The Call to Equip

  My life as a student has been one of longevity yet little outcome. I crammed three years of college into four, and came out with an Associates degree. I loved English, and teachers always told me, “Write what you know.” So I paused when I was asked to write about the importance of getting people involved in the work God is doing here in New York City. I am pretty new at this. Today marks my first full week of Equip. By all accounts, I should not be the person writing this call to action. Typically, you ask the 30-year veteran to inspire people to join the Army, not the kid still in boot camp. As I thought about Equip, I recalled the things that inspired me. This program allows new missionaries to get a feel for working among unreached people groups. It trains new missionaries in the type of church-planting they will do overseas. It helps instill endurance and fruitfulness in each missionary. All this captured my eye, and my heart, and led me to Equip. But still, I am the novice. What could I say that might give people a passion to join this program?  Then, it hit me. I am not writing about a program of which I am a beginner. Instead, I am writing about the heart of a God with whom I am intimately connected. I am writing about answering a call we are all asked to fulfill when we say the words, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

Responding to God’s heart

We have all been given a command to go and make disciples of all nations. Our Father in Heaven has sent each of us as his ambassadors. For those who have had their heart broken for the lost, for those who feel burdened over people who have never had the opportunity to hear of the name of Jesus, for those who have longed to bring freedom to people held captive by sin and lies — this program will give you an opportunity to be God’s active ambassadors. Equip does not exist simply to teach what life would be like overseas — even though it does exactly that. It is not simply to experience what it is like to work with unreached people groups — though it does that as well. It is not just getting to see what church-planting looks like in another country — though it is. This program, on top of all that, looks at the unreached people in New York City and sees millions who have not heard the good news of Jesus. For this year I am a missionary. I have a mission field, and I have unreached people here in New York City. I have a God who cares deeply about each one of them and longs to see them saved. Although I do not know exactly what this year will hold for me as a missionary in the largest city in the U.S., I do know the Almighty God who created it all. All this is for his glory and kingdom.