*Here are a few remarks I made at the opening of yearly Mission Trip Share Service at First Baptist of Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Pinnacle of faithfulness
On Tuesday, January 3, 1956, Jim Elliot and four other missionaries (Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, Roger Youderian) landed on a sandbar in a jungle of Ecuador. Years before, Jim and his missionary friends set their hearts on reaching the Waodoni people with the good news of Jesus.
The Woadoni were a notoriously dangerous tribe, known for spearing to death friends and enemies alike. For three months Jim Elliot and his team of missionaries flew over a Woadoni village and dropped gifts as peace offerings. After months of gift exchanges, they landed and waited to meet the Woadoni.
On Friday, January 6, three Woadoni people approached the missionary team. Things seemed to go well. Footage and pictures remain of the friendly meeting.
On Sunday, January 8, the team was due to radio home. Silence. When no message came, a plane was sent, and then a rescue party. Four of their bodies were recovered—all speared to death. The fifth body was never found.
In a powerful testimony of faithfulness, the widows of these five missionaries stayed in the jungle of Ecuador and eventually led the Woadoni tribe to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
I was a junior in college when I first encountered this story. A group of friends gathered in my apartment, and we watched a documentary on this missionary team. My heart was stirred. Their faithfulness inspired me. I viewed these missionaries as the pinnacle of faithfulness to Jesus. And still do.
You can be a missionary by going nowhere
But let me tell you a little-known fact: You can be a missionary around the world or around the block. You can be a missionary by going nowhere.
The book of Acts begins with Jesus’ charge to the disciples: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We typically reference Acts 1:8 in the context of mission trips or when discussing heroic missionaries like Jim Elliot. This is an unnecessary limitation. During his earthly ministry, Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. It is the task of the church to carry the gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth. In 2025, the church is widely geographically dispersed around the ends of the earth, so now we must bear witness.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus never knocked on the doors in your neighborhood. He never traveled the hallways of your workplace. He never visited the square, the glass bathrooms, Pioneer Cafe, or the Dairy Museum. He never spent Friday night at the Prim.* Yet, you live and breathe in those places. You are sitting in a sanctuary at the ends of the earth. That’s why our church mission statement can be summarized in two quick statements: For Hopkins County. For the gospel.
Benefits of Short-Term Trips
Yet, there is great value in short-term mission trips. I’ll name just a few benefits:
1. They support and encourage gospel partners.
2. They equip saints through training and experience not possible in a worship service.
3. They help expose and encourage spiritual gifts.
4. They open eyes to the bigness of God’s church and God’s work.
I pray you hear the value of short-term mission trips tonight. I pray you seriously consider your call to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
* Local places in Sulphur Springs, Texas
Jeff Gravens 