Missionary Perspective

A late night talk with my mom due to caffeine induced insomnia has inspired this particular blog.  I'm in the midst of the annual missions conference for FIRE International.  I forget how much I am encouraged every year by the missionaries that come in town.  As a new missionary working stateside until I am able to get overseas I'm encouraged by their words, their testimonies and their giving both of themselves and of their finances.  Sometimes when I hear the amount one missionary will give to another missionary I think to myself, "Don't they know that they are a missionary?"  They are here to raise funds for themselves and yet they are willingly and often paving the way in giving to others.  About a second after having that thought I then think to myself, "They get it." 

As I am in the process of raising funds to get on the mission myself I've had some conversations over the last week that have really got me thinking about why people don't give and my own difficulties in fund raising.  I've been thinking about why I don't give sometimes.  I think that one of the reasons why people don't give is because many feel like if they can't write the check for a "substantial" amount then they can't do anything.  I've felt that way many times.  Have you ever been sitting in a service where a special offering if being taken and because you can't write a check for $50, $100, $1000 or more you "don't have the money" to give?  I have.  Many times.  But now that I'm on other side of things I wanted to just encourage anyone that may read this that even if all you have is $1 don't think that your $1 is insignificant.

Being a missionary working to get on the field I just want to say that any donation I receive in any amount is important.  I don't look at a $10 donation as any less important than a $100 donation (you can add any number of zeroes to that figure) because anyone who believes in the call of God on my life enough to sow any amount of money into my life is important.  And I am humbled more than I could ever say.  And I am confident that there are thousands of missionaries out there that would agree with me. 

Why do we let the size of our donation prevent us from making one?  Isn't our God the God who multiplies?  Isn't our God the God who takes 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to feed a mulititude of people?  His math could never be solved by the most brilliant of mathemiticians.  The more I started thinking about it the more I believe that many of us have more ablility to give then we think.  And the more I thought about the difference it could make in getting the Gospel to the ends of the earth the more I wanted to write this blog. 

Think about it.  How many of us within 1 month will spend $5 on either a fast food meal, a Starbuck's coffee, packages of gum or mints for when we are in church, bottled water or a soda over the course of 30 days?  I would say that everyone who reads this does that.  What if the next time we are sitting in the drive thru line we think about what the $5 we are about to spend on junk food could do for the Kingdom of heaven.  How could that $5 effect eternity?  If instead of buying that fast food meal that $5 went to a missionary who will go to an unreached tribe in a village on some island we have never even heard of that takes 14 hours by plane, then another 6 hours on a cramped bus, then 4 hours by four wheel drive vehicles and another 4 hours on foot through dense jungle with the threat of leaches and malaria -- we might just skip the drive through and use that $5 to multiply the Kingdom instead of the pounds around our waistlines.

Can $5 really do that?  YES!  How do I know?  I did the math.  I used my facebook account as an example because it was practical and easy for me to figure out.  I have 595 friends on facebook.  If every single person on my friends list gave $5 in monthly support it would total almost $3000/month.  That's enough to send me to Israel.  That's enough to send 3 people to China, Thailand, or the Philippines.  That's enough to send someone to the dark continent of Europe.  If one person goes to China and by sharing the Gospel sees 1 convert there are overwhelming odds that many more thousands will get saved in the process because of the rate that the Chinese church is growing.  $5 + 1 missionary + 1 convert = THOUSANDS of souls.  Your $5 has just touched a nation.  A NATION!  You would have a hand in that!

I pray that the next time I am in a drive thru the Holy Spirit convicts me and rather than throwing my money to some chain restaurant in exchange for something that ultimately destroys my body I will drive away, invest my $5 in the Kingdom and spend that time fasting and praying for a missionary.  Because my $5 will effect eternity and so can yours.

I want to issue a challenge that I will accept myself.  I'll call it the $5 challenge.  The next time I am going to hit the drive through I will instead give $5 to a missionary and fast that meal to pray for a missionary instead.  I'll sow into that because I need it and because I want to impact eternity.  Anyone else up to the challenge?

Beautiful Feet

And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"  Romans 10:15

As a dancer feet are of course important.  There are often comments on how beautiful a particular dancers feet are, especially in ballet.  Look at those arches!  What a beautiful toe point!  Check out that turn out!  On and on.  In some circles if you don't have the right feet you won't get very far. 

Truth be told, and every dancer will tell you this, inside of the shoes the feet really aren't that pretty.  They aren't perfectly manicured with flawless polish.  Quite the contrary.  They are usually calloused with sores and kind of banged up.  Dancers put their feet through the paces.  Dancers notoriously have ugly feet because of all the work and punishment they inflict on them. 

One night while in the studio I looked down at my feet and noticed how calloused and kind of ugly they have become.  I made mention of that and how I won't waste my money on pedicures anymore because they will just look like this again within days.  My teacher looked at me and said, "It's okay, dancers always have ugly feet." 

On my way home that night after class I started to think about my feet and how banged up they are now as well as how much more they hurt since I've started dancing again.  I heard this quiet voice in my spirit whisper the words of Romans 10:15 to my heart.  I began to think about the times when those words were written.  Those who were traveling around preaching the Gospel in those days to bring the good news to those who needed to hear wore sandals.  They traveled on dusty, muddy and manure-filled roads.  To say that their feet were dirty and stinky is an understatement.  And yet, God considers them beautiful and I love that.

I think that prior to a couple weeks ago when I heard that verse I always pictured these clean, polished, smooth looking feet.  No real reason, it's just what my mind always saw when I heard that verse.  Something like this:

These are pretty feet.  But these are not feet that have been put through the paces.  They aren't active dancer feet.  They don't bare the scars.  They look like they've never worked hard, worn a pair of heels all day in the office, danced for hours until they were numb, etc.  They don't seem to have much of a story to tell.

I have a much different idea in my head of the beautiful feet that bring the Good News.  They look much like dancer feet.  They are scarred from running the race.  They probably hurt.  It's not easy sometimes especially when they are fighting an uphill battle.  And yet, they continue because God looks down and calls them beautiful.  He is amazing in that He does that with so many "ugly" things.  He sees the value that often we cannot see.  This is sort of what I picture in my head now:

These feet have a story to tell.  They've been somewhere.  They've seen adventure.  Yes, there are some bruises along the way but as most women say, beauty is pain. 

So as I dance my way through this journey God is taking me on I will look down at my feet and think differently about them.  They aren't so ugly afterall.  Everytime I spend my time dancing for His glory and ministering through dance, no matter how much they hurt or how calloused they get they are beautiful.

So I Think I Can Dance

The season finale of So You Think You Can Dance happened a couple nights ago and I watched it with a room full of mostly dancers.  I am inspired by the show watching such amazing dancers doing some amazing pieces of choreography.  I'm challenged by their high level of technique and passion. 

As much as I love this show I find that lately I become frustrated after watching it.  Why?  Well, I'm about to be transparent and honest.  You see, in my mind I can dance as good as any of those people.  But in reality -- I'm not quite there yet.  And adding to the frustration is that the clock is ticking.  I'm not getting any younger.  My intent is not be mediocre when it comes to dancing.  If I'm going to do this, I want to do it well.  Really well.  Especially as a Christian.  If a secular song, secular choreographers and secular dancers can cause such strong emotional reactions in people how much more should that be the case in Christian dance circles?  I can't be the only one who feels that way.

So, what do I do with that frustration?  What do you do with that frustration or any frustration for that matter?  Use it to fuel determination.  I refuse to let it cause me to quit.  Quitting isn't an option.  Instead, it pushes me to work. 

If God put this passion inside of me I cannot let it go and I cannot quit.  So I push through the pain, the tiredness, the sore muscles, and everything else that comes with being a dancer.  I pray that somehow I will tap into that creativity I know my Creator has deposited deep inside.  Somehow I'll be able to put all the passion and emotion into each piece and leave it all on the floor for the Lord to do with as He pleases.  That breakthrough has to happen... it has to.

I'll keep you posted and let you know when that breakthrough occurs.

The First Blog

So this won't be a long blog.  I decided to journal my journey as a dancer and missionary.  I'll update the most recent changes and other thoughts that I've had as I dance my way through this journey!  Stay tuned!