No passport required

Something my husband and I have always wanted to do is about to happen,  Lord willing!  After we retired, we wanted to be able to go on some mission trips to foreign lands 
to share the gospel, to strengthen and encourage, or to serve  in any way needed. 

But you know what....we don't have to get on a plane, with passport in hand, and a suitcase with super powerful bug spray within, 

...to share the gospel...to strengthen and encourage...or serve in any way needed.

Many years ago, when my husband and I were tossing around ideas and dreams for retirement, we knew we wanted to travel to foreign places and meet and work with Christians of different cultures, laboring along side them to teach the people of their country about Jesus Christ.  We also wanted to 'work', to get sweaty and dirty, serving God and man, in whatever was needed.    

As we began to work toward that goal, we both realized, that we did not need a passport to do that.  We did not  need to travel anywhere 

...to share the gospel...to strengthen and encourage...or serve in any way needed.

We could and should be doing that right here at home.  Serving God, being His ambassador, should happen right where we live.  Serving our fellow man, in any way needed should happen right in our own neighborhood or community. 

I love the way Charles Spurgeon sums up serving God in everyday living, in particular, the job of raising children.

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There are so many opportunities to serve God, right where we are.   One just has to have open eyes to the souls in our home, our neighborhood, our place of work, and  even in our own congregation.    One does not have to leave and go anywhere, to do the work God has called them to.  We just all need to find our part in the work of the Lord, put our hand to the plow and labor on. 

The Apostle Paul urges us in this endeavor, (emphasis mine)

"... walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God..." Colossians 1: 10


Is it a good work to raise Godly children?  Is it a good work to care for aging parents?  Is it a good work to love our neighbor, to serve our brethren,  to labor in the work place, and be good stewards of what God blesses us with? Yes, of course.
But we don't see these as a 'work' for the Lord, we see them as the mundane everyday aspects of life.  The truth is these are all examples of good works that we are to bear fruit in.  Fruit for the kingdom of God.  In everyday life, without having to get a passport, board a plane and travel to a foreign land. (Much less lugging around that bug spray!)


 My husband and I feel so blessed and grateful  that God has answered our prayers, to be able not just to serve here, but to go to someplace completely foreign to us.  So, we are going to Dominica, a tiny island nation in the Caribbean, to work with a group of relatively new Christians, trying to share and explain more of the gospel, hoping to strengthen and encourage them.  I pray we will get the opportunity to sit around a table with Bible's open and teach someone about Jesus Christ, and that they would hear with an open heart, and heed the call to become His.   


And I have a feeling I will have plenty of opportunity to get dirty and sweaty, and use that bug spray!



Author's note:
 I may or may not be blogging during the two weeks we will be gone. I am not sure what to expect in amenities or technology.   But hopefully God will allow me some experiences that will reverberate in my mind, eventually becoming thoughts and words that I can share in this blog.  
Oh, and if you are so inclined,  prayers would be greatly appreciated :-)