What does it take to move people to action? Some words wrapped up in a pretty package? Maybe for some. But most people are stirred to action by the example of others.
I have a couple of friends on Facebook who constantly post pictures of their fitness journey. Not in order to boast, but to encourage others and themselves. I’ve seen comments on their posts saying, “You’ve inspired me to get back in the gym/start eating healthier/get moving in my own backyard.”
See? Stirred to action by example.
Now, I love to write. I can’t tell you how many unfinished blog posts I have stashed away in my phone and on my computer… *cough* thirty-four *cough*…. aaaaand moving on. Anyway, since we’ve moved to Zambia I’ve shared numerous posts on our old blog site and now our website, and I’ve had several people message me to tell me how much they appreciated this post or how that post really convicted them or even that they simply enjoy reading my stuff because it comes from a different perspective.
But, are my words alone enough for people to begin intentional discipleship with a new believer in their church or to go share the gospel with their neighbor? Are they enough for people to sacrifice their vacation days and some hard-earned cash for a short-term mission trip on the other side of the world? Are the words people read on this screen enough for someone to quit their job and pack their bags because they realized that God is calling them to plant their lives in another country for the sake of the gospel?
I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.
Ever since we moved overseas I’ve said that (alongside my heart for the work here) I have a desire to be involved in mobilizing the Church in America; for moving them to action, especially in the area of missions. During our most recent time in the States we made some great connections with churches from our area, and watching people get excited about missions just fueled my desire to see more and more people stepping out of their pews and into the world around them. And I realized something: they’re excited because they got to meet a “real missionary” and hear our stories first-hand. We’re the full-time, boots on the ground, in the trenches, real life examples of everything they’ve been hearing about from their pastors.
We’re the face of the apostle Paul, who spent his life after Christ preaching the Word and equipping, training, and sending out believers so that the work would spread around the globe. We’re the faces of Elisabeth Elliot and Adoniram Judson, who knew so certainly that God had called them to their respective countries that even the death of their spouses couldn’t keep them from leaving where God had called them. We are the faces of, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands [for the name of Jesus]”; the faces of, “How will they hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”
We’re the examples that could stir people to action.
So, I write the blogs, we send out the newsletters, upload pictures to social media, and record videos for people to watch (more of those will be happening more often). While pastors in the States are saying, “Go. Go. Go,” we’ll be here on the other side, rounding out their exhortations nicely by saying, “Come. Come. Come.” It’s a team effort. High fives all around.
Ladies and gents, we’d love to hear from you. As co-laborers in the work, we want to do our best to help get you out of your pew and into the world. We want so badly to be a part of God calling out a new generation of soldiers for his army; a new generation of laborers for his harvest.
So, what do you want to know from us? What can we say and show you that will pique your interest and get you on a plane to Zambia or somewhere else in the world? Comment with some topics or conversation prompts, and let us be the example that could stir you to action.