We often hear of missions and think of swatting mosquitoes, botching a foreign language and fighting the heat in some third world country that we can’t pronounce. To some, that might sound like an adventure, but to most, that probably doesn’t sound like fun. Plus, going to another country is very expensive, and most people simply can’t afford to go on a trip like that.

I think that so many of us feel very inadequate reaching out to others because we don’t feel like we have a good grip on our own lives, and we sure don’t feel like we can help anyone else if our own lives aren’t straight. We worry, What will they think of me? What if I mess up? What if I don’t know what to say? I believe these feelings of inadequacy simply stem from a lack of experience and ignorance about what mission work really is.

Reaching out to people, or “missions,” is best defined as loving people. You can love right where you are! It doesn’t take any formal training at all. It’s reaching out to the guy making your latte at the local coffee shop and asking how his morning is going. It’s seeing that girl that looks like she could use a smile and an encouraging word and trying to brighten her day.

The Bible repeatedly talks about love and loving others. Perhaps the verse that sums it all up for me is 1 Corinthians 13:1: “If I speak in tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”

I learned this firsthand this past summer, working at a youth camp where high school students came from all over the country and from all walks of life. For so many of them, I couldn’t relate to their situations or the things going on with them because I had never been in their shoes. It was very frustrating at first, but I realized that they didn’t want someone to help them fix their problems, but rather someone to listen to them and love them for who they are.

That’s exactly what Jesus did: He loved people right where they were. The woman at the well, the blind man on the side of the road, Peter after he turned his back and denied Jesus and so many others throughout Scripture were met by Jesus with love.

Plain and simple, it doesn’t necessarily take training or money to do missions work; it just takes love. The Beatles weren’t far from being modern day prophets when they sang, “All you need is love!” We all have love to give if we have a relationship with Christ; His love is in us, and it’s more than we can handle, so we have no choice but to let it overflow onto others. You can start with the guy who lives next door or the girl you work with. Give them a smile; ask them how their day is going. Don’t worry about what they will think of you. Most likely, they will feel loved and thank you with a smile for taking the time to love them.


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