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Heather Simpson looks at where?

Over 21 years in Peru and Ecuador as a missionary, I enjoyed the company of many people involved in short term mission. One, from France, summed up what many expressed – "the church in Ecuador is more alive and mission minded than the church at home. We need missionaries in our home countries!"

Having lived in both worlds, I would suggest that mission is not an either overseas / or local option, it definitely includes both. It is great to be a part of a church where both global and national mission are recognized as essential.

Overseas and local mission have a lot in common:

God loves all of us, no matter our ethnicity, colour, age or creed.

God has set before all of us His commission – to love Him, and to love others. That means that no matter where you or I happen to be living and working we need to be in a growing relationship with God and with those around us, modelling Christ’s love in both who we are and what we do.

God is passionate about his church in all its shapes and expressions. Whether it is a church in the slums of Guayaquil, the ‘Back to Jerusalem’ initiative out of China, an HIV/AIDS orphanage in Botswana, or the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand - God is inviting us to be involved in what He is already doing. Often it’s just a matter of stopping long enough to hear what He is doing, and then becoming involved – wherever we are.

I have learned much from people who live subsistence lives. They have few resources yet their acknowledgement of God’s faithfulness encourages them to believe in what is "yet unseen". While I do see that here, we still spend a lot of time and energy comparing ourselves with what others have, or are doing, and so unhealthy competition emerges. Faith in a faithful God takes us beyond ourselves and our personal limits to what could be and what is His agenda.

Opportunities abound. No matter where we live, there are people to love and there are ways in which we can best express that love. The context may be different; language, theology, and the age and stage of church may all be different, but there are always people to love.

No matter where we are in the world prayer is a common language. It unites us and it takes into account all the aspects of our particular context. I have always been impressed by the depth of prayer amongst the people I have worked with overseas, the deep intercession, all night vigils, fasting, and their faith in the God of miracles. Not always as evident in our contemporary self-indulgent kiwi culture.

Both overseas and local mission is about building relationships. It is about listening to God’s heart and being intentional about creating an environment for people to come to know the Son of God, to help people grow and be encouraged in their walk with Jesus, and for us to model what it is to be Christ-like. All we are and do needs to weave through God’s love for the world.

MISSION IS PARTICIPATING IN THE FLOW OF GOD’S LOVE TO THE WORLD.