Posted on March 21, 2012
Remembering who’s mission trip you are on may be a first step in preparation for your summer mission trip. It is not infrequent that I hear a church leader or out of my own mouth, refer to the mission trip as “My Mission”. It’s even highlighted at the top of our website.
But really, we are on God’s Mission. From the famous online source Wikipedia, “Missio Dei is a Latin Christian theological term that can be translated as the “mission of God,” or the “sending of God.” Mission is understood as being derived from the very nature of God. The missionary initiative comes from God alone.”
In 1934, Karl Hartenstein, a German missiologist, coined the phrase in response to Karl Barth and his emphasis on actio Dei (Latin for “the action of God”).
Consider the words of David J. Bosch, who says that the mission of God is not an activity of the church but an attribute or characteristic of God.
God is about His mission. We are about His purposes. Finding where He is already at work is important in joining His mission don’t you agree?
At Mission Discovery we are “fully-in” to “Missio Dei”, the mission of God. Here’s how.
In every trip location you’ll find that Mission Discovery doesn’t have it’s own orphanage, it’s own clinic, it’s own school, but rather we have found the work of God, the mission of God, in the form of partners who are already doing, joining His work.
We are truly our name. Mission Discovery, discovering what God is about and joining Him.
You can have assurance that when you team leaves at the end of a week-long trip His mission continues under the over-site of nationals who have had passion for the heart of the poor for many years and will continue that passion long after you are back home.
So how will you describe the summer mission trip to onlookers? Is it His mission or yours? Know the difference will change your week!
