Go forth and make disciples of all men

Myth 1: Mission trips are expensive I could never afford to go.

Fact 1: “you can’t raise that kind of money in a few months” my parents actually told me this about my upcoming trip. Now I am less than a month out and I have to get like $100 to be fully funded. I know a lot of people say this but, if it’s God’s plan, it will happen. I can’t express how blessed in knowing God is in control. If money is making you consider not going on a mission trip then reconsider. It is too important for you to try and get to go instead of not trying at all. As Yoda says “Do or Do not there is no try” this is a weird comparison but its true. If you don’t do you will never know. Just because it is expensive doesn’t mean you can’t go, God will provide.

Myth 2: Missionary commitment is mainly about money.

Fact 2: “I’ve given to missions, I’ve done my part” does this sound familiar? Well it isn’t a good framework of the mind because that isn’t fulfilling God’s commandment of “go forth and make disciples of all men” to fulfill that you yourself need to GO! Now the money issue, yes it costs money to go on a mission trip but if that is your excuse that you have “contributed enough” then again you aren’t fulfilling God’s commandments. I think that we need to get out of a mindset that everything in the church is about money. It takes money to do just about everything in this world, but just because it takes money to go doesn’t mean missions equal money. Missions equal time, commitment, an investment of your life and energy not just money. I found two websites that helped me with this myth: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/top-ten-myths-about-missions/essentials-world-missions/timothy-tennent http://missionscatalyst.net/?p=146

Myth 3: There are no job opportunities in missions.

Fact 3: Not only are there job opportunities in missions but there are an abundance of job opportunities. There are jobs with preaching, counseling, church planting and I’ve even heard of people going to medical school here then move to Africa and not only provide much needed medical care, but share the gospel at the same time! I find it so cool that you can do anything you want at all and then go into missions and do your passion and reach people with the gospel! Some more information about this is at: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/top-ten-myths-about-missions/essentials-world-missions/timothy-tennent

Myth 4: Missions means going to live in the jungle somewhere.

Fact 4: We have to think about where most people live in to days times. Most of the world lives around cities. This is important because someone doesn’t always have to go to the jungle. There are those special people God has called to go to remote areas that I can’t even fathom exist, but this summer I am going to Daytona Beach, Florida on a mission trip? Tell me how that works. It works because people in our own country and countries around the world with big cities need the gospel too. If you want more information about this go to this website: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/top-ten-myths-about-missions/essentials-world-missions/timothy-tennent

Myth 5: There is too much danger involved.

Fact 5: If I am being honest there is danger involved in everything now-a-days. In every aspect of life there is a danger for something, breaking an arm, falling off something. There are so many reasons for someone not to do something simple and if this reason stops you from going on a mission trip then should you consider anything? Going on a mission trip is worth the danger because Jesus is worth it.

Myth 6: Missions means going overseas and planting churches.

Fact 6: Mission trips that most people think of is going overseas, building houses, sharing the gospel. This isn’t always true. Sometimes missions can be done in your own community. Depending on how the person uses their gifts and abilities. There are people in our own community that need reached by the gospel but if everyone goes out to other countries they would never be touched and they are in our own backyard. Everyone needs touched and that isn’t happening if everyone is going to different countries. Also not every mission trip involves planting churches. I mention later more about my story but I have gone on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic and we didn’t plant churches, we went to orphanages, villages, and ministered to locals. Not always do you have to plant a church to share the gospel. For more information go to this website: http://missionscatalyst.net/?p=146

Myth 7: There are needs that are so great that I couldn’t ever make a difference.

Fact 7: Being a light in the darkness is hard, being the one who was called, chosen, God’s elect exile to tell the world about him isn’t easy and will never be easy. We are told multiple times to go make disciples of all men one I mention later at Myth 9 but I found several other verses that tell us the same thing. If you could or want to you can go check out these verses; Acts 1:8, Acts 13:47, Mark 16:15, Romans 10:13-14, Matthew 24:14, and Psalm 96:3, these are just some of the verses the bible has for us where we are commanded to go. The bible shouldn’t have to tell us that we need to go, the needs in other countries are great, monstrous, we cant even comprehend the needs that other countries have because we are in our own bubble, but those needs can be met by doing the little things like going. There are several different types of mission trips someone could go on like a mission with dentistry, or doctors without borders (I am not entirely sure if that is a Christian ministry but it serves the same purpose), or even in the United States you could go to the inner city of large cities and work with kids there, or go to a poorer town in America and serve there. Any small thing you do can make a difference and it is so important to remember that. For more information about this I would like to direct you to this website: http://www.cfaith.com/index.php/blog/26-articles/outreach/17310-myths-about-missions

Myth 8: Short-term missions don’t make a lasting impression.

Fact 8: Short-term missions are the only trips I have done thus far. I am not sure if I am thinking about a long-term mission but through my eyes this is what a short-term mission does. I went to the Dominican Republic for a week, yeah I am sure that the kids, families, communities I went to remember my name, mainly because I didn’t speak to them only played games or sang with them. They don’t know me on a personal level, but I am certain they remember the white people that came to their village and painted their church, or the white people who came and got stomped in baseball, who also happened to bring bags and bags of food with a message that Jesus does love us in our small community, or even to the non-adoption orphanage where I met little Iso Luis who stole my heart and I will never get that back, or the family who just got a new house but had no money to but furniture with that got $1,000 from complete strangers. Not only does short-term missions affect the people you are ministering to but it affects you too. If you want to know more about the impact of short-term missions on someone go visit this website: http://www.mostministries.org/myths__facts___needs

Now, this is my little Iso Luis. I keep this picture near to my heart because he was the only kid I was with all day, I couldn’t communicate with him at all but we could play with chalk, run, walk, and just be together. He is in my heart, I don’t think he knows how much he touched me that day, as I left and got on my bus I was crying because I had to leave him but he wiped my tears, gave me a kiss on the cheek and said goodbye. Who knows if I will ever see him again but because of him I want to go on other mission trips to touch other children’s lives. I have a feeling I will see him in our eternal home.

This is a boy from one of the villages we went to and immediately I fell in love with him. He was so fun and full of life even if he didn’t have all that much.

This photo is from one of the orphanages I went to, I didn’t mention in my story I don’t think but this was an all girls orphanage and they touched my heart through song, dance, crafts and bubbles.

Myth 9: Missions aren’t really necessary.

Fact 9: Missions are completely necessary, the bible says in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” This passage tells us that we need to go out. Missions are important and Jesus shows us that in this passage as he talks to his disciples for the last time. This website has other information on how and why missions are so important: http://www.cfaith.com/index.php/blog/26-articles/outreach/17310-myths-about-missions

Myth 10: Success is guaranteed.

Fact 10: This myth is on here because success in anything is never guaranteed. I once heard this wise man speak at a conference I went to and he told us about this thing called the plus one experience. He showed us this picture and he told us “each person is in a different place on their spiritual journey and that is okay, and if you share the gospel with them and they don’t believe that is okay too. What matters, is you placed that seed. You told them, showed them, demonstrated to them what you could that isn’t going to make them a believer, but the next person that talks to them with further grow them they could go from that -10 spot to a -9 in the time you talk to them. Eventually with time and energy put forth by you and other Christians they will believe. Don’t fret about ‘converting’ someone to Christianity, worry about having the plus one experience.” You won’t always make someone a Christian just by talking to them, but if you move them one step closer, that is one step closer they are to becoming one. There is more about this myth on this website: http://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/262798-5-myths-christians-believe-missions.html/2 

This is the diagram that the preacher was talking about.

100 Word Story

Honestly I have no clue how this story came to mind, I just sat down and started typing. This is for my English 303 class. Enjoy :)

Watching carefully she sat, she had her own little corner of this coffee shop. She watches the people come in and go out every day. She even thought up names for those she didn’t know. Every day she sat and watched but didn’t realize she was also being watched. One day she didn’t come to this coffee shop, she was far too sick that day. He missed her, little had she known the effect she had on this worker. When she wasn’t there it always seemed to be gloomy. When she was sitting in her little corner, rainbows would appear.

 

Six Word Story

Long distance, strong bond, best friend.

Literacy Struggles

One struggle I remember having with literacy was when I had to attend speech therapy becuase of the horrible consonant, R. I hated speech therapy, it was a woman that stood there in the hallway with me and just repeated words like; word, world, water. They weren't fun she expected me to know the difference in what I was saying and what she was saying. I am now in a speech class to learn how to teach children with hearing impairments speech and one of the things we learned not to do is just sit there and repeat the word thinking the student will eventually understand. Any word with 'r' in the middle most often was hard for me, words with 'w' and 'r' were the worst. It is ironic I think as I'm typing this how many words have a 'w' and 'r'. All these words with those letters I am typing I had to say 10 or 20 times each speech therapy session on Wednesdays. This was only when I was in third grade. I didn't have to worry until thrid grade about my speech. It was interesting when I finished my therapy I would be complemented on my speech by my teachers and parents becuase they knew my problem. But why complement me? I didn't accomplish much just figured out how to say 'word' 'worry' 'world' 'water' I just could say these words more clearly now and not miss the 'r' sound.

Narrative: Let it be true.

What does it mean to be safe and secure? It means you can live with out abandon and not worry about judgement. Thats something I used to not feel. I would go to church, a safe place right? Not for me, my cousin would bring his friends to youth group and at first I wouldn't realize it was happening so I didn't tell anyone it was more of a "I don't want her on my team" "she's not good at this" type comments. One night though it got hard to ignore. We had just went on a trip so we were in a church van. I couldn't get away, I felt so trapped. I can't even remember the comment I made just the response from my cousin's friend. "you aren't welcome here" Imagine, being at a church, or place your whole life and hearing those words. My world was torn apart. I couldn't escape I was in a moving vehicle. My youth pastor was in the same vehicle but I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't hear what was said to me, but if he did he completely ignored the fact that I was told "you aren't welcome here". I had been at that church honestly since before I was born, my mom was born into that church and grew up there and I grew up there so it was hard. I would only go to events after that that had nothing to do with the youth group. I would go to morning church but would not set foot back in the youth room. I started going to a different youth group, I love it there. I started my freshman year of high school and am still involved in their college youth group. We never fully switched to that church so I only go on Wednesday's but I do visit some Sunday's. My boyfriend goes there so it is easy to be involved with their church on Sunday because I can just tag along with him. After that day I resented Tyler, the boy who said that to me. I never wanted to speak to him again because he hurt me. About a year or so later he decided that he would apologize. I took the apology but didn't go back. I said "thanks" and he asked if I would come back to the youth group, I said no it wasn't fun for me and that I was involved in another youth group. After that youth pastor left, he was asked to step down because he was a volunteer anyway I went back for that youth pastor and have actually been involved there and the second church. It always worked out that my first youth group would meet on Sundays and the other on Wednesdays so I could do and enjoy both. I will always remember this time and grow from it. Nothing anyone says can bother me much anymore because I wasn't welcome. I knew that and now I know that even if I am not welcome that I can still make the most of the time in that group or activity.

Informative/Explanatory: Mission Trips

I have been on one mission trip and am getting ready to go on another and I am so excited! I am going to tell you how to sign up on for a mission trip or how you might get involved with one then how to raise support or get money to go on a mission trip.

So I was asked to go on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic when I was 16 by my youth pastor, not always do you just get asked, sometimes you have to find some somewhere or look for the trips. The one I am about to go on is with a campus ministry called Cru, they send students all over America and the world. I am going on a stateside summer mission to Daytona Beach, Fla.

When I decided to go on this mission trip to Daytona Beach I signed up online on the website for the trip, for Cru you have to apply and get accepted, that's not the way with most mission trips. After you apply and get accepted or get asked to go on a mission trip you need money to get there, right? To get the money you need to raise support, for Daytona I am in the middle of this process. The mission trip will have a set price you need to get the money. For one week to the Dominican Republic I needed $1600 but for three weeks in Daytona Beach I need $1595. That doesn't seem like a big difference but there is a difference in the mission, in the Dominican I went to several orphanages and villages and helped do odd jobs there, I also went to another country. The way you raise support is through letters and fundraisers. You send out support letters but money isn't the only thing that you need for a mission trip you also need prayers so that is what support letters are for and you just build ministry partners.

Finally you get to go on your trip but you need a plane ticket and transportation on where to go once you get there. In the Dominican we had buses to take us everywhere but when I get to Daytona I am going to have to rely on staff and other students because I do not have a car.

I am really excited to go on my upcoming trip and already have half of my support raised!

Argument Post: Dresscodes

Each high school has a dress code and most of the time that's needed because high schoolers can be unpredictable right? Well as a student and having my mother teach at the high school I went to there was no getting away with anything. Well my mom having to know the dress code because she works there knew if my outfit was okay for school every morning. It was a special week at our school about drug awareness so we had dress up days the day that changed my view on dress codes toward my future students was mix and match day. We aren't allowed to wear leggings with out our shirts or dress coming past certain areas. My mother and I both agreed that if I wore leggings with shorts that would count fairly well within the dress code. My first class of the day my teacher told me I needed to change because my outfit, I'll admit I didn't, I went to my mom and told her I was told to change and she told me that I was okay. That sounds spoiled but I agreed and so did a couple other teachers in the room that she was in. Later that day I was in the student union because one of my teachers had to leave and no one took her class so we were out in the open area so the principle had easy access to us if something went wrong. I heard the office door open and looked, there was a girl who wore a dress that was entirely too short for the dress code and it didn't have sleeves, she had walked right passed the principle and nothing got mentioned to her. I was furious because I was within dress code but still got told to change but she could just waltz in pass the principle and nothing gets said! Well I later noticed that people who were known for having money, or were on sports teams and were actually good (starters on the basketball team, football team, cheerleading team, dance team ect.) they would get nothing said to them. As someone who wasn't very good at my sports, or didn't have much money I would get any little thing about my dress pointed out. My sister had the same experience with dress code. 

When I become a teacher and there is a student who is following dress code, like in my instance, I will not say that they have to change. I still don't understand that teachers logic in telling me that I was not in dress code. In the dress code it states "skirts, dresses and shorts must be of reasonable length, made of appropriate material and adhere to the following regulations:

a. reasonable length is when standing, the clothing reaches the top of the knee cap. The split of the skirt or dress must adhere to the preceding guideline.

b. No shirts or dresses without sleeves are permitted to be worn. 

c. No spandex shorts or tights may be worn as an outer garment. 

d. No frayed, cut-off, ripped, or threadbare pants (or shirts) may be worn. No holes are permitted in any type of pants. 

e. No tight-fitting or see-through clothing items may be worn. 

f. No pajamas are to be worn." (www.russellind.kyschools.us/docs/RHSDresscode.pdf)

Now with that stated the girl who wore the dress mentioned earlier she had an off the shoulder dress that would put her our of dress code because of the letter b after fore mentioned "skirts, dresses and shorts must be of reasonable length, made of appropriate material and adhere to the following regulations:". Now my shorts were not of appropriate length by themselves but with leggings that were not an outer garment I, my mother and several other teachers believed them to be appropriate and adhere to this standard of dress. 

As a teacher in the future I will send any person I believe to be breaking the dress code to the office, their families wealth not taken into account, I believe that is a form of privilege we do not need to teach students when they are in high school or lower. I want to treat everyone equally and if that means equal punishment so be it. 

source: Russell Independent School Dress Code, http://www.russellind.kyschools.us/docs/RHSDresscode.pdf