God’s call for us to serve as
missionaries has developed over the years, but it has never wavered. We
continue to serve in Honduras because God leads us in that direction. [ii]
Throughout our careers as
missionaries, people have periodically asked us to explain why we continue to
be missionaries overseas when there is such a need at home. The question has
come to us in a variety of contexts. Perhaps, you have even wondered about
these things from time to time.
1. Well-being - There is ongoing concern about whether we will be safe. Family
members, close friends, and even new acquaintances have expressed their concern
for our physical welfare. Angie and I became missionaries thirty-six years ago
because we understood that missionary service is our spiritual calling from
God.
We dare not be missionaries to Honduras without that call,
and we dare not stay home if God is calling us to go to Honduras. For us, the
decision to become missionaries has never been rational or calculated.
2. Achievement - At times, people have wondered if we have fulfilled our
missionary obligation and it is time now to return home.[iii]
On occasion, we have even been offered jobs at home, assuming that missionary
service was a short-term obligation.
For
us, missions was not a training ground to do something else as a real career.
Angie and I weren’t motivated to serve as a way to “find ourselves” or to use
our experience as a springboard to a better career. This is what God called us
to long-term.
3. CURIOSITY - Sometimes people are merely curious to know why someone
would leave their home country and spend their entire career elsewhere. People
have confided that they enjoy missions, but have no idea how we can do it full
time. Why would we continue to give up the comforts of home?
We’ve
heard the sentiment that missionaries are no longer needed in other countries.
Through modern communication technology, it is assumed that everyone can now
“hear” the gospel. That assumption is based on the idea that the gospel comes
primarily by hearing alone.
There
is still no more effective way of sharing Christ than by meeting people
face-to-face in their communities and showing them that we care enough about
them to be willing to become uncomfortable and that we desire to understand
their needs.
We
cannot underestimate the value of building relationships among members of
Christ’s body worldwide. Working as multinational missionary teams contributes
to a better understanding of each other and changes our worldview for the
better in both directions.
4. Cost - We depend on a strong support team of faithful champions who
provide economically for us to continue as missionaries. Many of them also come
on work teams, and hundreds of people we know invest time in praying for the
ministry in Honduras. [iv]
Several
years ago, an older couple visited us on a work team in
Honduras. They had supported us for years. As we said goodbye to them at the
airport, they turned to us and said, “We came to see how our investment in missions
was being used. We are going home knowing that our investment has been
worthwhile.” The investment in missions is one that we gladly share with those
who support us.
We
recognize that there are many needs at home and that we could surely become
involved in ministry there. Our specific call to serve as foreign missionaries
does not make us any less responsible to those in need in the U.S. The call of
God on us to be ambassadors of Christ wherever we “go” applies equally to every
Christian.
Just
as numerous people have asked us why we decided to become missionaries, a
number of them have come to us with tears in their eyes, telling us that they
had not been obedient to God’s call on their lives to become missionaries. It
is never too late to contribute to the missionary cause. Angie and I will tell
you, “It’s worth it.”[v]
 |
| The Overholts |
[i] Wife
[ii] “Rescue mission” refers to a city
religious mission seeking to convert and rehabilitate the down-and-out.
(www.merriam-webster.com)
[iii] “Then Jesus said
to them, `Go into every part of the world. Tell the good news to everyone.” Mark 16:15
(New Testament) (WE)
[iv] "God's
work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" Hudson
Taylor
[v] Adapted from
the article, “Is It Worth It for Missionaries to Serve Overseas
When There Is Need in the U.S.?” by Larry Overholt (Missionary to Honduras) from The Call (January-March
2017) www.wgm.org
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