It's official. Today was the last day of the mission trip. Tomorrow we catch a flight to Delhi and for the next couple days we will be doing some site seeing in northern India. It was a wonderful time getting to know Bible Faith Lutheran Ministries and visiting these congregations. In fact, over the course of 6 days we visited 9 congregations and made connections with literally hundreds of people in those congregations. We prayed over many people and even were prayed over by others. We traveled hundreds of miles in many different directions to share encouragement and the love of Jesus with these congregations. I am exceptionally proud of every single person who went on this trip. You too should be proud of them. They were outgoing with the members of these congregations; seeking them out and spending time with them. They continued to smile even though they were simply exhausted. They hugged and held every child that would let them. They displayed an amazing amount of patience as time is a fluid concept here in India. They showed the love of Christ at every opportunity available to them. I thank God for them and their work over the past week and as we start to close out our mission trip. But as we do that, we also recognize that there is a temptation. It's really easy to say at this part of the trip that we are done with the mission part of the mission trip...but are we?
Yes we will be going up north. Yes we will be doing some site seeing and relaxing after a very tough week. But we are not "done" with the mission part of the mission trip. The reason for that is because we will never be done with the mission part of the mission trip.
You see, Jesus has many different commands in the Gospels concerning going into the world with the Gospel. From Matthew 28:19-20 to Mark 16:15-16 and many others, Jesus tells us to share His message of grace, mercy and forgiveness for us and for the people of this world. And in these passages you can actually see when we can be done with the mission part of the mission trip
(Hint: It's never).
Here's the thing, the mission that Jesus has called us to is never done. It goes on and on and during that time God opens up opportunities to share with others the love of Jesus in their life. And do you want to know what's great about these opportunities? You don't have to be on a mission trip to actually take advantage of them. God is opening up opportunities for you right now with your spouse, your friend, your co-worker, your neighbor and everybody else you might know. He's doing that because He truly wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Now don't get me wrong, I would love for you to come join us on our mission trip to India next year. It will be around the same time of year and we will be gone for the same amount of time. But you don't have to wait for it in order to do what God has called us all to do. Even for us who went on the mission trip, God has not called us to wait another 352 days before we actually take part in the opportunities that He has given to us. He's called us all to be a part of it every day of our lives as Christians.
It's my hope and prayer that we would see these opportunities to share Jesus in our life and that His desire would become our desire: to see all people saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Thank you for following along during our journey. Because the next couple of days will be hectic with travel, I do not know when the next posting will be. However, in the very near future I will be posting a collection of our photos from the trip as well as some other information that can help in praying for these congregations and for Bible Faith Lutheran Ministries to India.
God's richest blessings as you join Jesus on His mission,
Pastor Joe Behnke
Yes we will be going up north. Yes we will be doing some site seeing and relaxing after a very tough week. But we are not "done" with the mission part of the mission trip. The reason for that is because we will never be done with the mission part of the mission trip.
You see, Jesus has many different commands in the Gospels concerning going into the world with the Gospel. From Matthew 28:19-20 to Mark 16:15-16 and many others, Jesus tells us to share His message of grace, mercy and forgiveness for us and for the people of this world. And in these passages you can actually see when we can be done with the mission part of the mission trip
(Hint: It's never).
Here's the thing, the mission that Jesus has called us to is never done. It goes on and on and during that time God opens up opportunities to share with others the love of Jesus in their life. And do you want to know what's great about these opportunities? You don't have to be on a mission trip to actually take advantage of them. God is opening up opportunities for you right now with your spouse, your friend, your co-worker, your neighbor and everybody else you might know. He's doing that because He truly wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Now don't get me wrong, I would love for you to come join us on our mission trip to India next year. It will be around the same time of year and we will be gone for the same amount of time. But you don't have to wait for it in order to do what God has called us all to do. Even for us who went on the mission trip, God has not called us to wait another 352 days before we actually take part in the opportunities that He has given to us. He's called us all to be a part of it every day of our lives as Christians.
It's my hope and prayer that we would see these opportunities to share Jesus in our life and that His desire would become our desire: to see all people saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Thank you for following along during our journey. Because the next couple of days will be hectic with travel, I do not know when the next posting will be. However, in the very near future I will be posting a collection of our photos from the trip as well as some other information that can help in praying for these congregations and for Bible Faith Lutheran Ministries to India.
God's richest blessings as you join Jesus on His mission,
Pastor Joe Behnke
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