Missionaries do weird stuff but it's okay, they're missionaries!

If you've ever been on a overseas missions trip you know one thing for sure: Missionaries think outside the box.

They have services wherever they can, bible studies at a moments notice, baptize in rivers and streams and with buckets, even have women preachers and stuff. And guess what? Nobody gets freaked out! Know why? They are missionaries...they do what it takes to get the job done.

But....when you get back home, well....back in the box you go. At Crosswind we're learning that being missionaries along side a churched culture provides real challenges. I'm gonna list a couple, but as I do imagine if you saw the same thing in the Philippines or India or Africa... for example:

• We baptize people when they come to faith in Jesus in a temporary baptistry...

Isn't it exciting to hear the mission trip stories about how many got saved and "we weren't gonna be there long so we just took 'em out right there and baptized 'em." And all God's people said.... Yet, when we did it... whew, let me just say, it wasn't pretty.

• An issue that has recently been chatted about is: How are your kids getting taught if they don't "go to church"?

Every time I've visited missionaries around the world I find they are very creative about their children's care. Most homeschool, train their children in the scriptures through at home bible studies and devotions. And most of them do it every day not just once or twice a week. Not a one that I have met feel like their children were being cheated. God gave parents the responsibility to "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

We are missionaries to our own city and we know that it scares some folks and some folks can't quite figure out..."Why won't they just get in the box?" Well, it's cause we're missionaries, and missionaries think outside the box.

But here is what you can be sure of: We're gonna have bible studies wherever we can, baptize 'em when they get saved, take communion wherever we get believers together, teach our children the Bible and show 'em how it works in real life, preach whenever we get an audience, worship in a field or in our warehouse or in a car. And we're gonna do it...

Cause we're missionaries.

BC