Shoes

“Oh, wow, you’re a missionary? That’s really cool. So, what do you do? Do you give out shoes or build orphanages?

On our staff retreat, one of our meetings was a “what if” meeting where we cast vision for not only this year, but years to come. We’re firm believers that nothing is impossible with God, so while we did say some silly things, we also tried to be as bold in our statements as possible.

One teammate said, “What if we completely changed what the world thinks of when they think about missions.” This statement was greeted with a lot of cheers.

The question (slash comment) at the top is one that we all have gotten more times than we can count, and to be perfectly honest, it breaks my heart when I get it. Now I know that it’s an area where I need to show more grace. No one means harm by the question; they simply don’t know any better. And much of that is because of our churches’ supreme disobedience of the Great Commission. I’m extremely blessed to have a church home that even talks about missions, let alone, offers trips and strongly encourages people to go.

Back in October, Overland was the ministry partner of the month at my church, so alongside a few of my teammates, I got the privilege of helping to run a booth in the lobby before and after services to help recruit for our 30-something trips this year. At one point, there was a woman that started checking out our booth, so I asked her if she was interested in going on a mission trip. She said yes, so I started explaining about Overland. She seemed pretty interested, and then she asked, “So do you (insert various things here)?” I responded, “No, our trips focus on evangelism.” Her response:

“Oh, I’m not interested in doing any evangelism.”

I could have burst.

“What the heck do you mean you’re not interested in doing evangelism?!?! THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT! Do you not care that there are people across the globe who have never heard of Jesus?!? Do you not care that Jesus cares about those people?!? How disobedient are you?!? Open your Bible to Matthew 28:19 right now!!”
(Please note that I said none of those things–I just smiled and she walked away–but, boy, did I want to. Just reliving that conversation in my mind gets me riled up.)

Even more depressing, I know that she is NOT the only person who feels that way.

I don’t understand. When did missions become a philanthropy instead of being about the Great CoMISSION? Peter, Paul, Silas, Barnabas–they all did missions, ie, healing the sick, delivering people from demons, and most importantly, telling every person they could about Jesus. Where did we go wrong?

When I first started the process of signing up for my first missions trip back in early 2014, the fact that the trip [to Zambia with Overland] was evangelism-focused is what made me choose it–despite having ZERO experience with evangelism–because it just felt right; I knew that that’s what God has called us to do. Matthew 28:19 does not say, “Go and paint orphanages,” or “Go and give out free stuff.”

Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “But the Bible talks about caring for the least of these.”

You’re right; it does. We know that Jesus cares about our physical needs and well-being, too, and not just our spiritual needs. BUT if that’s all you’re doing, it doesn’t matter how much better you make someone’s life on earth if their eternal life isn’t secured. And even on top of that, there are right and wrong ways to handle physical needs.

What far too many organizations don’t think about is the damage that they actually do by simply giving out resources.

For example, let’s say you hand out shoes. The people are thrilled and everything is great. But then the shoes eventually fall apart, well, because that’s what all shoes eventually do. So all you’ve done is give a temporary solution to a temporary problem, which has even worse effects. Because now you’ve created a dependency mindset. “These white people came and gave us free shoes. Maybe more white people will come and give us more free shoes.” And then what happens? The local shoe stores and shoe-makers go out of business. Because why would people even attempt to make or buy shoes when they get them for free? Giving out resources, particularly when handled in the wrong way, makes poverty worse, not better. (And as far as building things go, if you do so with resources found locally–which would be pointless to do otherwise since they wouldn’t be able to make repairs as needed or rebuild if needed–the local people are much better and faster at building their own buildings, trust me.)

Even more damaging is the dependency mindset; not because we want the people to be independent, however. We live in a society that treasures independence, but independence is not a Biblical value. We’re created to be dependent. BUT we’re created to be dependent on God. So even if the free shoes are accompanied by evangelism, you’re ultimately teaching them that man (especially white man) is their provider, not God.

Overland does work to meet physical needs, like clean water and healthcare, but we do so in a way that enhances and adds to their relationship with God. We want Him to have the credit, not us.

So, quick recap: MISSIONS = SHARING THE GOSPEL (Matthew 28:19).

Now that we have that part understood, watch this short video.

I cannot tell you how much this also breaks my heart. This is why, despite the large number of organizations out there, we’re not much closer to fulfilling the Great Commission. I am SO proud and honored and humbled to be a part of an organization that is working to change these statistics. I am SO proud to be in the 3% and that all my partners get to be in the 1%. (A statistic that this video does not share is that if you divide up the people in that 29% to all the missionaries in the 3%, you’d get over 216,000 people per ONE missionary–no wonder we Overlanders consume so much coffee! That’s definitely a statistic that Overland is trying to change!)

My name is Stacy Moorhouse, and I am a full-time missionary. What do I do exactly? I share the love and good news of Christ with those with little to no access to the Gospel. I travel long hours on difficult, bumpy, thorn-tree-lined, dirt roads to get to those neglected places that other organizations aren’t going to (soon, some of our missionaries will be trading in those dirt roads for water, as we seek to reach neglected islands in the south Pacific–they’re said to be the hardest-to-reach places in the world). I love on, pour into, and empower them to be able to evangelize their own people and hold one another accountable in their faith, which not only changes statistics, but does so with sustainability. We even have a program called Sustain that combines Biblical teaching with sustainable farming practices to help the people have a sustainable and provisional way of life. THAT is how we will not only help improve earthly poverty, but most importantly, eliminate spiritual poverty.

We’re going to the ends of the earth.

Partner with us. Join the 1 percent. Click here.
And if you’re interested in going on a REAL mission trip, click here.