It was early 2023. Rob Thompson, our missions minister, had approached me on a Sunday morning with an invitation for my husband Chris and me to join a mission team headed to Poland. This trip would be the first contact with our sister church in Katowice, laying the foundation for our ongoing partnership. I was immediately interested. I hadn’t traveled abroad since college, and I was excited for the travel and ministry opportunity. Chris, on the other hand, was a different story. My husband was born and raised in Mooresville. He has never lived more than four miles from the house where he grew up. He had never owned a passport, and he liked it that way. I had dreams of someday returning to Europe, but he made it clear that I would be going without him. “I have never left this country,” he would say, “and I never plan to.” So on that Sunday afternoon, when I shared Rob’s invitation with Chris, his response was predictable. “Poland? Why would I ever want to go to Poland?!?”
Over the next several weeks, through much prayer and lots of encouragement from me and from Rob, Chris began to entertain the idea of joining the mission team. But he was still very reluctant. He worried that he wouldn’t have anything valuable to contribute to the team. He is a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. He serves quietly and without fanfare, and he just couldn’t see how his talents could be of any use on a mission trip whose focus was on teaching, mentoring, and building relationships. But as it turns out, God is not limited by our weaknesses. He is more interested in our willingness to obey than in our abilities. Chris not only went on that first mission trip to Poland, he was deeply impacted by it. He fell in love with the people, the church, and the country. He made deep and lasting friendships. He became invested in the work God is doing through our Polish brothers and sisters. When it was time to come home, I was touched by how emotional the goodbye was for him.
Fast forward to today. We recently returned from our second trip to Poland. I can’t get over how differently Chris approached this trip than the last. In the beginning, when I was still a little hesitant to say yes, Chris was adamant that God would make a way for us to go. (He did.) When it came to planning our team’s contributions to the church’s family camp (our primary purpose for going), Chris was full of great ideas. And to my wonder and amazement, Chris himself volunteered—VOLUNTEERED!—to teach the morning lesson for the entire camp on American Day!
Chris and I got involved with this mission to Poland thinking that we would be bringing something of value to them, and by God’s grace, I trust that we have. But what we never expected was how much we ourselves would be changed. God has used this connection with our sister church to show us some areas in our lives that we need to work on. And he has grown us and stretched us both, but especially Chris. From the guy who said, “No way am I going to Poland!” to the guy who is already planning our next two or three trips to Poland…from the guy who didn’t think he had anything valuable to contribute, to the guy who is preparing and teaching lessons…God’s vision was far bigger than ours, and I can’t wait to see the work he is going to do in and through us through our continued involvement in missions.
Maybe you’re like me, and you’re just waiting for an invitation to get involved in missions. Consider this your invitation! Maybe you’re like Chris, and you think missions is for someone more qualified or more talented than you. I challenge you to consider that God may have bigger plans for you than you have for yourself. Offer your “Here I am, send me” to God, and see where he takes you! Who knows, it might even be to Poland!