OCMC's Voices from the Harvest - Is God Calling You to be a Missionary?
OCMC’s Voices from the Harvest - Is God Calling You to be a Missionary?
August 17, 2006
The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), St. Augustine, FL – OCMC
Missionaries assist in the growth of the Orthodox Christian Faith around
the world and many Hierarchs are searching for people to serve the Lord
in the mission field.
God calls people from different walks of life and with many diverse
skills and talents to respond to His commandment to “go forth and make
disciples of all nations”.
Becoming a missionary is both challenging and demanding yet it is a
rewarding opportunity to preach the Gospel of our Savior, Lord Jesus
Christ. As one of our current missionaries, Driko Pappas reflects on his
calling to serve the Lord, we are reminded of the fulfillment of this
calling.
“In our fast paced modern lifestyle one rarely stops to clearly think
out what one is doing toward their spiritual life. In the midst of this
fast paced consumer society of America, where we slowly sink into the
quicksand of the American dream and where we are taught and conditioned
to go beyond the other in order to be first, God granted me a moment to
reflect on myself. To look a bit closer at what I was doing and in
doing thus, I found it was all about me. In this gift of a moment’s
contemplation, I realized the Lord was offering me an invitation, a
calling one might say, to do for others. His offering was to be a part
of the vine of His Holy Work. I now realize that this offering of His
Holy Vine is offered unto all, but in order to receive Him one must
hear, and in hearing, the hope of a new sprout begins. Therefore there
must be those who go forth and offer the vine not only with words but
with all goodness, joy and love that comes forth from the heart.
Beginning in the first years with OCMC, the Lord began bestowing my life
with His blessings. Called to help set up the first church building
project in Africa by an American team, some of the most enjoyable months
of my life were spent doing His work with the Kenyan people. Always
seeming to receive more from the experience than I put forth, the Lord
continues to do His will, through us, yet allowing the fruits to remain
hidden to us so as to allow in us our hope of humility. The Lord
blessed me by bringing Christine into my life through mission contacts.
As a result, the Lord blessed us with marriage, two wonderful boys and
brought us back again into the mission field, filling a need with us in
Albania under His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios. I am continually
reminded in our work that we only need to trust in Him and turn to Him
for our needs, for the Lord is always there with an invitation for us.
After reading this voice from the harvest, is God calling you to become a
missionary?? OCMC missionaries serve as teachers at seminaries, child
care workers, substance abuse counselors, youth workers, English as a
second language (ESL) teachers, doctors, nurses and priests. If you've
only begun to think of the possibilities of a two year commitment as a
missionary please consider contacting the Mission Center to find out
more about the process of becoming a long-term missionary.
Visit our website at www.ocmc.org for opportunities in the mission field
or contact us at missions@ocmc.org, phone 877-GO-FORTH (463-6784)
We ask for your continued prayers for all our missionaries. Funds to
help support our ministries can be sent to the Orthodox Christian
Mission Center to P.O. Box 4319, St. Augustine, FL 32085-4319.
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