Many times we hear short term team members verbalize an inner conflict regarding the cost of their mission trip. Seeing the many unfilled needs of the village, local church, and people, and the financial needs for our ministry with ASM, they ask sheepishly,
“Wouldn’t it have been better if we had simply sent the money rather than spending it on our own airfare and ground costs?”
Our answer is always the same. Yes, perhaps, but people don’t. No one understands the need until they experience it for themselves. We have yet to be able to show pictures and tell stories that portray the reality of the needs in a way that stirs people’s hearts.
Secondly, we remind our teams that God uses their visit to encourage believers who seldom have any opportunity to interact with believers outside their small flock.
Our teams infuse hope and joy into the lives of pastors and those struggling in their faith. Together with teams, we bring them tools to use for evangelism and discipleship. We remind our brothers and sisters that they are not alone.
Is worth the price of the trip? I would say it is!
Our prayer is that God would strategically raise up prayer and financial partners among those we have hosted on short-term teams. As Pastor Jerrod (from a supporting church that has sent several teams to work with us) challenged his latest group:
“Decide now what God wants you to do differently as a result of your week in Oaxaca. The default is that each one will return to Ohio and go right back to your same way of living, interacting, and spending – forgetting the plight of the needy, the suffering, and the lost.” (my paraphrase)
Please pray for those who have walked the dusty trails, driven along the mountain passes, eaten the local food, slept in modest homes with few comforts, and prayed for very real and impossible (barring a miracle) requests, distributing audio Bibles to people who desperately need the hope of the gospel…. Pray that their lives would be forever changed.
Pray that they would become passionate about the spiritually lost in their circle of influence and be bold about sharing the gospel truths, and that they would have a fresh missionary perspective of the world that will rock their church and community. Pray that their own lives would be changed so drastically that they would daily experience and express the joy of their own salvation.
Lastly, please pray that some would become hooked on missions and obey the call to pray, give, and go wherever God leads, whether across the street or across the world. May God call some to be ambassadors for Audio Scripture Ministries, raising funds and awareness for our ongoing ministry to the unreached people of Oaxaca, Mexico, and beyond.
