By Kevin Squires | State Director of Advocacy – West Virginia
Arguably over the last 20 years, the opportunities for short-term missions have continued to spike in popularity. Only recently have we stopped to examine the effects of it all. Ministry experts continually sound off on the positives and negatives of Americans traveling abroad with the idea of “saving the world.” Questions arise from both angles… Couldn’t the money that was raised to go on the trip be used more efficiently in the hands of experts? On the other side of the spectrum… Isn’t there an unexplainable value to being surrounded by extreme poverty and seeing it for yourself? Recently, I unexpectedly found myself in the middle of this story…
I was speaking at a conference for teenagers in West Virginia about our call to connect social justice to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Shortly after the conference, I received a message from a conference administrator telling me that one of his students believed God was calling her to donate money to World Orphans. It turns out, this 18-year-old girl had worked at a daycare center all summer to raise money to go on a mission trip to Honduras with her church. After hearing stories about the atrocities of human trafficking, she felt the need to sacrifice her trip in order to fund a World Orphans camp in Moldova that helps to prevent the trafficking of young children. That day, she humbly cast her trip to the side and wrote a check to World Orphans for $1,000. Check One.
As the days went by she felt a divine sense of peace about her decision. Although it was an anonymous gift at the time, word quickly spread about this teenage girl who was willing to obey God by NOT going on a mission trip! People in her community were stirred to see such selflessness and obedience to Christ. One person, from out of nowhere, was so inspired that she too wrote a check… a check for $1,000 to cover the cost of sending the young girl to Honduras. Check Two.
We often find ourselves debating about the best ways to expand the Kingdom of God. No doubt, those debates are important. However, let’s not forget that the best way to expand God’s Kingdom is through simple obedience to His call, the type of obedience we saw in this 18-year-old girl. Did she face a dilemma? Absolutely. But, she faced it with ears that hear, and eyes that see. She faced it with knees on the ground and hands held high in the air. May God forgive us for being so busy and preoccupied with work and ministry, that we have sometimes failed to hear His call to obedience, better yet answer it. What will be your answer to His call tomorrow when He boldly asks, “Can you hear Me now?”
Rescue a Child. Change the World.