Fellow Citizens

Fellow Citizens
By Scott Carter, Mission Pastor

Fast forward 15 years and our family was living and serving in Malaysia planting churches. One of the groups we started early in our time there was a house church group in our neighborhood area. Through this ministry we had the privilege of leading an older Chinese couple, Uncle Koh and Aunty Rose to Christ. When it came time for baptism, we did not have a place to do the baptisms. Our house group decided to travel to the town of Port Dickson. I was able to obtain permission to do the baptism in the ocean on the beach of the Baptist Camp I mentioned yesterday. During the moments we were on the property, the conversation I had been a part of in 1996 on the bench overlooking the ocean came rushing back to my mind. I realized that my call and years in ministry had come full circle. In the same spot where the Lord opened my eyes to the nations, I had the privilege of baptizing Koh and Rose. It was a very surreal moment that I will never forget. During our years of church planting in Malaysia, we had the privilege of baptizing people from all over the world.

After 25+ years of serving the Lord in full-time, vocational ministry and missions, it never ceases to amaze me that God calls us to the front lines of his mission. Instead of saving us and taking us immediately to heaven for eternity, or lining us up on the sideline to show us what he is doing, God saves us from our sin and saves us into the church and into his mission. The risk seems high for God to entrust his mission to us, but we know His mission succeeds.

We are called to serve the mission of God in and through the church. Where is God calling you to serve Him in his church?

Read: Ephesians 2:11-3:10