Missions - Fad or God?

In March, I began telling my friends and family that I was going on a mission trip. Someone said to me, "So many people are going on mission trips. Is this just a fad?"

I had a pain in my heart at the rather cynical question. The truth is, right now, there are many people going on mission trips. Why?

There have been times in my life when I desperately wanted to go on a real mission trip. There was a family mission trip to Mexico that we were not able to join. The possibility of going to Africa came up for me. I prayed, full of both excitement and a little anxiety, but the trip was blocked. So I taught about missions to teenage girls and when I could I went with the church youth on their mission trips.

This past year, God began stirring that desire in me again. I looked at possibilities in Atlanta where there is an international community. I thought about New York City where people groups from all over the world need Christ. I wondered about the possibility of going to Montana or Connecticut. I knew there was always the possibility of going farther but did not think God would want to send me so far away at my age. So I thought about how I was able to share Christ with so many at Sav-A-Life in the past and wondered if that was where God was leading me again. 

But God kept nudging me, and I knew that He was nudging me to go. Through heart felt tears, I yielded to Him in prayer and simply said "Okay." Not long after that, I learned that our small group leader was planning a mission trip for the group. They were going to Kenya. I had a sudden, strange, unexplained, settled feeling. I was going to Kenya. I knew it. I am not even close to an outdoor girl, and Africa was not on my radar, yet I had peace. It was God.

Why are so many people going on mission trips? Is it just a fad? I hope not. I hope it is a movement of God! But if it is a fad, I am trusting that God will use this fad to accomplish his purpose. All I know is God wanted me to go - so I went - and I will never be the same!