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The following is a short story written for the One Word Blog Carnival: Goodness hosted by Bridget Chumbley at One Word at a Time. To read more posts, please visit her.)

Bob Henson’s Mission of Goodness:

I watch in horror as CNN streams continuous coverage of the devastation in Chile. Another earthquake. The body count seems relatively low, but it’s still early.

I missed the chance to go to Haiti. Oh sure, I sent money. I encouraged others to give. I prayed for the people there. But it didn’t feel like enough. I decide this time, I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

I decide to take a week off from work. There are people suffering, and I need to help them. Since I’m the boss of my own renovation company, I decide to reschedule all the upcoming jobs for the next two weeks. Sure, no work means no paycheck for my employees, but at least they have roofs over their heads. We all must make sacrifices in the face of such enormous tragedy.

I finalize my plans. As my wife helps me pack for the trip, she laments that I will miss our son’s first band solo, and our daughter will be disappointed that I won’t be taking her to the father-daughter dance. This makes me sad, but when God calls you to a mission, you answer the call.

I say goodbye to my family. We pray together, asking God to protect me in Chile and my family while I am away. One last check of my supplies – I need to make sure I have plenty of film for my camera.

As I drive to the airport, I notice a sea of brake lights ahead of me. When I finally get close enough, I see an old, broken down car in the center lane. A woman with two young and unkempt children are in the car. She is on the cell phone, presumably calling her husband or boyfriend to come help her. People can be so irresponsible! I say a quick prayer for God to get me to the airport on time despite this unexpected delay. I refuse to let Satan keep me from my mission!

Prayers answered. The traffic starts to move again once I get around the broken down car. As I approach the airport, I tune my radio to the AM station which gives parking capacity updates. Unfortunately, the lot at the airport is full. I will have to park off site and take a shuttle. I say a prayer thanking God for giving me the wisdom to leave myself plenty of time to get on my flight.

Pulling into the shuttle lot, I spot a man – obviously homeless – approaching my car. I try my best to avoid eye contact with him, but it’s too late. As I pull into a parking space, he is approaching my car. Please Lord! I don’t have time for this!

I roll down my window and explain to this man that I don’t have any money to give him. (I do, but I’m not about to help fund his addiction.) I ask him his name and promise to pray for him. I grab my luggage just in time to make the shuttle.

I get through the security lines and run to my gate. Praise God for silver-elite status! My first class seat is waiting for me, and fortunately it is a seat by itself. I can spend time with the Lord instead of talking to a stranger on this long flight.

The plane touches down in Taici. Santiago is still recovering from the earthquake, but I have arranged for a driver to pick me up and get me to the heart of the destruction.

As I stand at the curb with my luggage waiting for my ride, I reflect on all the sacrifices I have made in order to answer God’s call for me to help the poor people of Chile. I ask God’s blessing on my journey here and ask that he allow me to do big things for His Kingdom. I am looking forward to doing my part in this mission of mercy; showing these people what the love of Christ is all about…

Now…where in the hell is my driver?

Then Jesus came to them and said, “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.” ~Matthew 28: 18-20

Do you believe that all the world is the mission field? I honestly do. I think we all can be ambassadors for Christ in our homes, at our workplaces, at the grocery store, anywhere.

Having said that, I think it takes a special person to give up the comforts of home to travel to distant lands and be the hands and feet of Christ. My friend Sarah Salter is one such person. She has been on several mission trips in her young life, and now she has been given an opportunity to go on another one to the Sudan. Here’s Sarah in her own words:

Isaiah 61:1 has always been one of my favorite scriptures…

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…”

As much as this is a scripture about Christ, because I’m a follower of Christ, I also accept that it’s my personal calling as well. The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD has also anointed ME to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, and proclaim freedom for the captives. Because of this calling, when missionary Rose Boyd came by my office the week before Christmas to invite me to come with her to minister to the refugees in Sudan, I immediately felt compelled to say yes.

From July 11-25, 2010, I will be joining Rose and a team of ten from Operation Teaching Tools and Every Nation Education to travel to Sudan and minister there. We will be doing Vacation Bible School with the refugee children, as well as doing teacher training and evangelism and a bit of construction.

In order for me to take part in this trip, I am responsible for raising my own support, in the amount of $4,050. If you believe that God would have you to give a tax deductible contribution, you can contact me at smsalter78@yahoo.com. If you wish to send a check, please make checks payable to Operation Teaching Tools and mail them to:

Sarah Salter
PO Box 54
Falcon, NC 28342

On behalf of the team and the folks we’ll be ministering to, I would ask that you pray for us. Sudan is a severely impoverished, war-torn country who is in its third year of drought. The needs are great, but I know that your prayers will give us strength, wisdom, and favor to take Jesus to this part of the world. Thank you!

***

As I mentioned before, Sarah has been on several mission trips. It is part of what God has called her to do. She is also an excellent writer. On her blog, she has chronicled three such mission trips:

A Priceless Hope
Her name was Hope. Okay, well, sorta. Her name was Esperanza, which in Spanish, means “hope.” She was nine years old and cute as a bug’s ear, with a smile that would make Oscar the Grouch’s heart get soft. But the day that she was carried into our mission clinic in Concordia, Argentina, she was far too scared to smile. She sat in her mother’s lap and buried her face in her mother’s neck. continue reading

When There’s Nothing You Can Do
”Did you see Nightline on Thursday night?” Chrissy sat across the table from me last Saturday afternoon helping count out 25,000 adult multivitamins into packets of 30 for an upcoming mission trip.

I shook my head and glanced at her to let her know that I was listening as I tried not to lose count.

“I thought about you because I know you’ve been to Congo a couple times….”
continue reading

The Water, The Widowmaker, and the “Why”
When I was very young, I had a strong desire to do mission work. I didn’t think that I’d ever be a strong enough Christian for God to use me. I managed to spend a week at a teen missions camp when I was about 15, but then I put the dream away. Then, when I was 19, God opened the door for me to go on a construction team to Galeana, Mexico. I spent several days, shoveling gravel into a cement mixer (and learning how to spit to keep from swallowing the gravel dust). And that was all it took for me to be hooked. continue reading

Let me ask you something. If you were a young woman who lived her entire life in Florida suburbia, then found yourself in Nigeria as a missionary where, among other things, you had experienced:

-visits to countless children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic
-vastly different gender roles than what you’re used to (read – old school)
-no running water in your home
-no refrigeration for food
-peeing on the side of the road next to a bus
-being chased by wild baboons
-abject poverty all around you
-large vats of stew containing parts of animals you’re not accustomed to
eating
-no cheese (NO CHEESE PEOPLE – in all of Nigeria!)

If you had experienced all of these things and even more things you didn’t talk about, would this blog post horrify you?:

(Editor’s Note: The following blogpost is brought to you with our sincerest apologies and assurances that the next entry will be worth reading.)

Ode to the Neti Pot
(sung to the melody of “My Funny Valentine”)

My little neti pot
Blue little neti pot
You clean up stuff that’s in my nose
Yes, you may gross some out
Still, you clear up my snout
You wash away those allergies

Is your method less than cool
When you cause my mouth to drool

Yes, you cause my mind to freak
when my nostrils start to leak
But you work…

But don’t change your ways for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little neti pot stay
Each day is neti pot day

After raves reviews from several friends (and by “several”, I mean 3) as to wondrous healing powers of the neti pot, I purchased one yesterday. (Much to my husband’s dismay.) I gotta tell you, for me, it actually works. For those of you unfamiliar with the benefits of this little homeopathic tool, you may find this video helpful.

——————————————
Well, if your name is Mary Ann – or Mare as she’s known to me, your answer would be “Yes. Yes it did.” But it was also a means to get to know a very amazing young woman and someone I consider a friend.

Mare is back from Nigeria and is beginning a new adventue attending seminary in Austin (yay!) I had the wonderful treat of meeting her in person on Sunday. She stopped by on her way to Austin. And, yes my bloggy gal pals (you know who you are), she’s way cuter and every bit as nice in person! I invite you all to pay her a cyber visit at her new home, Hope is Rising.

Welcome to Texas, Mare! You’re going to love Austin! (And Austin will love you.)

Okay, peeps. Don’t get your grannie panties all in a bunch. You know you’re all my favorites for different reasons. But Koffi House is more like reading a book — a very, very good book.

Koffijah is a missionary in a “closed” country. For this reason, he does not go into great detail on his profile. He only recently started writing this blog, so you have an opportunity to read it in its entirity and get in on the “ground level”. I would highly recommend it — especially for my friends in ministry.

And Koffijah, if you’re reading this, thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom. Please continue to write.