the genesis

mis·sion

  

noun Also called foreign mission

1.

a group or committee of persons sent to a foreign countryto conduct negotiations, establish relations, provide scientific and technical assistance, or the like.

2.

the business with which such a group is charged.

3.

a permanent diplomatic establishment abroad; embassy;legation.

Everything starts with a beginning. Works of art, poetry, Nascar races, revolutions, but most especially stories.  And at the heart of every good story, there is a great author.  One with imagination and creativity.  One who slowly and deliberately weaves together seemingly irrelevant pieces to unfold a masterful tapestry.

At dcf, we are a people striving to know that Author, to participate in the overarching narrative which he has been announcing since the beginning of time:  the redemption of all things to himself.

And as we seek to pursue his story over the tainted perceptions of our own, we are drawn to this word called mission.  It is the idea of intentionality in love, both near and far.  The face of missions looks not only down the street, but stares across languages, cultures, and oceans.  It is the epitome of living out God's command to take dominion of the earth, to unite as the people of God in transcendence of culture, language, and status in order to participate in his restorative work over all creation by his immense love.

However, there is a catch.  The ironic thing about missions is that we often go serve and end up being served.  We often go to teach and are actually the students.  We go to give, and end up receiving infinitely more than we ever thought.  So we enter into answering this call pursue God's kingdom in humility, realizing that in God's economy everything gets turned on its head, and that we need the people we come to serve as much, if not more so, than they need us.

This blog represents a map to track our brothers and sisters, a posting board for information, a harbor for prayer, and perhaps, more importantly, a pile of stones for us to remember how we have seen God move in our lives. Because we often forget what we should remember, and remember what we should forget.

So while this is not the first mission trip taken, the first trip to _____, the first time the people on this blog have engaged in a missional life style, or even the first blog on missions, it IS a recognition of the newness that comes with life in Emmanuel.  Let the genesis begin.