2026.05.31 | I've Always Assumed Global Mission Was for a Certain Kind of Person.

I've never thought of myself as a global missions person.

I picture global missions as something for people who are particularly bold. Particularly gifted. Particularly called in some dramatic way — a moment at a conference, a vision, a clear sign from God. People who leave behind comfortable lives and move to hard places. People built differently than me.

Sunday complicated that picture.

Jeff opened Ephesians 2:10 and built the whole message around one idea: we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared beforehand. All of us. Not a specific subset of unusually courageous Christians.

He talked about a couple from our church who spent years with a quiet heart for global work — building careers, opening their home for community groups, financially supporting others who went overseas, traveling to encourage global partners on the field. Not dramatic. Just faithful. And Jeff said God had been setting things up for them for years without them fully knowing it. Each small yes prepared them for the next one.

That reframed everything for me.

I kept waiting for the dramatic moment. The burning bush. The unmistakable sign. But maybe that's not how most of it works. Maybe it looks more like showing up consistently, saying yes to the small thing in front of you, and trusting that God is building something you can't fully see yet.

Then Jeff broke it down into three concrete ways to be part of global gospel work: pray, give, go.

Pray. Every Wednesday, pray for our global partners by name. Not a vague "God bless the missionaries" kind of prayer — specific, committed, weekly. That's something anyone can do starting this week.

Give. The American dollar goes significantly farther in the places our global partners serve. Generosity isn't just for people with extra — it's participation. Even a small, consistent gift to the global outreach fund is part of the work.

Go. Maybe that's a global encounter trip next year. Maybe it's striking up a real conversation with your neighbor who's been through a hard season and hasn't found solid ground. Maybe it's the coworker who keeps asking honest questions about faith over lunch. Maybe it's the friend who's been carrying something heavy and doesn't know where to turn. Going doesn't always mean a plane ticket.

Jeff also said something that I couldn't shake: there are over 2,000 unreached people groups in India alone. Less than 2% believe in Jesus. These are real people, made in God's image, who have never heard the name of Jesus in a way that made sense to them. Not because they rejected it — because no one ever got close enough to tell them.

That's not someone else's problem to solve. That's why the church exists.

I'm not moving overseas. But I'm taking the Wednesday prayer commitment seriously. I'm thinking harder about what "go" looks like in my own zip code. And I'm asking God to show me what tee He's already set up that I've been walking past.