Mission Trippin'

So I haven’t posted anything in a while. Oh time! How you get away from me!

I wasn't writing blogs because (pause to put on a suitably pretentious face) I was working on my book. The downside is I haven’t had any spare witty thoughts. The upside is the book is now way awesomer than it was (sorry all my test readers who got subjected to the bad draft). So if you happen to know of anyone who likes to do things like publish books and hand writers piles of money, hey, give a girl some love! I promise the book in no way includes made up words like “awesomer.”

The person largely responsible for making my story coherent, and not just the lunatic ramblings of a terrible missionary, is my friend, Marissa. Every time I thought, “Hey, this is pretty good.” She said, “It’s OK, but you should spend a couple more months rewriting the whole thing.” 

Thanks for helping me find my voice and make sense of a very strange time in my life. If I ever do get this thing published, expect a check.

As I was tweaking the latest draft, I stumbled across an old post by one of my favorite bloggers, Jamie the Very Worst Missionary. She was guest blogging for a guy going on a mission trip and talked about how our model of short term missions is pretty much exactly the opposite of how Jesus told us to do things. 

We don our eye-bleedingly bright matching t-shirts and haul tons of supplies to some lucky poor people place; Jesus said not to bring anything, not even our wallets (there were clearly no passports in those days). We stay in hotels or special secure dorm compounds; Jesus said to stay with one family – be dependent. We eat in pre-scouted, gringo-friendly restaurants; Jesus said to eat whatever the family cooks – take risks. We put on puppet shows for kids and pass out stickers; Jesus said to work like someone doing an actual job for money – work your ass off. We paint churches; Jesus said to heal the sick – participate in the miraculous.

I loved the whole article. Especially the part where she prayed that the guy going on a short term mission trip would have his whole trip totally ruined so he could experience something more akin to the Jesus model. Isn't it great to find something brilliant that goes along with the headspace you were already in?

And then I thought…um…..hold up. Has anyone actually experienced total dependence in a third world country?

‘Cause I have.

Sometime after I had given up on the idea of mission work, I had the chance to encounter the third world in an authentic way and not like a poverty tourist. And while I would love to stand before you today and testify about how Jesus’ vision of mission was the best thing ever, how even the demons obeyed me, how I was blown away by God’s goodness and his provision…I’m pretty sure that living like a real poor person was the worst thing that ever happened to me.

Maybe I should have tried to heal the sick more.

Yup. That. Fried.

You know what dependence means? It means beds with no mattresses and little control of your own schedule. You know what people might serve you? Cow udder. Fried, like it’s really a food. You know what earning your keep looks like? It looks like scrubbing filthy laundry for two hours, by hand, every damn day.

I’m not saying don’t go on a mission trip. What I am saying is that Jesus is not for sissies. He openly invites us to pick up an instrument of crazy painful torture and death and follow him around. Somehow we've weaseled our way out from under that so that it has no meaning. “I have to get up early on Sunday AND throw $20 into the plate? Man! Oh well, guess I’ll take up my cross.”

Crosses hurt.

Missions hurt.

Go anyway.

Why? Because Jesus is calling. Because this life isn’t all there is. Because what is right doesn't always feel good. Because God is reconciling all things to himself and we get to participate in the miracle of restoration and resurrection!

Because real faith is worth the price.

At least, that is what I hope; I'm a pretty big sissy after all. But I do what I can.

Do you have a crazy mission trip story? I’d love to hear it!