"If you don't do it here, you won't do it there."

Is there something special about Hong Kong that is magically going to turn me into a professional missionary? Will it be the intense, information-dense training? Perhaps the focus being pulled from all of the distractions here, or maybe the abundance of unsaved roaming the streets that will allow me to be used by God for my full potential. Will being in Hong Kong and so close to the suffering of the street dwellers, prostitutes and spiritually apathetic materialism spark my compassion for these people?
I really don't think so.
In fact, being in Hong Kong or with YWAM won't change any of this I suspect. I will still be myself, only in a different place and doing different things. Sure, the teaching will be phenomenal, the environment will be God-focused, the entire experience will be exhilarating, my relationship with God will flourish like never before and my faith will be strengthened. Something about being away from what I've called home for so long will allow me to see the world in a different light.
But the lights will fade, the program will end and I will return home. I am not foolish enough to not understand that this is simply a small season of my life. Whatever my plans may be for my future, they begin in the present.
I've seen this mistake be made by many others in local youth groups and in local congregations by youth and adults alike. Missions are not foreign. Don't misunderstand me, where God calls us is where we go, regardless of anything. Leaving your continent, country, state or city is often important in allowing God to give you a new perspective, for long-term missions and for short-term missions.
Simply put, I believe that a missionary cannot be physically bound by location.
This sounds like such a simple truth, but you must realize that our faith is based off of truths that are simpler and yet are neglected daily. Such is how we are bound.
I came to this revelation nearly a year and a half ago when Pastor Shane Hopkins told me quite clearly:
"If you don't do it here, you won't do it there."
He probably hardly remembers saying it, but it stuck with me. I remember just later that week, with the words still fresh in my mind, visiting Barnes and Noble. I stared at a man for nearly thirty minutes, with my palms sweating and my breathing labored until I finally prayed up the courage to actually talk with him.
He listened to me patiently and replied sparingly as I babbled on nearly incoherently. He thanked me for having the boldness to care for a stranger so deeply and left without saying much. I think I can say that's when I really knew I wanted to be a missionary, it seemed that's what God had wanted for me as well. He continued placing passions in my heart and desires for people to be saved.
I can say with confidence that I've followed God's leading in this way to the best I could have. I believe that I've done what god wanted me to do in this city while I was here, which is the only reason he is allowing me to leave.
And now, with the opportunity to leave, I'm glad I listened. I feel like during the time God has had me here, I have truly sought to live out my calling locally instead of waiting. I feel more blessed and more ready to leave because I'm confident it's on God's timing.
Until next time,
Joel.
Also worth mentioning, I just bought my tickets. I will arrive in Hong Kong, Tuesday, July 29th at 7:35 PM local time.
Alaska Airlines Flight 124 and
Delta Airlines Flight 281.