“Home Sweet Home” Missionaries

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

When I was younger, I used to tune out sermons on witnessing, evangelism, and missions because I thought the messages were only for real missionaries who lived in the wild and had slide projectors. I honestly thought that to be a missionary and tell others about Jesus, you had to go overseas and then come back and make a presentation in front of the entire church! Even the word furlough sounded strange and not very fun to me.

Now that I am grown and have met real missionaries, I know better. I do have missionary zeal, the overwhelming desire to reach lost people before the Lord comes back. But now I know that you do not have to be able to put together an impressive PowerPoint presentation or take National Geographic–worthy photographs!

In the first chapter of Acts, after Jesus was resurrected from the grave but before He ascended into heaven, He answered a question the disciples kept asking Him: “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” (Acts 1:6).

Jesus answered them clearly that God sets that time and it was not for them (or us) to know. Then Jesus lets His followers know that He has a game plan for them while He is gone physically from earth. He wants them to be ambassadors on His mission, going forth in His power, telling people everywhere about Him.

This assignment is for us, too, and our territory is not just our “Home Sweet Home” missionary assignments but also our town, throughout our state, across the United States, and around the whole world! Wherever God places you and me, we are His witnesses, His “Home Sweet Home” missionaries.

We don’t need to be overwhelmed by our missionary assignment—the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). God promised His power for His mission.