I LOVE MISSIONS! YES, I DO! I LOVE MISSIONS! HOW ‘BOUT YOU?!
I love missions and I love missionaries. I have been financially supporting missions work ever since I was a kid. I actually remember committing to giving 50 cents every month on Missions Sunday at my church when I was really young. And I’m happy to say that my giving has grown significantly since that time.
Missions matters to God, and it was something that He proved to me in a very real way back in 2005.
Every year my church holds an annual missions banquet. During this particular banquet, one of the missionaries my church supports spoke and challenged our church body to give a gift that would challenge our faith – basically giving something that would hurt our wallet, trusting that God would take care of us as we give to take care of the work being done through our missionaries overseas. While this missionary was sharing this, I felt God leading me to write a check in the amount of my upcoming rent that was due later that month. It was the first and only time that God spoke to me a specific amount that he wanted me to give. I was super broke at the time, and if I gave that check, I didn’t know how I would be able to make rent that month. So, when the offering buckets were passed around to collect our “faith gifts”, I let it pass me by. My heart felt so conflicted about not giving, that after the offering buckets had already been completely collected, I quickly wrote out a check in the amount of my upcoming rent and ran through the halls of my church to catch up with an usher so I could give my “faith gift”. I then remember telling God in a half trusting, half disgruntled sort of way, “You better bless me.” Probably not the best attitude, especially considering how gracious God was to me in response to that gift.
A week later, I received a check in the mail that was over twice the amount of the check I had given at the missions banquet. Also, I was working two jobs at the time, and I received a raise at both jobs that same week.
This experience proved to me how much missions matters to God.
And since that time, it matters to me, too. I’ve always known that I should support missionaries, but it is so much more meaningful for me now because of this experience. I know I share a part of changing lives all over the world because of the dollars I’ve given to support missions work.
And now, I feel so honored and privileged that I get to transfer from a position of financial giving to a place of being able to give of myself.
If you don’t currently support missions, please consider making missions matter to you. It will change your life, and many lives around the world that you may never meet – but changing lives, nonetheless.
