The Great Challenge

I stood near the top of the stands and watched as more than 1,500 students flocked toward the stage. For the past 24 hours they had been meeting missionaries - eating meals with them, hearing stories of the people they were ministering to around the world, asking them questions. Now, they were volunteering. They were joining what the speakers had just called "The Great Student Awakening."

Four years ago, I was one of them. Four years ago, I was one of the students committing to giving a year of my life to missions while praying about a lifetime. While I wait on my time to go to Denmark, it is truly a blessing to watch these students commit to a year of missions as well. It is a blessing to see them and thousands more get excited about reaching the lost on their own campuses and in nations around the world.

When I was in college, I heard one of the greatest challenges of my life:

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

- Mark 16:15

College wasn't the first time I had heard that verse. I grew up in church. I have the Great Commission memorized in both Mark's and Matthew's words. But college was the first time I was challenged to take those of Jesus' words seriously.

Jesus came from heaven to earth. He taught and healed. He bled and died. All so we could have a relationship with Him. He came to us. He came because His heart broke for us. 

Students prayed for residents
of Indonesia - the largest Muslim
country in the world.

Now, His heart breaks for them. For the Syrian in the refugee camp. For the child dying of starvation in Africa. For the college student in Europe who thinks the church is obsolete. For the gang member in Latin America. For the members of ISIS. For people deep in the jungles who have never even heard His name. For the Americans who have rejected Him again and again. His heart breaks, and He wants someone to go to them.

Just like it cost Him, it could cost us everything. Up to and including our lives.

That is the challenge I and many others accepted four years ago. It's the challenge another couple thousand students accepted just over a month ago.

Students experience what it's like to attend
a religious service in the Middle East
while hearing about mission opportunities
in the region.

And now it's the challenge I issue to you. Be willing to lay down your finances, relationships, goals, and maybe even life to bring people to Jesus. But before you pack up your bags and leave, pray about what that looks like for you. It is an honor to go, but it's also an honor to send. After all, the Bible says missionaries can't go without being sent.

To help you understand both the blessing and the difficulty behind accepting this challenge, I intend to introduce you to different missionaries each month. There will be current and past missionaries. There will be young and old. There will be missionaries from home and abroad. I hope their stories will challenge and encourage you.

Join the conversation: How will you respond to Jesus' command to go? What will it cost you to reach the lost in this world?