He Went

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20)

The Great Commission.
It is one of the more familiar passages in Scripture, yet how many Christians are really living that out?

If I could venture a guess as to why too few are going, I would blame complacency. We are far to complacent with our comfortable lifestyles, dependable incomes, and reliable shelters to abandon it all to simply GO.

One of our friends, Josh Markland, is one of the exceptions. He left several weeks ago for an eleven month mission trip around the world. In these eleven months, he will serve the poor, feed the hungry, and share Christ with the lost in Mexica, Guatemala, Nicaruaga, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine (whew). He is currently in Palenque, Mexico, and you can read about his adventures here.

Seth Barnes, founder of Adventures in Missions, explains the generation to whom this trip is reaching out:

“Everyone wants to find their place in the world. They want to better understand what God is doing in it and how to join Him. And many want to go on a journey and pit their wits against a challenge that asks more of them than they’ve asked of themselves. They are hungry to measure themselves against that challenge.

They have a well of compassion that has barely been tapped. They want to be poured out as they see and touch the world’s needy.

They are already on a pilgrimage to understand what God made them for, and they understand that the metaphor of a journey, especially a long one, fits the traveling and searching that they’ve been doing.

They are representative of an entire generation that has a sneaky suspicion that maybe they’re on a path that is too easy. Maybe they’ve been tempted to sell out to a career track and a lifestyle that doesn’t or shouldn’t define them. Maybe the versions of themselves that the world is starting to see is not the best one.”

I’m really proud of Josh for what he’s doing. For leaving behind his truck, for quitting his job, for forgoing countless Orioles and Virginia Tech games, and for going.

You really should check out his blog- he’ll be experiencing some wild things this year!