In the beginning, God created man in His own image. He walked with man in the cool of the Eden. But sin interrupted that union. So God created the missionary.

God said, “I need someone willing to say ‘no’ to the status quo, ‘no’ to the dream of wealth, leave their families to fly to a distant land and learn a language they have never heard; ride in cramped buses, on backs of camels; someone who would sleep anywhere, eat anything, bear the heat, and fight the freeze with a smile on their face, just to take the gospel to a people not their own.” So God created the missionary.

God said, “Because the harvest is plentiful, I need someone ready to sow the seed, to plow up the ground, water the seed, and reap the harvest which is ripe; someone to go and train, to multiply the crops, and to answer the call and pay the price.” So God created the missionary.

God said, “I need someone who is a radical servant of all, taking the lowliest job, washing the feet of the poor, caring for the sick, and cleaning their wounds. I need someone to visit the prisoner, care for the widow and the orphan; to sit in the dust with a child, and tell them that they are loved.” So God made a missionary.

God said he needed someone , ” Who believed that blind eyes could see and lame feet could walk and that the dead could live again; someone who would pray long hours and intercede through the night with wordless groans of petition, so that one soul might be saved. God said, “I need someone honest and brave, full of grace, mercy and compassion, free from fear and passivity, walking in true identity; someone burning with love and girded with truth; someone who radiantly reflects God’s glory.” So God made a missionary.

God said, “I need someone who would say yes before they were asked; someone who would go to distant islands, barren deserts, inner cities, close nations, next-door neighbors, and prestigious universities to reach the unreached; who would hike any mountain, and endure any obstacle, because ‘How will they believe in him of whom they have never heard? How will they hear unless someone preaches? And how will they preach unless they are sent?’”

So God made the missionary.