Years back, I applied for the missions. I remember The Counselor for Missions asking me: "What is missions? Why do you want to go to the missions?"
At first, I was stupefied to have been asked what I thought to be a very elementary question for my age and experience. I felt like responding: "I've been ten years in the ministry and not a rookie... I suppose I know what I am doing... how many pages of write up would you like me to do on this?"
That was then! If you ask me today - I still would not be able to answer.
For me, Missions is a search for what God would want me to do in a particular time and place amidst a particular group of people.
For some it would mean bringing Christ to the unevangelized. But I'm kind of embarrassed by this thought after what I heard from my friends back home:
"When you enter a house, always remember that God had been there long before you entered -
And he will still be there long after you've gone away."
For some others, Missions is witnessing - But how do you witness to others who misinterpret your brand of witnessing as lack of radicality?
For me, Missions will always be my continuous search for its very meaning and essence. It is a way of travelling rather than a station I arrive at. It is this process of searching that makes me discover many things along the way. It is this that can keep my heart open.