Our Selves at Risk

Some of you may be wondering why we as a church have decided to commit ourselves to this mission trip. It's not just the eight members who will be traveling to Uganda. This trip is the entire church being invested in and committed to mission work -- the entire congregation submitting ourselves to the movements of the Holy Spirit calling us to offer all our gifts -- prayers, moral support, physical resources, funds, etc.


But, why put ourselves through so much discomfort being away from home and the familiar? Why send our loved ones across the globe to help "strangers" in a foreign place? Why go through all the trouble of packing and traveling to Africa to do the work that so many other non-Christians may also be doing? Why risk so much? In response to these questions, I offer the following excerpt from The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church 2008 (Copyright © 2008 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.)

Taking an active stance in society is nothing new for followers of John Wesley. He set the example for us to combine personal and social piety. Ever since predecessor churches to United Methodism flourished in the United States, we have been known as a denomination involved with people's lives, with political and social struggles, having local to international mission implications. Such involvement is an expression of the personal change we experience in our baptism and conversion.

The United Methodist Church believes God's love for the world is an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty. We cannot just be observers. So we care enough about people's lives to risk interpreting God's love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex. The church helps us think and act out a faith perspective, not just responding to all the other "mind-makers-up" that exist in our society.

These are serious words of commitment, and they identify and name us as a people of do-ers and not just fence-sitters. We take this trip as a way of living out Christ's call to discipleship; we remember, too, all that will be at risk if we do not get involved or engage in the world.

The Uganda summer trip is an active response to this call -- an active "waiting and doing" that opens us all up (whether travelers or stay-at-homers) for change and transformation. The Home Team and the Mission Team on Kumi Konnect are excited to take up this opportunity and we hope you'll continue praying for us and with us throughout this experience.