To be His hands and feet.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:19)

This is always so powerful to me, for several reasons, but there are two words that strike me as important within that verse. The first:

Go. 

It's a simple word with SO much power.

We're called to GO into the world to love, to serve, to bring hope, to encourage, to strengthen, and ultimately be a light for Christ on this earth. 

We are being commissioned. 

It's not a question of whether or not we are called into missions... We are ALL called into the mission field; each and every one of us.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). 

We live in a world where too many are lost, so many are broken, and far too many are without hope.

We can't be okay with that. 

We HAVE to GO to them. We HAVE to REACH out. 

We don't have a choice. We can't wait.

All.

We're to make disciples of ALL nations. 

This goes back to the fact that everyone is called to missions. Everyone is called to make disciples. Everyone is called to go. 

This looks different for every person, however.

We're supposed to reach out wherever we are, whenever we can, and in whatever ways we can. We don't have to be on a designated missions trip to shine the light of Christ into our world. Just looking around in our cities, we're constantly surrounded by people who are broken, and who are searching for something MORE in life.

What keeps us from stretching out a hand in their direction?

Why do we think we have to be on a planned missions trip in order to reach people?

I definitely think that God can and does call people to go and further His Kingdom overseas or in other countries, other cities, other states. I think short and long term missions work is an astounding way to reach an incredible amount of people in different stages of life. The impact on so many lives is beyond my comprehension. (Which I love, by the way). And at the same time, I believe that He can and does call people to be His hands and His feet within their own cities. 

There is no rule book that tells us where we have to go, what specific group of people we have to impact, or tells us we can't lead people to Christ near our own homes and in our everyday lives. 

Preaching the Gospel to ALL nations does include America too...

We can't get so wrapped up in the idea that missions work has to be in a foreign country that we ignore the fact that we walk by people everyday who don't know the love of Christ. The people in our workplace, people we bump into at the grocery store, the people that break our hearts as they sit holding a 'Poor and broken' sign on the side of the road; ALL includes these people too. 

We can feel called to go to another country to carry the name of Jesus, and that's SO stinking awesome... but until we get there, we're constantly standing amidst a missions field so close to home.

Just because we may be called to a specific location in the future, doesn't mean we have to neglect the need right in front of our eyes where we live.

SO. 

We're called to go into the world and carry the name of Jesus.

And we're to go to all nations, even the one in which we live. 

We are to pray for those who have gone to serve in different countries, and we are to pray for those who are serving right here in our own cities. 

God can and will use anybody in a foreign country, or in their own families to increase His Kingdom. We just have to be willing and ready to listen when He says to go at any minute of our lives.