Go and "be missionary"?

Gabe left camp the other day to go home and participate in his youth group's annual summer mission trip to Pittsburgh, PA.  It was sad to see him leave.  I wondered if how I felt was a smidgen of what it would feel like when he leaves for college in two years.  I did not want him to leave, but I knew he had to go.

I watched as he said good-bye to those he had begun to call "brother" and "sister".  I saw how difficult those good-byes were and the second thoughts he was having.  But all that changed when Kristina, one of the Life Teen staff members, said to him, "Gabe, you can't leave yet. You are part of our family here." He looked at her and confidently said, "I do not want to leave either, but I need to be sent out and go BE MISSIONARY.  I have to share with everyone all I have been taught."  It was when I heard this that I realized how important it was that he leave.  There was great wisdom in that simple statement and yet, there is nothing easy or simple about what that entails.

So, I asked myself, What does it mean to "be missionary"?

On March 27 at World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI challenged young Catholics to be "missionaries of joy."  In his message he encouraged them to "bring the gospel to their families, their schools and universities and their workplaces and their friends, wherever they live.  You will see how it is contagious."  So simple.......

I have learned so much this summer about "being missionary".  From the full-time missionaries to the summer missionaries.  From the youth ministers to the teens.  From the priests, hosts and musicians to my own children.  All you need to be missionary is an open heart.

In Jeremiah 1.5-8 the Lord calls Jeremiah.  I have heard these verses a million times, but never so clearly as I did five weeks ago as I listened to Chris Benzinger speak about missions.  We are all called, through our baptism, to spread Christ's love. Wherever and whenever.  No matter how old or young.  Without fear.

The five individuals below are full-time Life Teen Missionaries.  They will be sent out to their new mission bases on September 1.  Some will go to Atlanta, Georgia, some to Houston, Texas, some to Tiger, Georgia and some to Haiti.  If you would like to be a mission partner or learn more about the program, visit http://lifeteen.com/missions/.

So, what does it mean to be missionary?



Felix:

"It simply means to spread God's love to all you encounter."

















Lizzie:


"It is much more than being poor."










Annie:

"To love with everything so that others might know His love."

Mark:

"It is to live every moment as an opportunity for bearing witness to Christ's love and mercy."













Jessica:

"To stay rooted in prayer and to love always."










We are all called to be missionaries.  So, will you join me?