Being Missionary Where God Has Us

We visited Doña E., a sweet 96 year-old woman, during a recent mission trip. She is full of life and loves to praise our Lord. After singing a couple of songs together at her request, the girls with the group continued singing songs and Doña just soaked it up. 

Doña’s niece was with her and caring for her. She told us Doña fell recently and cut her shin, and she showed us her leg with the small piece of gauze covering the place that was sore. We asked if we could pray for her and of course she was glad for prayer. During our prayer, we asked Jesus to heal her leg. Following the prayer, Cassie, one of the women with the mission trip group, said she was a nurse and asked if she could look under the gauze at her sore. Doña said yes and when Cassie looked at the sore, she said it was mildly infected. Doña’s niece said that they had topical medicine for it but only had one piece of gauze left. She appeared to be changing the gauze infrequently so that she would not run out. We were able to bring her more gauze so she would have plenty and Cassie re-dressed the wound and guided Doña’s niece to change it and treat it daily. Praise the Lord! He chose to use Cassie to help answer the prayer we had just prayed for Doña’s leg to be healed. Had Cassie not felt and responded to the urge from the Holy Spirit to look at her sore, we would have never known that Doña’s niece was unable to care for her appropriately because she was almost out of gauze.

This interaction and movement of God caused me to stop and think about how amazing it is that our all-powerful God chooses to use our gifts, talents and desires in His plans. He creates us with our unique abilities to participate in His plans. Wow!

It also caused me to stop and think about who God is putting in front of me that He wants me to care for and share His love with whether in big ways like caring for my children or in small ways like smiling and greeting the people I meet on the sidewalk and everything in between. I pray “Holy Spirit, come and nudge me to the people you want me to love and give me the grace to hear and respond to you."

The call to be missionaries isn’t just for those of us He has called into foreign lands. Sometimes the more difficult call is to be missionary in our hometowns. Saint Pope John Paul II says in his encyclical Mission of the Redeemer, "Missionary activity is a matter for all Christians." If we are Christians, the question isn’t if we are called to be a missionary, it is where and to whom are we called to be missionary. It may be right where we are. Who is God putting in front of us that He’s calling us to love? Who in our communities, parishes and neighborhoods is God inviting us to bring His love to by using our unique abilities and gifts?

May we all continue to be transformed, encouraged, and motivated by the overwhelming love of the Holy Spirit.

With love in Christ,
Lisa