Fearless Follower Focus (Guest Post)

Today I have the pleasure of turning my little piece of internet real estate over to Liz Swauger. Liz is truly a remarkable young lady and a treasured family friend. She will be leaving for a 12-14 month mission trip to Thailand in just a few weeks. I will miss her terribly, but am so excited to see what God has in store for her and those whose lives she will touch. I am so inspired by her willingness to step out in faith and follow where the Father leads...even halfway around the world. Please join me in praying for Liz as she faithfully responds to God's call and embarks on this new adventure.

Last summer, the small group I co-led went through David Platt’s book, Radical. That study quickly wrecked my lofty Christian metaphors and spiritualized motifs and instead demanded practical and courageous Christ-like living. Platt argues that while God does call us to teach others to “obey everything [Jesus] commanded [us],” there is another half to the Great Commission, the “go” part. “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” (Matt 28:19-20). That part requires a lot more intentionality and proactivity.

The more I dug into the Gospel (God’s goodness, my sin and rebellion, Christ’s substitution and sacrifice, and my response to that), the more I wanted to share it. This desire led me to travel with my church on a vision trip to Bangkok, Thailand in August of 2011. While there, we walked through a red light district; we played with children in the slums; we taught English. We stood at the top of the Baiyoke Tower, the tallest building in Bangkok, and looked over a city with a population twice the size of New York City and where less than 1% of them are believers. That is spiritual darkness.

We returned from the trip a week later, but I felt changed. I still love the ministry I do in America. I love the girls I’ve been able to invest in; I love serving under my college pastor and I love being a part of a church that takes the Gospel seriously. I serve in quite a few ministries, but I am not irreplaceable. There are so many people who could fill my role here in America. A lot of women love Jesus and can lead a small group... But I kept wondering, who will tell the Thai women? There are so few missionaries there. How will those people hear about their Father who desperately loves them and desires to have a relationship with them?

God has used this short-term trip to grow something much deeper in my heart, a conviction that I cannot love the gifts more than the Giver. I cannot love small groups more than lost sheep. I cannot keep saying that God’s heart is for the nations and then sit by while nations live and die without knowing the truth of Jesus Christ.

So I’m going. I’m going back to Thailand to live out the Gospel in a cross-cultural context. I’m not super-spiritual, or super-talented, or super-anything. I’m just available. I don’t have it all figured out and I don’t have all the answers. I do know, though, that my Father goes to the lost, the nations and the “least of these,” so I want to follow Him and do the same.

I depart on June 11th; to follow my journey, visit: www.lizinbangkok.blogspot.com

"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?" -Romans 10:14