BrianIngraham.com | ASPIRE

The church in Renfrew made a bunch of these great flyers.

I must confess I am thoroughly enjoying my time in the States. The first week we arrived we spent a few days recovering from jetlag and then we were off to Portland for the weekend followed by a week at the ocean. Several rounds of golf, and playing at the beach, as well as important times with supporters, future teammates, and the in-laws made those days fantastic.

Week three found us at my favorite place on earth, Lakeside Bible Camp. The week was perfect. I had tons of fun with my kids and tons of great Spiritual input. Not only did I ski, but I was able to sit under excellent teaching by Dr. Arturo Azurdia III, author of Spirit Empowered Preaching. I was able to spend some extra time with him asking a wide rage of questions that I have pondered and wrestled with these past three years leading and teaching at Re:Hope. I left that week encouraged and pleasantly worn out from all the fun.

Week four I spent in New Mexico with my mother. Yes, it is true, I am now a mighty scorpion slayer…

Sunday, just before 5 in the morning, I left her weeping at the airport as we flew back to Seattle. The night before leaving I lay in bed thinking that it will be a few years before I see her again. It definitely doesn’t get easier to say good bye. The first time you leave your family there is sadness but it is also a time of facing the exciting unknown. Five years later I know how long a two years feel like, I know all the changes that take place with the kids and in life. The one consolation, the thing that keeps me going is the certainty that I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing, where he wants me to be doing it, even though the cost feels high at moments like that. I realize I am not the only one to pay a high cost for us serving as missionaries in Scotland. Moms, dads, and grandparents all pay the high price of grief every time we board the airplane.

Now, near the beginning of week five, I have been doing some CRM stuff and writing a message to preach this Sunday. It has been a while since I spoke last, and the message writing time had me thinking a bunch about Glasgow and my church there. I am definitely going to enjoy every moment in the States but I also now feel that tug of excitement when I think about all God has done in these past few years in Glasgow. I find myself pondering what obstacles will need to be overcome, what breakthroughs will we experience… who knows? What I do know is that I have a fantastic church, a fantastic team, and a God who is still intervening and calling our church into existence.

What is God going to use us all to accomplish for His Kingdom this next year? I am just thrilled to be apart of it.

Our kids were invited to the neighbours birthday party this afternoon. The dress up theme was ‘Ancient Egypt’. Most of the girls looked like Cleopatra wanna-be’s…

Like good missionaries we sent our kids lightly dressed up as Hebrew Slaves…

(I thought it was funny…)

In missionary circles, much is made of the “10/40” window, roughly described as the nations between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north ranging from Northern Africa to Asia. In this window we find the centers of the other main world religions such as Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim… For the record, I want to state that I am a huge fan of mission’s efforts to these desperately dark nations, they need more missionaries, they need Jesus. The other day, I became aware of more Churches choosing to exclusively focus their efforts on this region of the world, and although it seems to have good reasons behind it, It is a short-sighted and unbiblical mistake to ignore the rest of the Jesus needing planet.

I was thinking about the missions need in Glasgow, Scotland. Now I have lived here for 5 years and have interviewed Christian leaders as well as heard reports on the state of Christianity from the Church of Scotland and conclude that I am being generous in the following Glasgow statistic. It seems 1% or less of people under 40 years of age in Glasgow would claim to be a Christian.

• Using the statistics from the most recent edition of “Operation World,” it seems that if you are in Saudi Arabia walking down the street you are 4 1/2 times more likely to be walking past someone who claims to be a Christian than someone within a decade of my age here in Glasgow.
• You are almost 13 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Egypt…
• You are 2 1/3 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Pakistan…
• You are 2 2/5 times more likely to be passing a Christian in India…
• You are 1 1/2 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Thailand…
• And shocking to me, you are more than 1 1/2 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Iraq than someone within a decade of my age here in Glasgow

That said, ‘Never believe statistics.’ There are regions in those nations far, far more absent of the Gospel of Jesus Christ than my generation here in Glasgow. Everyone of those nations in the 10/40 window continues to need more ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. Yet the great commission refers to ‘The ends of the earth,’ Jesus talks about ‘All nations.’ In our zeal to see the gospel sent to the nations let us not run the strategic error of neglecting the rest of the planet, places like Sweden, Argentina, Uganda, Russia…

Let’s not over think missions. Let us get those men and women, called by God, who have been divinely given a heart for a people or a place, to the field God is calling them to. And may they be ready for either years of ploughing hard soil or the altar of ultimate sacrifice. And may those who stay also prepare for years of sacrifice on behalf of the gospel being sent to the ends of the earth.