Can’t Kick the Mission Bug

Editorial by Timothy Harley

Mission service transforms lives! I’ve experienced it firsthand.

I wasn’t fortunate enough to attend Seventh-day Adventist schools, but after accepting the Adventist message at the age of 20, I responded to God’s call to serve Him. 

Now, for more than 20 years, I have had the distinct privilege to teach at Adventist schools and lead youth in Christian service. I recently tried to retire, but found it too difficult to give up taking youth on mission trips. The joy and fulfillment it brings to my heart are too rewarding to leave behind.

Teenagers are up for adventure—adventure that takes them all over the world, where they experience diverse cultures, learn new skills and make lifelong memories.

As Ellen White puts it, “All who engage in ministry are God’s helping hand. There is no line of work in which it is possible for the youth to receive greater benefit. They are co-workers with the angels; … As a means of education, what ‘university course’ can equal this? With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the world!” (Youth’s Instructor, March 3, 1908, par. 4).

Mission trips have afforded me the opportunity to witness students’ lives change from self-centeredness to self-sacrifice. One time, I learned that a student went on a mission trip to “score drugs,” only to return and testify about the transformation he experienced while serving God and others. He later went on to become an Adventist pastor. On another trip, one student begged to return home, only to be one of the best helpers and attend many more mission trips in college and beyond. Other students—who are now health professionals—gained a vision for their lives after delivering babies in Africa. The list goes on and on: from teachers to builders to career missionaries.

If you have never experienced mission service, I invite you—whether a student, young adult or young at heart—to ask God how He can use your talents for Him. The Adventist Church has numerous agencies that afford involvement, from short-term mission trips at one of Columbia Union Conference’s academies to long-term trips organized by the North American Division’s Office of Volunteer Ministries or the General Conference’s Global Mission Department. And remember, your next-door neighbor is also your mission field.

God wants you to be His hands and feet, His heart and voice.

Timothy Harley, a chaplain emeritus at Shenandoah Valley Academy, continues to lead students on mission trips.