sacrifice and vision

a couple of thoughts: one about life as a christian cross-cultural communicator (missionary), and one about vision.

1. i've come to grips with the idea that i am, indefinitely, a missionary. dylia and i have no certain plans, or even hopes (as of now) of living in the united states. though i will get to enjoy living in a beautiful culture, and experiencing many new things, there will be things that i will have to give up. hanging out at starbucks, having quick access to english literature, or even resources for ministry, white christmases... from the past, i've found that sometimes, the things i miss the most are the little things that we take advantage of on a daily basis- like flushing your toilet paper. of course, the most reoccuring sacrifices will probably have to do with my family: just wanting a mom hug, or not being able to go to my brother's concert, etc. in light of all these sacrifices, i remind myself that what is at stake- people's souls and god's glory- are far more valuable than anything i could ever sacrifice.

2. concerning vision- i have two thoughts. first, i've been asking god to give me vision for this group and i've had one specific idea come to mind- i want people to come to our youth group because they've seen radical changes in the lives of people they know. this, obviously won't be immediate, and we will have to have kids come somehow to start, but eventually i want this to be a goal. so much of the time we try to draw kids in by entertaining them. it seems to me that what you have then is a deep message (or even a shallow one) being presented to a group of people that have incredibly shallow intentions. i want depth. i want people that want depth.
secondly, this morning at church, a friend, peter, asked me if i had given up on unreached people groups. those of you who know me well know that this has been a heavy burden on my heart for a long time. in no way do i intend to give up on them, (i'd have to give up on god to give up on the unreached) but i do hope that god's heart for the unreached will be passed on. this is something that you can keep me accountable for in the future.