What It means to be an ambassador.
I am going to attempt to do something that’s nearly impossible… explain the experience of a Short-Term Journey. If you’ve ever taken a journey with us here at H2T, you know we pray you are “ruined” based on Isaiah’s experience of seeing God, being touched by Him and then surrendering his life. Many people have this same experience, yet it is so difficult to put into words what actually happened to get each of us to this place.
We’ve heard it explained as:
• Seeing God in a new way
• No distractions allow you to focus on God completely
• The Spirit world is real and you see it clearly
• The whole trip you are focusing on God from sun up to sun down
• You get out of your comfort zone
• You let go of control
These are all well and true, but still short of the miraculous life changing, ultimate time and experience that happens when you are on a missions trip.
The life change is so amazing, but what we do after it is as equally important. I love the picture 2 Corinthians paints when describing the “new life in Christ”. Let’s look at the details of what happens in this transition.
• Vs 13 – The disciples are “beside themselves” looking like they are a bit out of their mind as they are so committed to serving Christ.
• Vs 14 – The Love of Christ compels them to serve. They have experienced what Christ did for them and they can’t be silent or just stand around
• Vs 17 – They are no longer the same as they were before, they have been changed into a new person
• Vs 20 – Now they are ambassadors for Christ allowing Christ to plead through them.
As believers we have our “before and after” experience of what Christ does in us that changes us and compels us to live differently, even appearing “strange” to some. This process of salvation can easily be compared to our experience on a Short-Term Journey. (I’m going to try again)
We have this experience where we are exposed to the powerful way God works, not in our understanding of time and space or with our solutions and it works, where we see people who are fully dependent on Christ and yet completely happy with the “nothing” they have and we are so focused on praying each moment of each day to give us what we need to serve that day and share His hope with others that it brings a joy and excitement we’ve never experienced, yet desperately need every day.
My favorite part is verse 20 where they identify themselves as ambassadors. They have identified themselves as ones who will go share Christ’s message of transformation and change on His behalf. Why? because the LOVE OF CHRIST COMPELLS THEM!!!
Unlike Christ, missionaries desperately need their own ambassadors. They need someone who will share what is happened, who will compel others to come visit and get involved, who will help them expand and grow through the resources they have to offer. As ones who have experienced the ministry, who’ve been apart of what’s going on, who can see what the missionary is trying to accomplish and how you can further their work with your help, you are now the ambassadors!
I have a few questions for you:
Church: What do you do to enable and equip your teams to be ambassadors?
Missionary: How are your preparing your teams before they leave?
Traveler: Are you looking for ways during your trip help you be a better ambassador?
H2T calls our ambassadors Missionary Support Teams, and we feel like every missionary needs them in every church. Contact us today to set up your Ambassadors for your missionaries.
Stefanie Nicholson
Founder & Team Lead