Advent - We Have Found The KingIsampula

When I was a teenager, someone at my church told me, “You don’t have to cross the sea, you just have to see the cross.” This simple statement was a springboard that the Lord used to change my view of missions and how I serve Him. I have since spent a few Christmases in the Middle East.

The advent season was always difficult for me because it did not “feel” like Christmas does in America. Yet, those hard seasons were ones that God used to remind me why I was in that strange place for Christmas and not at “home.” There were people all around me that I encountered on a daily basis who had not yet heard of Jesus. We, as followers of Christ, are called to “bring good news of good things” as Paul writes in Romans 10:15.

Whether we would consider our feet “beautiful” or not, these verses are calling us to question how people will hear the Good News of Jesus if we do not tell them. Whether we are giving a “cup of cold water” (Matt. 10:42), “caring for widows and orphans” (James 1:27), or “making disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19), Paul is reminding the reader that we are to be His messengers to a world that does not know Him. Our American culture generally thinks of giving to others at Christmas, let us be a people who keep our eyes on Jesus, give freely, and share the good news of Jesus to all we encounter.

We do not have to go far to find people who do not follow Christ. This Christmas, I’m asking God to show me how I can be one who proclaims the Good News to the ends of the earth-- even if I never leave Texas.

Mary Catherine Carnes, Resident Director, Residence Life