On a mission...

Last week a group of UGA students including myself gathered together in a student's home for worship and teaching. A young couple came to speak to us about the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We were amazed and astounded at the wisdom they brought to the table. After talking, we discovered that they were on a mission trip to Athens. 

That sounded a little bit strange. A mission trip to Athens?

Many people are surprised to hear that China sends missionaries to America. "Why do they do that? We're a 'Christian' nation." Well nowadays I'm not sure I or anyone else for that matter could call us that. As much as we would hate to admit that we need missionaries here as much or more than other countries throughout the world, it is true. The United States and Athens is as lost and in need of a Savior as any other city in any other country. It's time to lay down our pride. Just because we have a tradition of Christianity doesn't mean we now follow the truths of Christ. 

Missionaries, we welcome you.

The Green Gospel

Thursday morning was just like every other morning. Well, almost. I got up, brushed my teeth and got dressed before walking out the door to be greeted by a host of raindrops and wind gusts. As I walked to the dining hall to eat my usual breakfast I was stopped by an sweet elderly man who greeted me with a cheery "Good morning. Would you like a Bible?" I stopped and looked down at a big box covered by a plastic bag to keep the rain off the green New Testaments. And of course I took one. And I also remembered that I still have the one from last year when this same group handed out Gideon Bibles. I saw many students who walked past annoyed. I later saw a group that moaned and complained that they were still here trying to get them to take a Bible. 

It got me thinking if this green Gospel was effective at all. Is this group wasting time and money by just handing out Bibles that will be trashed, left on a table somewhere or left in a dorm room until the end of the year?

It would be easy for me to say "use that money somewhere else. Your work here really isn't making a difference." But then I was reminded of a verse: "[My Word] is sent out and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to and it will prosper everywhere I send it" (Isaiah 55:11). Regardless of where or how it is sent, the Word of God will never return void. It will always do what God sets it out to do. His word cannot be chained. Maybe a janitor will pick up that green Gospel left on a table by a student and read the words of life. Maybe a freshman left alone in their dorm room with fears, doubts, and wounds after a wild party will flip through it searching for a meaning to this life they live. Maybe some Christian student will be given an opportunity to give the Bible to a homeless man on the corner, a little girl at the mall or a friend in a class.  

Whatever the case, God will do with that little green Gospel all that he has planned. Work done for the Lord will never be fruitless. Maybe not immediate, but never worthless. It will always produce fruit. Always. 

"Gosh, it sure says something about their devotion. Standing out here in the cold and rain to hand out those little green Gospels." --a freshman at the Ohouse bus stop.