Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it. – Mark 16:20 (NIV)

I know my mission as a Christian is to tell others about Jesus. But amid chronic illness, conflict, loss, and pain, I sometimes doubt I can convey the good news in the way God has called me to. Hearing what the early disciples and other devoted followers endured while preaching bolsters my courage and faith. 

I recently read about Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China. She contended with freezing weather, brute soldiers, angry prisoners, hunger, fatigue, sickness, and war. Yet, she continued taking steps to spread the truth in China. Gladys also cared for hundreds of orphans, including a newborn found by Gladys at her passing in her late 60s.¹

I may not be working in a foreign country, but I am on mission right here in the United States. God led me to write and speak and to be a wife and mother in my own home. He also urged me to make a difference in the lives of children through adoption, homeschooling, and volunteering in the children’s ministry at church.

How is God calling you to carry out the Great Commission? To what place and people has He sent you? Is there something you sense God prompting you to do right now?

Although we face trouble and question our own abilities, we can trust that God will be with us, helping us do the work. He will show Himself faithful just as He did in the lives of so many others on mission before us. And when each of us does our assignment, together, we can reach the whole world with the good news of God’s love and forgiveness.

Prayer: Lord, help us to live on mission for you.

1. Benge, Janet and Benge, Geoff. Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime. YWAM Publishing, 1998.