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Hello, everyone! My name is John McGrail, I’ve taken a group of youth on a mission trip twice to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, and I believe that if you’re not learning, you’re not living. Today I’m talking about the value of living out a time period of doing nothing other than service to others.
So, what’s today’s fun fact? There are two excellent ways to celebrate the 25th of August. Today is a good day to end the quarrels, the arguments, the fights and make up with those from whom you are distanced because of it. National Kiss and Make Up Day is observed annually on August 25th. It’s also National Banana Split Day! A 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel’s Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pensylvania created the first banana split in 1904. David Evans Strickler enjoyed inventing sundaes at the store’s soda fountain. His first “banana-based triple ice cream sundae” holding a scoop of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream with pineapple topping, nuts, and chocolate syrup sold for 10 cents, double the cost of all the other sundaes. So, there you go—two great ways to celebrate today. Just be careful whom you decide that this is the day to kiss—neither I nor Golden Spiral Media will be held accountable for anyone getting slapped. Just sayin.’
Well, what won’t get you slapped is being a part of the Friday Forum, in fact you are all welcomed with open arms! The Friday Forum is your opportunity to share what you have been learning with me and the rest of the Stuff I Learned Yesterday community. You can add your voice to the Friday Forum in several ways—by calling 3048372278 and leaving a voicemail, by going to www.goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback and uploading an audio file, or by using the provided speakpipe widget (hey, anyone remember when Clint would rename that something really clever every week?); or, you can type out an email and send it in that way.
Now, here’s what I learned yesterday:
Well, today I’m talking about missionaries and the call for missionary service goes all the way back to Jesus himself telling his followers to “go unto the world and make disciples of all nations.” Throughout the history of the church the means by which that command has been followed are certainly varied, and certainly at times have an ugly side to them. But what I want to talk about today is about what mission trips look like today and why the command is still as relevant as ever.
There are probably a lot of folks that think that the term “mission trip” only refers to going to some far off place with nothing but a backpack worth of stuff to sustain you while you try to proselytize the locals over to your belief system. And while I’m sure those types of trips still do happen the kinds of mission trips I’m talking about might be even in your own country, your own state, your own city, maybe even your own street. The saying “Preach the Gospel at all times and use words as necessary” is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (although it has been called into question whether he actually said it or not), but regardless of who said it, it still is a saying and a mantra worth living. I don’t believe anyone wants to hear your words and beliefs unless they first see you living it out.
In my last job I ran a not-for-profit foundation for four years that counted on nothing but generosity to gain the funds needed and volunteer help to get much of anything accomplished. My “mission field” was the states of North and South Carolina. Our foundation’s biggest focus was on children’s hospitals and helping them become a place of warmth and respite when families come in scared and things are out of control. Between the two hospitals we helped we raised $600,000 and volunteered throughout the process of transforming the improvements from an idea to reality. It was by far the most rewarding “job” I’ve ever had. Working simply for the good of others was the best environment I could ever think of. Maybe your job might not give you that kind of satisfaction. That’s ok, there are so many missions throughout your area you just need to decide what suits you and your tastes the most. There are Google searches that you can do to find non-profits near you or your local library is usually a great resource to find out what’s happening in your community.
As I mentioned at the top of the episode, I was privileged to take a group of high schoolers to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico back in the mid-1990’s to do mission work. We coordinated with a local church to find out the best impact we could make while we were there. We put together children’s activities, helped with construction of a school and some homes, and likely learned more about ourselves than we did about the Mexican people we were there to serve. I have indelible memories of the children’s smiles as we would play and work with them. Likewise my bride had mission experiences in Mexico and Peru while a college student.
In the same way I am so proud of my two oldest children who have carried on the family tradition. My oldest son and daughter have joined trips the last three summers that include Gallup, New Mexico; Washington, D.C., and most recently in Guyana in South America. My kids have seen firsthand the simplicity that people around the world live in and how happy they are at the same time. They have spoken life and more importantly lived out their faith in service to others. It’s something that they are purposeful about here at home.
Here’s what I learned:
On our podcast we say that if you’re not learning, you’re not living. In our house we also say that if you’re not serving you’re not living. Everyone down to our eight year old has ways that they are serving their fellow students, their community, and the world at large throughout the year with different things that we involve ourselves. We do it as a natural outflowing of our faith. That doesn’t have to be your reasoning. A sad social commentary that I see around me is that we have come to the place where we have the ability for the world to come to us and fill our needs and desires whenever and wherever we want. It seems to me that we’ve lost the motivation to interact and serve those around us. The need is higher than ever. Golden Spiral Media is getting in on mission work as well! We are excited to announce our first (so far) charity event! In what we hope will be an annual event, Geeking Out MS is an event that is changing the lives of people affected by Multiple Sclerosis and helping fuel progress toward a world free of MS. We at Golden Spiral Media have seen first hand how this debilitating disease has negatively impacted two of our hosts, and we would love your support as we prepare for this incredible fundraising event. Geeking Out MS is a 3-day podcast marathon! This year it will be held in conjunction with Geekinomicon, a pop culture convention taking place in Oklahoma City on September 2-4. Golden Spiral Media will be on site podcasting live all 3 days of Geekinomicon and live streaming from our booth for the duration of the Geeking Out MS event while raising dollars for this great cause. You can help us reach our ambitious fundraising goal right now! Just go to www.goldenspiralmedia.com to get the details and find the link to donate. If you can help us we would be forever grateful. Most importantly, I encourage everyone listening to find their own “mission field” and get out there and start serving today. You never know what part of the world your service might take you to. Oh, the adventures we will go on and the tales we will tell…
I’m John McGrail, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
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