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“Why go overseas for missions when people need Jesus here?”

It’s a fair question. One I’ve received more than once in our years of ministry. We look out our back door and see people everywhere in need of God’s love. So why go? Why leave the hurting and broken in your home country to serve the hurting and broken in another?

The answer to these questions will require us to dive deep into Scripture and the heart of the Father. As we do, my hope and prayer is the Lord would give us wisdom and align our hearts to His.

Why Go Over There When There Is Need Here?

It’s true. The need in our own backyard is great. There are so many in need of Jesus right where we are. There is no denying that.

But God wants all nations to know His love, whether that be your nation or any other nation around the world.

He says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” — Isaiah 49:6

For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” — Acts 13:47

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:9-11

Global missions do not mean we don’t care for our home country or local community. They mean we care about what God cares about.

And if it is not enough for God to offer salvation only to some, then it shouldn’t be enough for us either.

If We All Do Our Part in Our Local Communities, Won’t Everyone Know Jesus?

This would be assuming every community has someone who knows the Gospel. But unfortunately, even if every Christian told those in their local community about Christ, not everyone would have someone to tell them.

According to Joshua Project—a research initiative that provides data on people groups with the fewest followers of Christ—it is estimated that:

3.36 billion people in the world today are considered “unreached”

Unreached people and places are those among whom Christ is largely unknown and whose local church is relatively insufficient to make Him known without outside help. ^[1]

Sharing the Gospel and making disciples in our local communities is important, but how will those without someone to tell them hear the Good News?

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” — Romans 10:13-15

We need global missions not only because it is the heart of the Father—which is reason enough—but because we cannot count on people to know what they have never heard.

If you are interested in learning more about global missions or enjoy this post, I highly recommend reading Radical by David Platt. I read this book at the end of my 11-month mission trip, but I wish I would have read it sooner. It is both convicting and compelling!

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If God Is Everywhere, Why Does He Need Us to Make Him Known?

I love this question. Let’s look at John 1 together.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1,14 (emphasis mine)

In God’s great love and grace, He sent His Son to dwell among us, to show us the Way Everlasting (Psa. 139:23-24), and to be our Emmanuel—God with us.

No other central figure in a world religion has claimed to be God. The Lord is the only God willing to dwell among His people.

Though the Lord does not need us to make Him known, He is at His very heart a personal God. He wants us. We are His plan A. There is no plan B.

Just as Christ dwelling among us is a great display of God’s love, so too is it a great display of love when we dwell among others bearing His name.

What’s more, our testimony can serve as a great comfort to those in trouble.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. — 2 Cor. 1:3-4

Having someone to bear our burdens with us is one of the greatest gifts the Church can offer.

God does not need us to make Him known, but He commissions us to do so because He is Love and He meets us where we are, bringing us together in unity through Christ.

Does God Call Everyone to Global Missions?

In short, yes… But perhaps not all in the same capacity. Let’s take another look at Romans 10:15.

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?…

The word here for “sent” in the original Greek is apostelló [ἀποστέλλω], and it means to send or to send away. If we are to send someone away, that would imply the one sending stays where they are.

Nonetheless, Jesus’ command is this:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” — Matthew 28:19-20

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:8

But if some stay where they are, how is everyone called to global missions?

1 Corinthians 12:12-20 says,

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

God does not expect each person to do it all, for then we would no longer need Him or His Church. Instead, we are called to work together like different parts of one body.

In order to fulfill the Great Commission (referenced above in Matt. 28:19-20), we need to work together.

As mentioned earlier, God’s desire is for all nations to receive His salvation. That includes the one you live in. In that sense, we are all called to global missions whether we stay or go, but we need one another’s support to reach every nation.

How Do I Know If I Am Called to International Ministry?

I’ve heard it said before that if you don’t want to be a missionary, don’t be a missionary. Sometimes I think we find reluctance to be some kind of “holy prerequisite” to moving overseas—like if we really don’t want to, it must be God saying we should.

But if we are walking with God in the company of the Church, we can take our desires as one of the ways the Lord leads us. (Note: The prior part of that statement is necessary for the latter to be true. More on this in my post When to Stop Waiting on God).

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. — Psalm 37:4

We become more like those we spend time with. And when we delight in the Lord, we become more like Him and begin to desire in our hearts that which aligns with the heart of the Father.

While desire is by no means the final deciding factor, it shouldn’t be ignored either.

If the desire to go is there, you regularly meet with the Body of Christ in your local community, and you are already pointing people to Christ in your daily life, global missions may be a great place for you to serve.

Sit with God and ask others to join you in prayer as you seek the Lord’s leading. Jesus already commissioned us to reach the nations. The call is there. The question is… What part will you play in it?

I hope you found this helpful in the pursuit of the answer as to why Christians go across the world for missions.

Whatever part you play in global missions—whether making disciples in your local community and sending missionaries overseas, or going to the ends of the earth to make disciples there—my prayer is that we would support and communicate with one another graciously as we work together as one body to fulfill Christ’s call for every nation.