(Something new beginning this week. June 27th marked my third anniversary writing for you fine readers. Thanks for your tremendous encouragement. Now, each week, at the end of the current piece, you will find some selected responses to the article from the previous week. Let me know what you think.)

When I was in high school, I thought seriously about serving the Lord in Africa as a missionary. Many of my fellow young people in my home church aspired to full time service for the Lord. In fact, one of my best friends, to this very day, is serving in Senegal.

As missionaries came to our church for meetings, I had the distinct impression that all missionaries lived in thatched roof huts, wore pith helmets, and wrestled phythons every night in their sleep! I believed that missionaries from the States went to foreign countries to bring them a far more advanced culture, get them to cover their naked bodies, and learn to speak good English! To me, missionaries were benign father/mother figures whose task was to help the poor, ignorant savages, become like little Americans.

How wrong that impression really was. While it may have been true many years ago, it certainly isn’t true today. Most foreign countries have cities at least as modern as ours. We’ve learned that after winning these folks to Jesus, the Kingdom has advanced much more efficiently as the indigenous leaders directed and operated the Lord’s work in their own countries.

Well, one of my best friends and his wife are missionaries in Honduras. However, neither of them sits around under a palm tree with a pith helmet on their heads! (g) They live in a modern cabin in the woods. They have someone who comes a couple of days a week and takes care of most of the cleaning.

My friend is pastor of a large school in the capital city, Tegucigalpe. He helps organize spiritual emphasis retreats, chapel services, special outreaches, etc. His school has actually been responsible for sending missionaries to our country, the United States! What a switcherooooo, eh? (g)

One of these days, I want to interview our son, Tim, for a piece I’m going to call, “Dumpster Diving For Jesus”. Tim, his wife, Debbie, and their three kids do an enormous amount of work finding and collecting needed items for missionary friends.

I’m just going to explain one way I’ve been able to help meet a brother’s needs. One day, while online, I got an “Instant Message” alert from my friend. I’ll call him “Bubba”, ’cuz that’s the nickname I gave him and it sorta stuck.

He asked me if I could check some prices for him on various pieces of sound equipment he needed at his school. It was getting very close to the deadline for submitting his budget requests.

While IMing with him, I grabbed the other phone line and called a large music supply company here in town. Turns out that I was talking with a salesman with whom Bubba had dealt when he was principal at a local Christian school. I IMed the prices to Bubba, while on the phone line with the salesman. I also obtained the salesman’s e-mail address and direct phone number. Within a few minutes, I was able to short circuit perhaps weeks of snail mailing! Ain’t God good?

Now, I’ve heard messages and read articles about how satanic the Internet is. Part of it is, but, for me at least, it’s opened up new opportunities to serve the Lord and impact a teensie-weensie part of my world. I thank Him every day for the Internet.

My challenge to you? What could you do to make contact with missionaries whom you know and whom your church supports? Nearly all now have access to e-mail. Wouldn’t they appreciate a short, encouraging message? I say “short” because phone charges can be horrific in some countries. Could you be God’s liaison for helping meet specific needs for specific missionaries? If you let folks know that you’re willing, you may be surprised at what could develop.

If you have a specific story to share about your experiences in this area, please use the “Leave a Reply” box below!  I look forward to hearing from you.

– Great story and philosophy. I agree wholeheartedly. I just drove only 3 hours to do the same thing in Northern Maine. The adventures are great wherever. I prefer a warmer climate though. I would myself prefer to be the hitchhiker for Jesus than to be on the receiving end though. I sometimes do similar things on the beaches in Maine. I have to get a job this summer though and am quite disappointed that I have to be tied down to something so meaningless..Ü Thanks for your stories.

– I’m getting out of my rut by going on a mission trip with the youth from June 27-July 6th. Please put the youth of St. John’s UCC on your prayer list. We’re going with Youth with a Mission. It should be a challenge for all of us! You’re right, no one even talks to the “normal” looking people anymore. We’re all becoming isolationists. That’s not the way Christ would want it.

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