Why it is worth doing a mission trip…

Dusk has already started to fall as we descend the last hills with careful steps. We are in Nepal, on the way to Thulopatal, a small village that is accessible only by foot during the rains. We have been walking many hours through the thickly overgrown woods, always alert not to get leeches or fall down the next steep face.

Our guide is pastor Gain, a man of 45 years that has already planted more than twenty churches around the Tibetan border. It is inspiring to be in his presence. I want to learn from this man, his kindness, his readiness to serve and from his faith. As a young Hindu he did not see any sense in his life and wanted to commit suicide. Then Jesus came to him in a vision. That changed everything. Nobody in his home village Thulopatal wanted to accept that, so they almost beat him to death. But this did not stop him. Today there is a church there that we want to visit. During our march through the jungle he recounts what has been going on. I have a thousand thoughts running through my mind.

Our job is to encourage the Christians in Thulopatal. They have suffered much in the past, especially because of the persecution under the Maoists. In the meantime it is totally dark. We have arrived and checked into our poor lodging. I am looking forward to the service next morning. About 100 people attend the church building that they built with their own hands. Everyone is excited to see us. Not many foreigners make it to this place. We preach, pray for the people and eat lunch with them. We eat with our hands; they serve rice, as they do every meal. But for us they also have meat, they want to honor the guests. During the service a family wants to corporately and publicly denounce Hinduism and follow Jesus. We then also prayed for their sick baby because the next hospital is many hours away and a consultation is expensive. A few days later we hear that the Baby has died. It was too weak to survive in Thulopatal without medical help. How different my world is.

As we planted our ministry GOSPELTRIBE five years ago, experiences like the one in Thulopatal were the cause, why year by year we organized mission trips for young people out of Germany. God can use young people to carry out hope, encouragement and love to the ends of the earth. I am convinced of this.

It is amazing what you can experience on mission trips. You learn so much about yourself, what it means to follow Jesus without compromise and how fulfilling it can be to be put wholly in Gods ministry. And in the end you do nothing less than the mission that God has given every Christian, namely to go into the world and to preach the gospel to all creation. Maybe this is exactly the next step that God wishes you would do. If you are ready to be called by him, he will use you.

- Gernot Elsner -