What defines a mission field? As a missionary serving the people of Puerto Rico, it can be easy for me to simply say that my mission field aligns with my job. After all, my task is to meet physical needs while sharing the message of redemption available in Jesus. However, I feel the need to press into that question more deeply. To define the idea of a mission field is ultimately to understand that God has purposefully placed every Christian in unique and specific locations. Whether school, life, work, or recreation brings us into communities and neighborhoods, a true analysis of a mission field reveals that all around us there is a world in desperate need of gospel transformation.
For me, long before God called me to serve in Puerto Rico, God sent me into Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee. As is the case for many kids in the Southeastern United States, I spent a significant amount of time in a church building. I was saved at ten, and I grew up hearing of how the sacrifice of Jesus was the ultimate gift of grace. I heard the gospel message every Sunday, and I was blessed with parents who lived this out at home and instilled in me the truth of the gospel.
In high school, I became familiar with First Priority. It was then that I began to see the damaging and detrimental effects of “cultural Christianity.” All around me, classmates who had grown up inside a physical church building were searching for something. They knew a lot about Jesus, but they were searching for a relationship with Jesus. That is where First Priority stepped in. Walking through the H.O.P.E. cycle every month both equipped me and gave me opportunities to share the message of Jesus and His gospel with my friends, classmates, and teammates.
Now, in serving vulnerable families and communities in poverty-stricken areas marred by the effects of economic crises, political instability, and natural disasters, the impact of First Priority in my life is still evident. First Priority helped me to see the pressing need of Jesus at Science Hill, and God used those four years to begin to prepare me for my next mission field, my college campus, and my current mission field in Puerto Rico. I do not view Puerto Rico as a mission field simply because of my job, but rather it is a mission field because, just like Science Hill, people in Puerto Rico are desperately in need of a relationship with Jesus. Whether in classrooms in Science Hill or a rural community in Puerto Rico, people are searching. In high school and today, my response to a searching population is the same – the life changing hope of Jesus.
Matthew Hembree
NAMB Journeyman – Puerto Rico
