On Mission: Compassion, Not Comparison.
As TUCW begins a new series on missions, it is our pleasure to share the stories and experiences of women who have walked mission fields around the block and the world. Every believer is a beneficiary of mission work by the ultimate Missionary, Christ Jesus. As we consider the lost state we were in before Christ and the joy of our salvation with Christ, we should be compelled to participate in mission work in one capacity or another. We will find that we are more alike than different, which should lead to more compassion, not comparison. The apostle Paul says this about missional work:
'I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. '
1 Timothy 1:12-14 (ESV)
Travel with “Jasmine” to Sub-Saharan Africa as we share a day in the life of a young, local woman…
I looked at her face as she gazed into the distance while drawing water from the well. I wondered what she was dreaming about, contemplating, wondering? Her days are filled, literally, from dusk to dawn with the work to simply survive. Her skin is dark like sweet, chocolate syrup, her face marked by scars (likely markings made by her mother to ensure she was not kidnapped), her feet thickly leathered and dry from years of walking the sub-Saharan Desert ground, farming field, gathering millet, walking to market with her goods, retrieving water in multiple trips, all without shoes. She was shirtless and unashamed, with only a thin, colorfully patterned cloth around her waist reaching past her knees, typical for her culture. Clearly, not an American woman, not an American life. But in that moment, I could see that the circumstances of her life and location are not who she was- her heart was not that different from mine. I saw her contemplation on multiple days as I attempted to work alongside her and know her and love her. She dreamed, she wished for more, she wondered about truth, she saw the darkness and sin and brokenness around her, she saw glimpses of grace in the creation around her, and I prayed she saw the truth of the gospel in me.
Do you have a story to share? Comment below!