Why Go On A Mission Trip When There Are So Many Needs Here?

In preparations for our mission trip to Malta last year, the mission team had to read the book "Radical" by David Platt. This book is a dangerous book that everyone needs to read. It is dangerous because it calls for an unapologetic, extreme sacrifice of our lives for Jesus Christ and the Glory of God.

In his book, Platt addresses the common question of "why should we go on a mission trip when there are so many needs right here?" Platt answers this question by saying:

"As we have seen in scripture, God's heart is for the world. So when we say we have a heart for the United States, we are admitting that we have a meager 5 percent of God's heart, and we are proud of it. When we say we have a heart for the city we live in, we confess that we have less than 1 percent of God's heart."

"Certainly there are great needs here. But must we insist on dividing the Great Commission into an either-or proposition? Who told us that we have to choose to have a heart for the United States or for the world? Based on the purpose of God we've seen in scripture, shouldn't every Christian's heart be consumed with how we can make God's glory known in all the world?"