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Dollars and Discipleship

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The mission of GCF is to make disciples for the glory of Jesus. Of course, this comes from the great commission given by Jesus, after his resurrection from the dead and just prior to his ascension into heaven where he went to continue his reign at the right hand of God the father.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Recently, our student ministries took a mission trip to Haiti where we spent six days doing ministry. Since it is a tall task to begin summarizing a tremendous experience that took us to a different country that happened to be considered third world, let me simply say that the money spent on it the trip was well worth it! Maybe this is my lack of faith but I had some anxiety about the quality of this trip, considering a massive effort was made to raise funds. With the kind of giving our church was able to produce it seems a really fantastic trip is necessary to justify the effort and the dollars. At one point in the trip, all my anxiety was released when I came to the confidence that indeed, it was all worth it.

We know money is something that God provides and lovers of God understand the value of money as a tool for ministry. Discipleship and dollars go hand in hand, this trip was no exception. To use an old Visa commercial paradigm, plane tickets: $900. Adventures in Missions fee: $595. Unexpected and seemingly scandalous yet surprisingly legit $10 tourist fee at the Haiti airport: $10. Doing ministry in a third world country, seeing your group share the gospel, grow in dependence on God and be encouraged by the faith of the Haitian people: priceless.

So in other words, the pennies and dimes (and lots of them) that were raised for the trip translated into something that, in the end, couldn’t be truly measured in pennies or dimes, or quarters or dollars, or any denominations of dollars.  I came to know the money was well spent when, throughout the week, there was a pervading sense that you simply cannot put a price tag on the experience we were able to have, for the ministry we were able to do, for the ways we grew and the impact Haiti and its people had on our faith in the almighty God. In this way the logistics of the trip can be measured in dollars and cents but the true value of the trip will continue to be realized beyond the time Jesus returns.


Good job, GCF and beyond. You have put your dollars into discipleship and it has paid off and will continue to pay off. If you had hung onto it the rust would set in on it or the thieves would get their paws around it. Now it is invested. Locked into the vault of God’s kingdom where it is safe and accruing interest to the glory of God and the joy of souls who would come to know Jesus through this trip. Thank you for investing into the mission of this church. You helped to make disciples in Haiti and make disciples of the young people in this church.

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