“Will You Be A Part of Bringing Salvation to the Ends of the Earth?”
By Maci Brown
Tokyo, Japan, was my first trip out of the country and one that changed my life forever. While this is a cliche saying, it is the truth. When the Lord put it on my heart to apply for CMP, I had a complete “Moses moment”. I told the Lord that I could not be sent to spread the Gospel in a place like this, and He would have to choose someone else. While the Lord was making a way for me to go, I was still running from the idea. Giving up the control I wanted in my life in order to surrender my learning and direction to the Lord was the hardest, yet most important decision I made. On June 10th, I boarded a plane to spend over a month with Heath and Joni Hubbard in a vastly unknown place. Before going to Japan, the best advice I received was to “pray to God expecting answers and make your request big.” I prayed that I would be taught how to be a woman working in the ministry and that I would have clarity of the Lord’s calling for my life. The Lord answered these prayers and blessed my trip with so much more.
This trip taught me how to minister to people at the most basic level. One of the first things we were taught was to speak of God early and often. We stood on the street and simply spoke to the Japanese. We asked about their families, jobs, pets, and hobbies to show them we truly wanted to get to know them. Then, we invited them to small group Bible studies. These small group studies quickly became a highlight of my trip. On Sundays, we served with the children, welcoming them, leading English conversations, and fellowshipping with the members of the church.
My advice to future CMP students is to be prepared not to be prepared, and trust in the Lord. God used the brokenness in my past to allow me to reach the broken people of the world. I went to Japan to minister and teach the Japanese; instead, I came home humbled and burdened for the people all over who do not know of Jesus Christ.
Acts 14:47 says, “For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” My question to you is “Will you be a part of bringing salvation to the ends of the earth?” Applying for CMP or ETEAM can be your step into being salvation unto all people.
