Are you tired of....

me talking about missions yet? I mean if you read my blog even somewhat regularly you should know that I can't help but write about my love of missions the majority of the time. You should also know that it's such a big part of my life that I don't really know what else to write about other than adoption, my family and books (which I also write about quite frequently). But anyway. You get the idea. I can't help but write and talk about missions.

For the last few weeks I have been teaching Sunday night youth group on the topic of missions. We started off with just a basic introduction into the world of missions. We had a facts quiz about how many languages and people groups there are and how many of those languages have Bible translations. Things like that. The next week we jumped into what the Bible has to say about  missions and we looked at a handful of passages in an effort to get the big picture. Tonight we are talking about what is going on in the world of missions. Looking at what kinds of jobs missionaries can do and are involved in. Looking at how the Church is growing in Asia by leaps and bounds and how the US isn't the primary source of sending out missionaries anymore. I am not sure if the students have gotten much out of it or even if it has been interesting to them. I know that I am not a good teacher. I am not exactly comfortable being in that role, especially with junior high and high school students. And I know that I am not the best at talking missions in a way that most people can understand and identify with. I am used to talking missions with missions students and professors in a Bible college setting or with other missionaries in any type of setting, which means talking strategy, budgets, needs, resources, history, etc. And sometimes its hard for me to make myself make sense when I am talking missions with others who aren't as familiar (if at all) with the world of missions. It's not the easiest thing to do and I am definitely not that good at it. But I have been trying with our youth group and just have to hope and trust that somehow the Spirit will use it in some way to open the eyes and touch the hearts of our students.

Over the last few weeks (actually the last 2 months), I have been very committed to reading missions books. For most of the summer I read classics til my head swam with various characters from Austen, Alcott, Dumas, and Bunyan. But since the middle of August, I have become very intentional and committed to what I have been reading. I had a stack of about 15 missions books from the LCU library and I just finished the last one (a 630 page beast of a book) a few days ago. I am now reading some of the missions books I own that I haven't read yet. It's been so very good for me. It's been opening my mind to some new aspects of missions and ministry, as well as reminding me of what I learned and the importance of not letting it just become "information I learned in college and now don't need as a youth minister's wife who is working at a gym." But let me tell you it's making me itch for another trip. For another chance to see if I can serve overseas. For another opportunity to experience a new culture, a new aspect of ministry, a new way of life as the Church grows and spreads. And it makes me wonder and dream and pray about what GOD may possibly have my husband and I do in the future. To wonder and dream and pray about where GOD may lead us with our students in the years to come as we try to teach them and encourage them to see the Church not just as the people at FCC, but as every believer throughout the world with a job to share with those who don't know HIM yet. To wonder and dream and pray.

One thing I am super excited about is the upcoming International Conference on Missions in Indianapolis. We are taking our students and I am praying that it's a great eye-opening experience for them. I am creating a scavenger hunt (hopefully they will think it's fun... I'm enough of a missions nerd that I think it'll be fun... but they may think otherwise) for in the main exhibit hall. I am hoping that it gives them a good picture of just how big our world and our Church is. I am hoping that maybe it'll spark a real interest, passion and commitment in some of them and that one day they will be movers and shakers in the local and global church. I am also excited because I will get to spend the weekend with my family, my husband, our students and hundreds of missions-minded people, all worshipping and serving the same GOD from different places around the world. Not to mention that I will get to be spiritually filled in a special way. In a way that truly touches and feeds my missions heart.

So... are you tired of me talking about missions yet? Well, I am sorry if you are. But I just can't help it. And I can promise that this is not the last time I will write about it. Til next time...