This Is Missions

A young girl and her even younger brother are in the streets again today. As strangers pass them by, they are looking for any sign of hope, and any sign of food for the day, checking the ground for fallen money, and the garbage for an uneaten fruit. After all, this is Africa, and their parents are dead…

A man ducks behind a tree, the border patrol has just driven by the fence dividing Mexico and The United States of America. He is a husband, and father of three kids whom he can’t feed. He has gone without food for the past 2 days so that his wife would have the nutrition to feed their 2 month old daughter. He needs a job, and nobody will hire him in Mexico. He’s tried coming across legally, but was declined, and out of desperation, this is his last option…

Here comes Mr. Popular, quarterback of the football team, and voted Most Likely to Succeed by his Sr. Class. He has a nice smile, big laugh, and an even bigger drinking problem. Most people don’t see the stress that he carries every day. He’s living the dream of his father, also an alcoholic, and a high school dropout, and doesn’t even like football, but only plays because it’s expected of him. For the past week, he’s watched his dad beat his mom every night. He wanted so much to be loved, but now he’s beginning to believe there is no such thing…

The quiet, teen girl passes by, hair lips and fingernails are jet black, skin is pale, and wrists are bleeding underneath her black jacket. Nobody understands, and nobody tries too. She passes by them every day, and instead of speaking to her, they wait for her to pass and talk about her. She feels invisible, and she only wants somebody to talk to, somebody to listen, believe it or not, and somebody to laugh with. She hasn’t seen her own smile in years, but for years she’s just been walking by…

A woman comes out of the farmer’s market with seeds for her garden, and as she bumps into a little boy, she looks down and smiles. He looks at her for just a moment with a look of hope in his eyes, but as she starts to walk off, his eyes start scanning the ground. She hears a young girl’s voice scolding the little boy, and telling him to be mindful of the passersby. The woman stops as she realizes what’s happening. She asks the children “Are you hungry.” They reply with a nod. She tells them to come with her, for today they will learn how to grow their own food and about the One who made it… This is Missions.

A man sits on the curb with his face buried in his hands; tears are streaming from his face. As the border control vehicle drives back off, leaving him alone on the dusty streets, the deepest feeling of failure has overwhelmed him. His last hint of hope has been destroyed. His family will starve, and he has nobody to blame except himself. About this time, a stranger pulls beside him. As the driver lets down his window, the man looks up with tears washing the dust from his cheeks. The driver is new to the area, and needs help learning his way around. As they ride and talk, the driver finds a restaurant and as they sit for a meal, the man confesses that he has no money to pay for his food. The stranger begins to share with the man that if a brother is hungry, you should give him something to eat, but he wanted to do more than that, he wanted to give him a job… This is Missions

You see Mr. Quarterback and Mrs. Invisible attend your school, and they need you, to show them love, to listen, to bring them hope and joy. The same goes to you adult. You work with people every day, you pass them on the streets, and in the stores; they’re silently crying out, and they need you to show them the Way. You don’t have to be labeled missionary in order to do this kind of work. Your school is your mission field, your work is your mission field, and This is Missions!