Goal of Missions

What exactly is the goal of my work?

"The goal is to see people restored to being what God created them to be: people who understand that they are created in the image of God with the gifts, abilities, and capacity to make decisions and to effect change in the world around them..."​

The more I learn about missions, the more I realize we can't fix people or communities simply by painting a building or providing bags of clothes. Although those things help, we aren't able to have a lasting effect unless we create relationships with the people in those communities; we have so much more of a lasting impact when we empower others and come with a willingness to learn from the communities we partner with.

Missions are tricky. We may think we have all the answers and resources, but it’s not our job to force them upon anyone. Our job is to:

Come alongside people

Meet them where they are

Ask their need

Determine the resources they already have

and

Partner with them to create a lasting effect.

If we are there to dig a well or even build a church, but don’t get the community members involved, they may become reliant upon others, and even complacent. The thing is, they are capable of so much and we shouldn’t make them feel otherwise. Instead, we should help them understand their gifts and encourage them to contribute those to the people around them. As we live out the Gospel in word and deed, we trust and pray that hearts will be fully restored to their intended purpose: worshiping and serving their Creator.

This summer, I had the opportunity to live these things out with different communities and teams. Here is a video of the incredible people I got to meet and the work we did together.