My Pastor always says, “We’ve taken the call, and we’ve answered God’s call.” I am a small town girl with big dreams. God has called me to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, not just here in the United States but all over the world.
We live in a time where people can be a little closed-minded. Most people forget that the world we learn about in class actually exists. As Christians we forget that those lost and hurting people that we hear about from missionaries need Jesus just as much as we do.
The church I come from is very focused on missions and we take God’s call in Matthew 28:19-20 seriously. Between all our members in our church we have gone to twenty-eight states and countries on mission. Whether it is rebuilding in the Philippines, starting schools in Malaysia, or doing Vacation Bible School in Oregon we show the love of Jesus Christ wherever we are whatever we are doing.
Speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves is something that has affected my entire life. I have a severely Autistic brother who has echolalia so he only repeats what he hears. And I have been working with him for about a year and a half to try and have him speak his own thoughts and feelings, because I feel he should be able to speak up for himself.
This is my brother Kobe. Most people just see his Autism, and they don’t see him as a person. I see so much in him. He is not just his Autism! He is a boy, he is sweet, he is funny, he is kind, and he is a wonderful brother. I wouldn't change him for anything. He is perfect the way he is and I have grown up in ways because of him .
Yes, missions is going all over the world telling everybody about Jesus, but it also means treating your life as a mission field. It means praying for that neighbor that doesn’t seem to like you, it is talking to that boy that is rambunctious all the time, it is praying for that teacher that teaches that class, and it is showing the love of Jesus in your everyday life. Missions doesn’t have to be leaving the country or state or even your town. Missions is following God’s calling for your life. God doesn’t call everybody to leave their country and be missionaries in Africa, but we are all supposed to share the love of Jesus Christ. The Mission by Steve Green says, “ To love the Lord our God Is the heartbeat of our mission. The spring from which our service overflows across the street or around the world The mission’s still the same Proclaim and live the Truth In Jesus’ name.”
In the summer of 2015 a group of girls and I went on a mission trip to Oregon to a church that was just starting up. It wasn't until we got there that we heard the story about why this mission trip was so important. My church back at home started 1997 and in the summer of 1998 we had our first Vacation Bible School. Pastor Dan Paxton, who was one of my Pastors first youth, sent a team to help us with our first VBS. Fast forward almost twenty years to the summer of 2015 we returned the favor to Pastor Dan Paxton. 
Pictured is me and my twin at Redemption Oregon City doing the kickoff event for their Vacation Bible School.That mission trip impacted my life in so many ways. It made all of us that went on that trip so much closer, and we bonded not just with each other but with Jesus in ways that are unbelievable.
The Pastor's family let us stay in their home, and they treated us like family. We had nighttime conversations about life's mysteries and about the wonders of God. Near the end of our trip Faith Paxton, the Pastor's wife, did something for us girls that meant so much to us. She spent the entire morning setting up a tea party for us. The story behind this is at the beginning of the trip she told us about how she loves to do tea parties and does them once or twice a year with her daughter, and we told her about how we had never been to a tea party. We didn't realize it then, but she took what we said and was out to do something about it. She made us food and tea and we sat and just talked and had a beautiful time, and she taught us everything about a tea party.
What Faith Paxton did for us that day reminds me of what we should be like in our Christian walk. She didn't have to set up a tea party for us, we were beyond grateful that she let us stay in her home, she went out of her way for girls she hadn't even met before she let us stay in her home for a week. The love of Jesus radiated off her. She is an example of the woman in faith that I want to be.
Mission isn't just something we do, mission is something that we are. It is the way we show Jesus, it is the way we live our life.
