(Don't) Send Me!

Charles Swindoll has said that when he was starting out in ministry, he told God to send him anywhere that God wanted Swindoll to pastor a church, except for three places: New England, California, and Texas.

Can you guess the three places that God sent Chuck Swindoll to do ministry over the course of his life?

New England, California, and Texas!

Whenever I am reminded of Swindoll's story, I think of Isaiah 6:8 (NIV), "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"

I must ask you this question today: is God nudging your heart to do international ministry in a certain place, and are you resistant to go?

Do you hear the voice of God saying to you, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

If so, what is your response to His nudging?

"Here am I. Send me!"

Or, "Here am I. Don't send me!"

I am posting this blog in Lima, Peru. In recent days Marxist terrorists, in alliance with narcotraffickers, have killed nearly 20 people in the jungle. The Shining Path terrorists are rising up again in Peru, and they are trying to re-establish another reign of terror, just as they did in the 1980s and early 1990s in Peru, when they killed over 70,000 people, including about 10,000 Christians. Peru also is reeling from an enormous government corruption scandal which has led to the resignation of the President's entire cabinet. One ex-minister has fled the country to avoid arrest due to his role in the scandal. The city of Lima also is awash in a crime wave right now. The daily newspapers and nightly TV news are filled with reports of more murders, kidnappings, and armed robberies all across the city.

Lima - and all of Peru - is a challenging place to do ministry right now, but I also know that this is where God wants us to be at this time. And I say this as someone who has been the victim of a violent attempted kidnapping, when two armed men tried to force me into a waiting car and hold me for ransom.

Ministry can be very difficult, but being outside of God's will for your life is even more difficult.

Is there a Nineveh and a Tarshish in your life or ministry? Is there a Nineveh where God desperately wants to send you, but you'd rather hide out in the Tarshish of your life instead?

Is God hearing you say, "Send me!"

Or is He hearing you say, "Don't send me!"

International ministry is not for the faint of heart or soul. God may be nudging your heart to minister in a dangerous part of the world. Perhaps it is a place that is extremely inhospitable to Christians. Perhaps it is a placed plagued by terrorists. Perhaps it is a war zone. Wherever it is, and no matter how hard of a place it may be, if God wants you there, then you need to go.

Today God may be asking you, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

Make sure He hears you respond, "Here am I. Send me!"