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Christ's final instructions to his Church on earth, just before his Ascension, were to carry the good news of his Resurrection to all nations in all places, and to baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Ten days later when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church at Pentecost, the apostles immediately began proclaiming this good news to people "from every nation under heaven." Just listen:
Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying... "how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,Cretans and Arabs- we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."- Acts 2:7-11
That's it in a nutshell. Missionary work is the act of declaring the wonderful works of God to all people each in their own tongue- the language in which they were born. It is the very first work the Church began at the moment of her birth. If you are a Christian, you are a Christian because of missionary work. Missionaries came to your people, lived among you, learned your language, and bore witness to the glory of God in a way that made sense to you.
That's what this blog is about. In future posts, I'll write about the Church's experience of missionary work throughout the ages. Some posts will profile specific missionaries and specific mission fields both in history and in the present day. Other posts will draw on personal experience. My own missionary context is in East Africa, so you'll hear about that. I have stories to tell.
I do have stories to tell. What stories would you like to hear? There is an open comments section below. Please leave comments. Please ask questions. Tell me what you'd like to hear. Many future posts will take their inspiration from your input.
I'll conclude with some words about myself. My name is James Hargrave. I serve as a missionary with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, working in the Holy Archdiocese of Mwanza and Western Tanzania in East Africa. You can find a biography on the OCMC website here, and on the OCN website here. You can read my missionary updates on the OCMC website here.
I am a long-term missionary. This means that I intend to spend my life doing this work. And I intend to stay in this place indefinitely. That could mean decades. Or I could be called elsewhere tomorrow. If it is the voice of God, then my response can only be the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah when he heard the call: "Behold, here am I. Send me."
It's a good, good life. Come along!
