Called to Mission Despite the Cost

 "A great uproar occurred, and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party stood up and sharply argued, 'We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?'” Acts 23:9

Being a missionary has always been difficult. Reading about the travels and missionary journeys of St Paul demonstrates this in spades. Paul had to leave the comfort and security of a culture, family and religious system that he knew intimately and enter a totally different world asking God to show him the path to integration and transformation. Being confronted directed by Jesus on the road helped, but Paul's conversion would have many iterations and be ongoing for his entire life. 

The best missionaries, like Paul, must be deep listeners, people who sense the goodness of the people to whom they have been sent and slowly discover that God is already present in every culture and people. Women and men missionaries live in gratitude and awe because of the God they encounter in the people to whom they have been sent.

Today, pray for those who face a daily martyrdom in their own homes.

Have you experienced faith in another cultural context? What was it like?