Here I am Lord, send me. As a missionary kid who spent thirteen years of my life overseas in Papua New Guinea, I have always been the one sent. During the years of home assignment in America, my family would visit church after church, giving reports of the tribal work and encouraging the believers of America that they are a part of this great work too. I remember watching them wipe away tears as our beautiful videos ended with the tribesmen thanking Americans for consistently praying for the new Church. All my life, they would send me.
Now, I am a student at NTBI. I’ve chosen a church and love the Bible school life. In mid-October, my church had a missions conference and I listened from the pews as a member of the American congregation. I listened to their updates with an air of indignation. It wasn’t until after the missions conference, that I was able to realize those thoughts and emotions. I was not being sent. I was sitting listening and being thanked for praying. I had every right to consider my part completed and played from spending my life on the mission field. I was slightly miffed that the others in my church counted me as a member not as a missionary.
Then, I put it into words. I, who was once the one being sent, am now the one sending. It is a strange perspective for some I suppose, but for me it is very real. I’ve had to come to a point of contentment. This is where God has me now. I am to be sending and supporting people as they follow God’s will for their lives. So now I am looking for opportunities to be serving. We as those sending others can be backing them in prayer. We can be helping in finances (every little bit helps) we can be encouraging and remind the missionaries that they have a strong support base behind them.
Once we realize that we need to be blooming where we are planted, we can begin leaving little flowers everywhere. Sometimes it takes being completely uprooted from everything you know and other times it means settling into the soil you’ve been planted in. Whether we are the ones sending or the ones being sent, we can be serving wholeheartedly.
