Urban Missionary

What is a "MISSIONARY"?

I did a google search of images for missionaries and without much surprise almost every picture displayed was of people overseas. The past month or so I have been struggling when it comes to calling myself a missionary. When I was little and in AWANA we had to interview a missionary in order to complete our books. The only missionaries I knew of were people who were serving God in a foreign country. No one ever told me that you can be a missionary in the United States. A harsh reality that keeps me on my toes is this: Urban America is one of the least reached people groups in the world. Why is that? Honestly, I believe it is because as middle class Americans we're scared to go into the ghetto. In the ghetto parts of America there are shootings regularly, drug and alcohol use, abuse, and trash and glass all over the sidewalks. If I wouldn't have started working for Camp Kearney five years ago, I may never have experienced the ghetto. I grew up in a comfortable town, where I was loved on by my parents, friends and church. The first time I stepped into the South Side of Peoria and walked into the housing projects it was like I experienced culture shock. I didn't know people lived like that so close to my comfortable life. That first summer working with urban kids changed my life forever. God has led me into some pretty dangerous areas, but I have walked in there with confidence because I know that is where God is leading me. I want to call myself a MISSIONARY but satan keeps attacking me and telling me that I can't be a missionary unless I go overseas. No where in the Bible does it say GO OVER SEAS. Instead it commands us to go and make disciples to every tribe and nation. Why do we think that command excludes The United States of America? We are far from being a Christian nation, and that is not okay with me. I want to make a change by starting with one of the least reached people groups in the world. I never realized until recently that the unreached were literally at my fingertips. My first experiences of missions were overseas, Romania, Mexico, and the Philippines. The picture above is from the Philippines. God has given me a new mission: GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES IN DETROIT. There is no turning back, this is my command that God has given me. No fear, no hesitation.. HERE AM I, LORD, SEND ME!