What does it mean to go on a mission?

I think to truly understand we need to look at the definition. According to Google, a mission is an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving travel. I think when reading this I have concluded that life is a mission. We have various important assignments in many different seasons of our lives, so in the same way, we are ALWAYS on a mission. I think my important assignments look a little different than most people’s.

As my service as an Educator comes to a close I have wrestled with where I am going and what I am doing next. I have spent the past three years devoting myself to educational equity in a post-COVID world. I signed up and showed up and God did the rest. It has not been a blissful three years, but one I have to take moment by moment. In this, there were days when I would call out “sick” to lay in my bed and cry. There were afternoons where I would come into my home and not speak to a soul but sit looking at the wall waiting for my brain to turn off. The decision fatigue I have faced for 540+ days has caused my perception to shift dramatically. I have learned the power of silence. The resilience of patience and the reward of perseverance. I have felt love and forgiveness in depths I never knew I could display. I think in some way I was the assignment and through my “mission” the Lord rectified, renewed, and revised me. I truly believed I was going to create so much impact, but in the end, I was the one who was impacted.

Now, that my time of service in the public school system is coming to a close I have been at a loss. I have applied to numerous positions varying in the sector, but not by coincidence I ended up here. I have decided to go and serve abroad. I have spent hours crying out to the Lord regarding my career, my life, and my passions. I have vacillated between “next steps” for months. Historically missionaries do not have the best track record and I didn’t know how I felt identifying myself as a missionary or how my religious beliefs aligned with this. I didn’t know how the individuals around me would receive this news. I have struggled to articulate what missionary work looks like and where my heart stands. I think for years missionaries have co-opted religious identities to push political agendas, but in my case, my choice to go on a mission is about my heart for people and the Kingdom of God. I want to love my neighbor and follow the path and purpose that God has ordained for me. I want individuals to know the love of God like I have gotten to know it. I want to share the good news and serve people’s needs as I do. We are one body and I have been called to serve the body in this way. Believe, me when I say that I didn’t see this coming 5 years ago, but I am so thankful that my plans didn’t work out and that I can let go and let God.

Romans 8:27-28

²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.