do that with my church. This trip to Ethiopia does not subtract from that. If anything, I hope that this trip expands my own confidence and comfort levels when it comes to sharing the priority that God is in my life while here in the States too.
130M
Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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