fullyunashamed asked:

Hey I just found your blog, and I love it! I believe God is calling me to be a missionary one day. Right now I’m at the time of my life where all my peers are planning their careers and preparing for college. I’m going to college next year and I’m trying to figure out what I should do to get me to missions. I love to write, and I hope I can somehow use that in missions too. I was wondering if you guys have any advice for me, since it appears that you have some kind of experience in missions

I answered:

Thank you for the kind words. “Some kind of experience” is about the perfect description for me. I have been a full time missionary for 7 months now. My bosses Jed (jedbrewer.tumblr.com) and Glen (unkaglen.tumblr.com) have been at this for about ten and twenty five years respectively. 

The good news and bad news about missions work is that it covers an almost infinite amount of ground. That means there is no particular set of skills that you need to acquire and then you will be ready to do missions. However, it also means that there will be a use to any skill you bring to the table. If you like writing and want to pursue that in college, through literature classes or work on a school paper for example, that will be highly useful on the mission field. You will need to write support letters, ministry updates, and lessons. Having a good writer and editor on board would be a great asset for any missions team.

Your time in college is a great place to gain some experiences and learn some things that will prepare you to go into missions. Most colleges have a ton of mission fields within them and you have the opportunity to try out a bunch of different things and see what connects with you. The key thing you need to be developing now for a future in missions is a heart to serve. Where you do that serving is not as important. Striking up a conversation with someone at a soup kitchen is the same at your college as anywhere on Earth.

The biggest thing you should be developing is your walk with the Lord, if that is strong than everything else flows out of that. If it get’s off base, then all the knowledge and experience in the world won’t compensate. Get in a position where other people are pouring into you and look all around you for opportunities to pour into them. Remember: where God guides, he provides. Wherever God is calling you, the skills and heart you have are the right skills and heart for that place.

-Matt from The Bridge

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