In today's message, a visiting pastor talked about being a missionary and working with tribal people around the world - ethnic minorities that live far from the prying eyes of modern civilisation. I've only ever had a rough idea of what being a missionary involves, so it was all new to me.
They trek for weeks into dense jungle or are air-dropped into a seemingly endless stretches of thick forest, then stay for up to five years at a time learning a whole new language from scratch and using it to share the Gospel. Most of us struggle in a foreign city or with a different language, but to dive right into the world of another culture so far removed from outside influences that it hasn't changed in over five hundred years, is truly inspiring.
They administer first aid to the physical needs of the people with only the most basic facilities, and give comfort to their emotional ones. This shows how powerful faith is - faith in the Lord and in the power of prayer.
Experiences like these are a far cry from the hopelessness of war-torn countries that have filled the news for most of the last decade; they describe the joy of people discovering religion for the first time, of people discovering themselves for the first time. Mankind can take hope in these selfless acts of kindness and be thankful that there are people out there with enough courage to answer His call and the call of humanity.
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