Johnhwilburn.com

A few years ago, I started using the hashtag #missionarylife when writing posts for social media. This hashtag was stolen from missionary Andrew Comings in Brazil, and I enjoyed how he used it to share the more random parts of missions.

Eventually I began using missions is _____________ instead of the hashtag….

But the purpose was the same.

We often have very flawed views of missionaries, and missionary work. We view them as heroes who are never fearful, and always succeed. Every day for them is a non-stop adventure and mountain-top experience. The truth is missions isn’t nearly as glamorous as we make it out to be.

Sometimes ministry is a huge experience like winning some-one to the Lord or starting a new Bible study.

But usually it’ s just ministering to people in small ways.

Thursday morning, I was walking by the gate of an older woman who suffers from dementia she often forgets what she said the day before) and heard a loud banging sound. I stopped and saw was hitting a padlock on her gate with a stone.

I asked what was wrong, and she told me that someone had stolen the key (I’m sure she had just misplaced it). The gate being locked was a problem because if she fell and hurt herself, they would have to lift her over the gate before going to the hospital. Of course this would just make the injury worse.

So I decided to break the lock.

It took a few hours (and a couple of tries) but eventually some workers helped me break the lock and set her free!

Thinking about that experience later on, I was reminded that many times ministry is random. By this I mean it isn’t a huge event that you can write about in a prayer letter. But those random acts of ministry like breaking a lock for an older woman often matter more. Because that is what the people see.

Missionary life (or Missions is______) is an attempt on my part to show others the funny, everyday, and yes even frustrating parts of missions.

But more than that it’s a reminder for me that the ministry we do in real life (helping those in need) are far more important than what we write about in a prayer letter.