A Prized Possession

Right now, we’re trying to put together some of our plans for the next few months. I’m trying to get as much input as possible, because I’ve really never done anything like this before, and I don’t have any affinity for a bunch of stuff exploding in my face. I’m really thankful to have a group of friends and mentors that I can call on without hesitation to help work through the challenges we’ve got here. I just can’t imagine being on the mission field without a lifeline. Without help. Without advice. Without honest mentors. I’ve felt in the past like I “have been mentored.” But I’m just now realizing how much of real discipleship doesn’t happen until you start to do something. All of a sudden, you need help. You needed it before, too, but now it’s a life-or-death situation.

I read about Jesus sending the disciples on their first preaching tour. He gives them a big list of instructions and sends them out. They come back, tell Jesus everything they had done (which must have taken a while) and Jesus takes some time to organize “disciple camp.” He takes them out into a desert place, and I can’t even imagine all the things they must have talked about. The royal mistakes they surely made, problems with their attitudes, the next steps that Jesus wanted to take. Just something about discipleship – it should not end (Bible college, short-term missions, etc.) before we have battles, it should really begin, enter its most important stage, when we enter battles.

I’ve always known tritely that discipleship would keep me from the mistakes that others have made in the past, but that statement is vivid and powerful to me now. Because we’re dodging mistakes everyday. In my sub-penny-worth opinion, one of the most valuable possessions a missionary can have is a hotline to honest, wise, experienced advisers who personally know them and their situations. Because the field is too big and too difficult for lone rangers to accomplish much of anything.

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