The journey begins now.

Ok, my ADD is kicking in. Just hang on and bear with me.


At the end of my last blog, I left with suspense about God actually sending me to Ireland. It’s a very good story, and greatly needs to be finished. But, there are just some things that cannot wait, lest I forget them, or worst, lest my memory try to exaggerate what actually happened.

These past few weeks, me and Sam have been buying plane tickets, preparing to travel, making departure plans, etc. One thing on our to-do list was to give a presentation at Sam’s home church about Ireland, show pictures from his last summer there, and ask them to pray and support our trip. Thankfully, I got to go with him to his church, and we got ready to give our little talk.

 Now, you need to know something about Sam Franklin. Nobody has ever thought of Sam Franklin and said, “Yeah, that guy, he’s really outgoing. He just loves talking to big groups of people.” That’s just not him. God has made people with different personalities. Me, I come alive when I’m talking to groups of people, big or small. Something about the adrenaline and the attention makes me more in the zone. That’s the way God made me. I’m a performer by nature. Not Sam. He thrives in small, intimate settings, he comes alive talking and laughing with people he’s close to.

Before he gets up to speak, I notice he’s uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, this guy, he actually does pretty good speaking to groups. But, because I know him, I can almost smell the nervousness coming from him. I want to be a good partner, so we say a prayer that God will speak through us and that these folks will receive an understanding and a passion for the spiritual situation in Ireland.

But, it was in the middle of this prayer, and in Sam’s presentation that followed, something hit me. Up until that point, I had been guilty of thinking what I know a lot of Christians think nowadays: that my job right now was to prepare for the journey coming in a few weeks. But then God showed me something in a way I’ll never forget: The journey starts now. Let me say that again: The journey begins now. Not when we get on a plane. Not once our feet touch foreign soil. We carry God with us now, and we need to act that way. A lot of people get that mission-trip mindset, thinking that when they’re “on missions” is the only time when it’s necessary to spread the Gospel. Every time we form a relationship with someone, we can either evangelize to them (if they’re lost), or minister to them (if they’re a fellow believer). That’s what we’re called to do. We have a great message, and we should be more open and ready to be a light to those around us, to awake the sleeping, and to encourage the striving.

This mindset can be put into action so easily. It can be as simple as shooting the bull with the guys in the gym. The very next day, I chose to relax in the hot tub instead of the steam room after my workout. The steam room is loud and noisy and its impossible to converse with people (not to mention slightly awkward), but the hot tub is the perfect water-cooler environment. Those little kind of changes in a Christian’s mindset and in their actions is all that it would take to start forming relationships. Relationships are the basis for ministry. But I’ll go into my recent revelation about relationship evangelism later. All I have to say is don’t think that just because you’re not in a foreign country it
means you’re not in a position to live for God.

 

The journey begins now.

 

-Ethan Bossier
17 days to departure.