Why we do it !

John Schroeder quotes Justin Taylor quoting Tullian Tchividjian, quoting his forthcoming book, with this:

There’s a major difference between having a tribal mindset and a missionary mindset. The highest value of a tribally minded person is self-protection. They ask questions like: Since I feel the safest around those who are just like me, how can I protect myself from those who are different than I am? So they intentionally surround themselves with people who think the way they think, like the things they like, and despise the things they despise. As a result, they live with a sense of superiority, looking down on those who are not like them (for half my life I was convinced that surfers like me were far cooler than anyone on the face of this earth).

In contrast to a tribal minded person, the highest value of a missionary minded person is not self-protection but self-sacrifice. A missionary minded person is a person that exists, not primarily for himself but for others. He is a person that is willing to set aside personal preferences in service to those whose preferences are different than his. Missionaries are people who are willing to be inconvenienced, discomforted, and spent for the well-being of others. The Gospel of Jesus Christ demands that we be missionary minded, because the gospel is the story of God sacrificing himself for others.

Quote from: JOLLYBLOGGER

Stitching up an ax wound.



Hiking to a Panare village.

Setting up camp while traveling to a Pemon village.

Providing medical aid to a remote Ye'kwana village.

Raising children in a mud hut.


What makes it all worth while?

Yekwanaman and Victor doing Biblical translation.

Wanaadi tameedä soto cumjumma'to jooje, chääjäcäinchädäiñe Tönnedö yäätonno 'jemjönö tu'ene'jödöödä. Iiñedö ecaanö’nei annamjö'da na'de, yeichö töwaatamemjönö töweiye na.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna.

What is their value to you?
God thought they were worth the life of His only son.