The Omnipresence of Jesus in Missions

 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20 ESV).

 

I have been privileged to preach and minister in many parts of the world. Those have included many different places in the United States with numerous cultural and denominational groups. These places have also included different international locations such as Ukraine, Israel, Argentina, and Mexico. Perhaps the most unique of these was the Ukraine. The picture I’ve attached is in front of the first church I preached in with our group and two of the pastors we worked with. It was and incredible time of ministry.

 

However, the trip began with difficulty fueling my anxiety even more than usual. Our group missed the boarding of our flight by five minutes of the final boarding call. No reasoning could dissuade the airline representative to open the gates for us, even though it was still an hour before the scheduled take-off. After getting new flights booked through another airline and arranging the different connections, we found ourselves in a small airport for the last leg of the trip. Going through customs in a predominantly military controlled country was “interesting” to say the least. Finally arriving Odessa, we were met by a representative to take us to the seminary where our first nights’ stay was scheduled. After that I traveled across five different districts in six days, preaching and teaching in six different churches. Perhaps the most difficult part of this experience was the language barrier. Even though I had a wonderful translator, it was challenging.

 

That experience reminds me that there is always a measure of anxiety and uncertainty when we step across cultural and ethnic boundaries, whether it’s in our neighborhood or in a neighboring country or overseas. In every circumstance we discover that when we embrace Jesus’ Great Commission to us in Matthew 28, his words also become more real to us than we might imagine: “Surely I am with you always…” He never leaves us alone!