Posted by Adeline Ting • Jan 10, 2023

The new year carries with it many new dreams, ambitions, and resolutions. Although I am personally not one with resolutions, I have many friends who have a long list of things they want to make happen in the next 365 days. Usual suspects include weight loss, a new healthier diet plan, travelling to exotic destinations, exploring a new talent/skill, new look/haircut, getting married, job promotion, and many more. Sadly though, “Serving in a new ministry”, “Winning a soul for God”, “First outreach/mission trip” are rarities (or not found at all!) in the list, even among God’s people.

This makes me reflect a little more. The word “mission” is relatively daunting to say the least. It refers to a specific task that a person or a group is tasked with. In a stereotypical mindset, we often associate mission with missionaries who are uprooted from their comfort zone and sent to live in areas where no one speaks the language. Historical accounts, at times, paint stories of persecution of missionaries and their families that do not have a happy ending. Our mind goes into overdrive and the determination for mission fades away from our life. 

In this new era, mission has been recontextualized to embody the natural calling for ALL of God’s people in the PRESENT. This simply means that mission is more than just about the traditional outreach work done by a few missionaries to reach the least and the lost in remote places; mission is now where we live – our neighbourhood, our workplace, our campus, or anywhere God places us to be. This also means that we can now reach out to people in different ways, including in familiar places where we are at, for these have now all become our mission fields. We no longer wait just for the few selected ones to do missions, we ourselves are now able to be actively involved in the Ministry of the Gospel. 

So, how do we start then? For one, be in tune with God. Pray about His vision and mission for you and listen to where He tells you to cast the net. Equip yourself and share your plans with your CG and close friends to encourage one another. We are not alone in this mission trip on His battleship. Start with baby steps by being a great witness wherever you are, so others can see that “God is with them”. Through bearing good witness, good works, and good deeds, hopefully the seeds are sown. And always remember to commit our plans to God, for winning souls is essentially God’s work. We ploughed and sowed, but the conversion is God’s sovereign plan. 

Does this sound like a plan? Well, it is never too late to add “missions” into the list for 2023!