I think the God has given us a mission. It's a simple one, Love in such a way that it points people to God. Live in a such a way that people see there is something different about you. What Jesus modeled to us was the love to go to the poor, outcast, marginalized. We must do that as well.

It's easy to say that mission. Really easy. But how do you do it? That is where strategy comes in. I went to a breakout session about missions, and I got excited about the idea of strategy. I see a lot of churches, doing a lot of good things, all over the world. I see this as a good thing, for sure. But I also see a better way of doing missions. What do we try to do with a normal person we meet? First we try to build a relationship, right? I think missions is exactly that. An on going relationship with a community. I know what you are thinking, "how is this different than what you were talking about? Our Missions Minister has a great relationship with everyone of our missionaries all over the world." I'm not doubting that. But I'm challenging us to more.

Here's a metaphor. Imagine an airdrop, like something the UN would do with food or medical supplies. They have identified a need, let's say food. And so they send a plane to country X and drop boxes of food with parachutes to the people that need it, and bam, they are eating. But pretty soon the food runs out, and they have to do the exact same thing again, and again and again. And let's think of who is involved, a pilot, and the crew of people that push the food out of the plane. I think that this is what our mission trips are like now. A certain person is pumped and passionate about a certain cause or need. They are the champion. And they rally a small crew of people around them. They say, "let's go fix this problem. Let's drop this them food and clothes and medical supplies." So they do, and then they leave. When they get back and people ask, "How was they trip? What did you do?" The answer is, "Great, we dropped some food and clothes and medical supplies and played with some kids." The question is then, What was the result? Well, we dropped off food and clothes and medical supplies and played with kids.

Now let's imagine a different way. So let's look at a bridge. A bridge connects two place, that would not normally been connected. Things can travel both ways across a bridge. And most importantly, building a bridge is a major undertaking. It takes a lot of time. It takes all kinds of different people, architects, planners, skilled laborers, scuba divers, unskilled labors, and the list goes on. But once the bridge is built, travel is so easy. And a bridge only goes from point A to point B. It doesn't go to a lot of places at once. I think a better strategy of missions is a bridge building strategy. If we as a church became committed to one thing and the whole church was involved. Children, youth, students, young adults, senior citizens all working together to build a bridge. Every trip you take, every project, every fundraiser, all for the same place. Your adults take a trip to visit your bridged community, your youth go visit the same place. You have to bet that when those kids get back, when the question comes up, "How was the trip?" it also includes, "How was John and Paul and kids at that place." Then, the missions effort unites the body, rallying them around the same causes. And now results are measurable. It could be, "this trip we dug a well and ran piping to allow the water to be transported. next time we want to build a school and help them set up a field where they can grow rice and vegetables." And then also things like, "Sue couldn't even talk last time I was there and now she sings beautiful songs."

When there is a strategy, not just a mission, amazing things can happen. Imagine if instead making a small impact in 10 place, we made a lasting impact on 1. Make your impact go from a mile wide and an inch deep, to an inch wide and mile deep. Invest in one place with all we have, and really make a change. Imagine if we could tell someone else that we are here all the time to walk with them on the journey. And we can't be so prideful to miss the fact that they have a lot to offer to us.

The reason this was at Orange was because could we imagine the way something like this could rally a family. The guy leading the breakout told a story. He said a man and his wife were planning a trip to Africa for their family. But it was during his three kids spring breaks. He didn't want to take the fun away from his kids. He wanted them to make the choice. As the trip drew nearer, the dad came and reported that all the kids were in. They were going to miss a cruise with friends, trip to the beach, and other fun things. When asked how he "convinced" his kids to go, he said, "We have some kids we support in the place, and I just had to tell the kids that if they went, they would get to see Simon." This is a way that missions can draw the family together. They can all rally around the same thing and grow together as the serve and become more and more selfless.

Jill and I plan to get Kennedy a Compassion Kid very soon. We want her grow up seeing that there are way more important things in life than possessions. We want to start rallying around the same thing now, so that when she has the opportunity to go to the beach or to continue a relationship that changes the status quo, then we want that.

I want to challenge you. All 12 people who read my blog, (Hi Mom!), let's start making a difference. Let's not do something that is easy. Let's do what's right.