Why Missions?

Guest Blogger:  Alfred Turley, Associate Pastor-Operations

We've received a lot of questions about foreign missions at Rock Bridge, especially as we begin planning future trips and partnerships.  Some ask why we do it at all, as our own community has so many needs.  I personally have been involved with foreign missions for over 15 years, and through those experiences, primarily in Haiti, I have seen God do some amazing things!  Here is why foreign mission efforts are important:

-1) Others who are less fortunate need to know that they matter. By going on trips where we develop relationships and partnerships, they see that they are not just a handout, but that they are a person that matters to us and therefore matters to Jesus.  Some mission trips only focus on projects, and while the heart of service is great, people hurting want to know that we see them, we see their hardships, and we care.  We can't always get to know everyone, but we should try!  Many of the orphans I have met in Haiti were treated lower than dogs.  When we fed, played, sang, and laughed with them, they felt they mattered to someone, and that God just might actually love them!

-2) Missions remind us the world is bigger than us, and that God's heart is for the world. Missions remind us that just because people have different ways of talking, eating, driving, etc., that they still matter to God.  Cultures around the world vary greatly, and it's important we realize that just because others do things differently, they still matter to God.

-3) Missions change us forever! Our country is so blessed...  sometimes we forget what true needs really are.  Visiting a country where there are no police to call, no ambulance to call, no power, no running water...  it makes you realize we have so much!  Some people literally do not have clothing to wear and walk around nearly naked.  Some have no house to live in, so they build a shed with sticks and do the best they can to live.  In Haiti, people regularly eat dirt, because there is nothing else to eat.  A meal every day is a luxury.  They can't imagine eating three a day!

-4) Missions give us the opportunity to sacrifice for our Lord, Jesus Christ.  By going on trips, praying for missionaries and the people they are ministering with, by partnering financially, God gives us the chance to lay down our selves for others, and create a bridge of compassion that God will use to change lives!