In Acts 16:9-10 we read about Paul's vision of a man from Macedonia waving to him and asking for help. This portion of scripture reminds us of a very important point: Missions work has a face.
I shared a little of this with our church Sunday evening during a commissioning service for our South Africa Team. This is something that each of us need to remember. It's all too easy to think of missions and only see the people we send. Rarely do we have an image of the ones we are trying to reach.
When you think about China - do you only see an image of the flag or are you able to peer into the eyes of an empty soul? When you think about Africa - is the first image in your mind that of a jungle or do you see the millions of people groping in darkness waiting to hear the good news of Jesus? The picture I share with you today is from our Alaska trip in June and it's a reminder to me of the types of people we encounter when we decide to go.
After sharing this message with our people, one of the team members going to Africa shared with me a story from his trip to Ukraine in July. Scot told me that a brother from Nigeria (who was ministering in Ukraine the same time) found out that we were sending a team to South Africa. He also found out that Scot was going on this trip as well. This brother went to Scot and said, "Go and tell my people about Jesus." WOW! It sort of gives us a different understanding about missions work doesn't it?
Please pray for the PBC Trailblazer team as they board a plane tomorrow and head to South Africa. Pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon their lives and their witness. We trust that God will go with them and that we will see and hear the reports of a great harvest among the African people.
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