Post by matte on Oct 19, 2021 7:41:14 GMT 10
I take my hat off to any Christian that gives up part of their life to spread the word of God to the world.
It has been a thing from the start, with the apostles going forth through to the crusades and the missionaries who risk their lives in places like Afghanistan.
Missions have always been risky. Here’s why many Christians still want to go
Participating in a Christian mission has always required taking on certain risks
By Kelsey Dallas
Apr 20, 2021
DESERET NEWS
When the Rev. Chad Keck was 3 years old, his dad got very sick. He’d been serving as a Christian missionary in Guatemala and contracted hepatitis A from contaminated water.
“There had been a series of earthquakes and many cities were destroyed. My dad and some others from our church went down to Guatemala to rebuild houses, churches and other buildings,” the Rev. Keck said.
What he remembers best about that period of his family’s life is how at peace his dad seemed to be.
“My dad was never bitter or upset (about getting sick.) He always talked fondly about the experience of serving others and that made a big impression on me,” said the Rev. Keck, who is senior pastor of First Baptist Kettering in Kettering, Ohio.
Rather than conclude that missionary work wasn’t worth the associated risks, the Rev. Keck, like his father before him, came to see serving missions as an essential part of Christian practice. As an adult, he usually spends at least three weeks out of the country on mission trips each year.
Taking on risk “is just part of what believers do. They don’t walk in fear. They walk in faith and trust the Lord,” he said.
That attitude came in handy in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world of Christian missions upside down. Suddenly, missionaries were at risk of contracting an illness that would prevent them from traveling and that few country’s health systems were equipped to treat.
“If a missionary is diagnosed with cancer, they’ll almost always come home for treatment. If they’re diagnosed with COVID-19, they aren’t coming home. That raises the potential risk,” said Ed Stetzer, dean of the School of Mission, Ministry and Leadership at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, to the Deseret News earlier this month.
However, neither Stetzer nor other mission experts believe that heightened health risks will be enough to keep interested Christians from signing up for future mission trips.
Missionaries have always been willing to put their lives on the line and able to find peace even in dangerous situations, said the Rev. Keck, recalling his dad’s illness.
“Missionaries count the costs of what it means to go and see them as insignificant in comparison to the opportunity to tell others about Jesus,” he said.
www.deseret.com/faith/2021/4/20/22387964/state-of-faith-missions-have-always-been-risky-why-christians-still-go-covid-19-pandemic
It has been a thing from the start, with the apostles going forth through to the crusades and the missionaries who risk their lives in places like Afghanistan.
Missions have always been risky. Here’s why many Christians still want to go
Participating in a Christian mission has always required taking on certain risks
By Kelsey Dallas
Apr 20, 2021
DESERET NEWS
When the Rev. Chad Keck was 3 years old, his dad got very sick. He’d been serving as a Christian missionary in Guatemala and contracted hepatitis A from contaminated water.
“There had been a series of earthquakes and many cities were destroyed. My dad and some others from our church went down to Guatemala to rebuild houses, churches and other buildings,” the Rev. Keck said.
What he remembers best about that period of his family’s life is how at peace his dad seemed to be.
“My dad was never bitter or upset (about getting sick.) He always talked fondly about the experience of serving others and that made a big impression on me,” said the Rev. Keck, who is senior pastor of First Baptist Kettering in Kettering, Ohio.
Rather than conclude that missionary work wasn’t worth the associated risks, the Rev. Keck, like his father before him, came to see serving missions as an essential part of Christian practice. As an adult, he usually spends at least three weeks out of the country on mission trips each year.
Taking on risk “is just part of what believers do. They don’t walk in fear. They walk in faith and trust the Lord,” he said.
That attitude came in handy in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world of Christian missions upside down. Suddenly, missionaries were at risk of contracting an illness that would prevent them from traveling and that few country’s health systems were equipped to treat.
“If a missionary is diagnosed with cancer, they’ll almost always come home for treatment. If they’re diagnosed with COVID-19, they aren’t coming home. That raises the potential risk,” said Ed Stetzer, dean of the School of Mission, Ministry and Leadership at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, to the Deseret News earlier this month.
However, neither Stetzer nor other mission experts believe that heightened health risks will be enough to keep interested Christians from signing up for future mission trips.
Missionaries have always been willing to put their lives on the line and able to find peace even in dangerous situations, said the Rev. Keck, recalling his dad’s illness.
“Missionaries count the costs of what it means to go and see them as insignificant in comparison to the opportunity to tell others about Jesus,” he said.
www.deseret.com/faith/2021/4/20/22387964/state-of-faith-missions-have-always-been-risky-why-christians-still-go-covid-19-pandemic
