What's In A Name?

The word mission is generally perceived as something positive. Astronauts go on missions, using their little wrenches to perform heroic acts of mercy on an aging telescope. Military pilots count their missions. Corporations have mission statements. Missions are accomplished, and sometimes not. It's not a neutral sort of word. We all have missions, even if it's just saving up enough for that trip to Hawaii, or finding the aspirin in the middle of the night. They are the things that push us a little harder and give direction to some part of our lives. But does polishing up the lens of the telescope or luxuriating in the soft Pacific breezes make us missionaries? The addition of the letters "a", "r" and "y" to the word mission will conjure up a broaderrange of responses. These are rooted in one's life experience. Do you want to be called a missionary? I sure don't, at least not yet.

Through the lens of someone who grew up watching black and white Tarzan movies in the 40's and 50's, it's not a pretty picture. Missionaries to me are well-meaning people who go off to the jungle to tame the savage beast by serving a daily diet of sermons and passing out stacks of Bibles to people who cannot read in any language. They often ended up as part of a multicourse dinner. For years I have avoided any notion of going off on some spiritual crusade to save souls. All that changed over two years ago.

My two trips to South Africa convinced me that none of us alone can solve the problems of world poverty and disease as we wish we could. So what can I do? I'm no engineer, carpenter, plumber, and I don't know much about tools. What does a real estate lawyer know about solving the issue of up to 80% unemployment in parts of South Africa, together with the highest HIV/AIDS rates on the continent? Not much. I've learned that there are all sorts of imaginative people out there who are tackling great needs in small but effective segments. Then I put it together. I have planned and led two mission teams to South Africa. I arranged the schedules, the transportation, places to stay, people to see and some of the activities. This is something that only some us do well. In Christian theology, this is called the gift of administration. I took an assessment test three times, and it always came out the same - administration. It's not what I wanted but it's what I got. One day, quite suddenly, I understood that all that bureaucratic planning and organizing freed my colleagues to exercise their respective gifts - caring, hospitality, leadership, and many others. Each of the gifts works best when used with others. It's a neat thing to be apart of. I realize that I can contribute in many ways by helping people solve logistical and planning problems. I've done it for years. I am good at it. Our invitation to South Africa is to help, in part with organizing, evaluating and helping students to serve nearby communities in preparation of returning to their own, well equipped to serve and lead.

I get asked a lot, "What are you going to do over there?" The answer isn't very exciting - making schedules, planning, organizing, solving problems, working behind the scenes. Pretty much what I've always done. But to me it is exciting. I am confident that I have been called to do this and can rest in the belief that this will, someday, make it possible for someone to bloom.




Next time . . . . . . getting ready.