Arturo says hello.

“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, even to the end of the age.”” ESV Matthew 28:18-20

A few weeks ago I shared a stirring video I found online with some friends that highlighted the need and importance of Christian missions around the world. I labeled the video link with my feeling at the moment, “Thinking about foreign missions.”

The video elicited several responses, but perhaps the most moving to me was the one from a local man that said, “I think about foreign missions every hour I’m awake.” True to his word, he and his wife are volunteering Haiti as I write this column and this is not their first trip. As I think abut his comment and his trip it occurs to me that every Christian should be thinking of how they might further the Great Commission every waking hour.

Another Franklin County son has been to India distributing bibles more times than I can recall. Proving that age is no hindrance, he didn’t take his first trip till after he retired from teaching. One of the strangest requests I’ve had professionally was from a Sunday School teacher wondering how much it would cost his class in dollars to convert into enough rupees for him to buy a scooter on his next trip to India.

Two friends from the Shoals who are full-time missionaries just returned from a seven-week trip to Peru where they visited some of the same Peruvian pastors that I was able to meet just about a year ago. To my surprise and great joy one of pastors made them promise to “tell Ken Arturo says hello.” He and his family overwhelmed our team with hospitality while we were in Peru.

There are perhaps more of your friends and neighbors traveling and ministering abroad than you know because most of them do it quietly. I’m aware of one young couple currently in town for some rest and relaxation who are missionaries to Peru and many others who have been on short term trips here in the U.S. Our new pastor at Tharptown Baptist Church, Josh, just returned with his wife and daughter from a twenty month missions tour in India.

As a Christian, the command to spread the good news is clear. The question is sometimes how; how do I make disciples of all nations? Well, here locally there is no excuse for not sharing your faith. Internationally? Admittedly, international missions is not everyone’s calling, but I see two solutions; either go or send. If you make yourself available, plenty of opportunities to “go” will appear. If you choose instead to “send” you’ll find your choices so plentiful that in the interest of good stewardship you’ll have to be cautious about the organizations you give to.

Will you go or send?

Ken Askew