I have been back in America for about two and a half months now. I don’t even know how to explain coming back to America after living in Africa for nine months. Let’s just say it’s very different and I have somewhat different eyes now. As we all know, In Africa I was a missionary. It was awesome! I loved every second of it! Sure, there were some days I wanted to give up but I didn’t and
praise God for that, but all in all in was an incredible time in my life. A time to grow closer to God, to learn what real love is and be more like Jesus, to be challenged and challenge others. It was a unique experience that I will forever praise God for! Coming home from this amazing experience has been rather tough. I can’t quite figure out how to adjust to living in America again without compromising everything I learned in Africa, everything that God convicted me of, everything that brings me closer to Him. Compromising is not an option so I continue to get up every day, open my bible, and try to decipher the key to living for Christ in America. It seems weird because this is my home country, but honestly I feel more comfortable being a missionary in Africa than I do my own country. God is breaking me down though and teaching me bit by bit what it means to be a missionary in America.
My job description as a missionary in Africa was basically this: to get up every morning, die to myself and let Christ love people through me. My job was to be Christ’s hands and feet, bringing hope to the hopeless, healing and loving people in Jesus’ name, putting others before myself and having an eternity mindset. My job was to desire, pursue, and love God more than ANYthing else in my life. Of course, I failed many times but thankfully we serve a graceful God who lets us get back up every day and try again. So this being my job as a missionary in Africa, I cannot just compromise it all because I come home to live in America. I want, desire, and should have the same job here that I had in Africa! Will it look different in certain ways? yes! Should it still look like Christ with skin on? yes! definitely! There should be no compromising getting up every day, dying to myself, and loving people as Jesus does! Because Jesus DOES love people! There should be no compromising praying for people and telling people about the Love that Jesus has for them!
For us to be missionaries, it will take more than just “being nice” to people! They must see the love of Christ POUR out of us! (POUR: to flow rapidly in a STEADY stream) They must know that we have Jesus living in us, not that we are just good people. We can’t just be nice, being nice will not bring people to their Saviour, being nice will not heal people of sickness, disease, and pain, being nice will not bring people out of bondage and chains. We must BE Jesus! We must be MORE than nice. You may be saying,”well I am not called to be a missionary,” but we are all called to “take up our Cross and follow Him,” to love as Jesus does, to pray WITH people, to bring hope to the hopeless and that is what a missionary does.
Jesus says in the gospels “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” (John 4:32) We carry that same food inside of us! Because we have tasted that food, eaten it, digested it; we now own the responsibility of giving that food to the many people of this world and country that have never tasted it before. Jesus goes on to say, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, WAKE UP and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!” (vs. 34-36)
“Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News you will save it.” -Mark 8:34-35-
“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”
-Acts 20:24-
Mary, you inspire me! This is wonderful! Keep seeking after God, He’s revealing Himself to you in great ways and will continue to do so!
I love you, Beautiful!!!
I can just smell the Jesus reeking off of you! We love because He first loved us….ahhh- He’s so good to us!!! Thanks for putting this into words Mary- I love you girl!
So true Mary! I’m right there with you. Keep dying to yourself for Him!! Love you!
Wow Mary you are so right. Thank you for your words. I am so thankful the Lord has put this on your heart.
Wow Mary! What an awesome article! (I am a little late in reading it!) Oh to have the attitude each day of dying to myself! May the love of Christ “POUR” out of me; not just drip here and there.
Love you!