A View Upon Missions

Nothing has had as great of an effect upon my life as missions. As mentioned previously in the post before, I believe as a Christian, we should have a globally knowledgeable mindset. God wants us, through all of our gifts, to be able to reach every nation and spread the great news about the Gospel. Here at CBU it is great to hear that they try to emphasize the global mindset. This may seem very similar to the previous post, but this a reflection in a much different angle. This is an explanation upon the various responses people can have about missions trip or any form of ministry. Some exampled responses to being involved are good, and some are not as good. However, no matter who we are, God wants to grow us and mold us into something we never thought.

            To start off, it is easy to say that many students have a hard time developing that idea that they may be able to be part of a mission team. People are generally afraid the unfamiliarity because it is risk. Sure you could create excuses such as, finances, uncertainty that God wants you there, or even that your schedule is too busy. However, when it comes down to it, it would be easy to say that we can make excuses for almost anything with the fine art of rhetoric and persuasion. Sometimes it is easy to think the faith-filled risk is way too much to think about due to our tendency to not observe the great possibilities of a matter. However, God wants us to put our 100% into whatever we do, whether we are comfortable. The Christian walk is not about maintaining a good comfort zone. It is about surrendering and realizing that you cannot do it without the help of Christ to give you a hand.

            To continue back to the idea about CBU’s main mindset about mission, they are right to say that being involved with a project like ISP or USP will be guaranteed as life changing if you are willing to put in the work necessary to reach the goal. Though I have never been involved with ISP or USP, I have been on six previous missions trips with my church in the past six years. Honestly though, I can say at full confidence that thes missions trips have helped shape my overall worldview as well as help me grow to be the person I am today. However, there is always room for improvement. Many students who have had an experience with either programs have had very positive things to say. 

            It is easy that there are missions groups that complement most of students’ interests. Ministry teams that focus upon student ministry, orphanages, intercultural studies, surfing, and much more are aimed to help any student learn how to use their gifts for the benefit of God and his kingdom. This could give even more reason why it is good for a student to be involved with missions on campus.

            Not only will these mission projects will strengthen your walk with Christ, but they will help you build strong friendships with those who are on your team, as you learn about unity in Christ. These strengthened relationships with God and friends are not worth holding back on. These are all goals worth shooting for. 

Vision from the Campus

Though this is only my fifth week here at the California Baptist University, I can obviously say that for the most part it has been a very positive experience. It is my first semester attending this school. I am transferred junior who is focusing upon a journalism program. So far after the few weeks I have spent here I can say that amount of open sociability and global mindset among students has been drastically different to what I am normally accustomed to.

Before my arrival here at school, I was attending a community college in Oceanside, CA called Mira Costa College. Sociability was drastically different than here at CBU. After almost every class session at MCC was finished, about 85% percent of students would leave class and take out their cell phones while pretending that their other classmates did not exist anymore. Hence, the title of 'Community College' was not living according to its name. Here at CBU it is very refreshing to see that students generally care about the friendships they are making right now. I have had talks with friends in the Cafeteria about what they wish to do once they graduate. More than half of the students I have talked to wished to work for a global organization. Many students here generally care about their future, their plans, and hoping that God will be the center upon it all.

Interviewing students for both The Banner and Angelos has gotten me to see some students’ true love for a global mindset regarding what he or she wishes to do. Last week when I was interviewing two different students about why they wished to obtain an Anthropology degree when they graduate, you could see their global mindset upon the issue. Both of the students I interviewed believed it was very important for us as Christians to have a Global mindset that was ready to preach to all cultures. This included having a good culturally intelligent background that focused upon learning to adapt to cultures as well as having a respect for them. They believed that Americans develop too much of an ethnocentric viewpoint upon the world. Through hearing this, it was re-determined that it was very important for all Christian globally educated mindset. We were called by Jesus to preach to all the nation of the good news. These students do not just wish to talk to their classmates, but they wish to work alongside other Christians and make huge global difference.

In addition to hearing these students and their concerns for global issues, it was great to hear about the USP and ISP programs that occurred around campus. As mentioned earlier, students upon this campus have spoken with great passion upon being globally minded as a Christian in this world. The school has put great emphasis upon how important and life changing these programs can be. I have spoken with quite a number of students who have told me about how much growth they have experienced while being a part of USP or ISP.

I hope to grow here and develop a good global mindset as I continue my studies here at CBU. I hope that my Global focused Journalism will be used to write for mission trips and bring awareness to all.