SPECIAL ISSUE: THE CALL TO MISSION
Witnessing to God’s love in the world
Editorial
Whether priest or lay, we are all called to take part in God’s mission to renew the face of the Earth, to bring about God’s reign of love, peace, and justice for all. In this issue you will read many stories about people who are living the call to mission. Each one has responded to God’s constant nudge, and yes, God does continue to gently call everyone to take part in this wonderful enterprise. It may be in our own country, or it may be as a Scarboro missioner to another land, among other peoples and cultures.
It is a call to be witnesses to God’s love and compassion, walking in solidarity with others, especially with the poor and those pushed to the margins of society, sharing their joys and hopes, their struggles and pain. To walk with others in solidarity will require that we listen to their stories and learn from them, that we simply be present, our hearts like open vessels. And as we become friends, they will want to hear our stories. Mainly God is asking us, as Micah says, “to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.”
With the excitement of the challenge, there may also be feelings of trepidation as we leave behind the security of the familiar and enter unknown environments and situations. But there is also peace in knowing that we are taking part in the movement of the Spirit in our world. We will surely make mistakes and learn to laugh at our mistakes.
The journey of mission is not easy, as lay missioner Susan Keays writes in this issue, particularly in those times when the challenge seems enormous. Then she remembers that this was God’s idea, not hers. “I have marvelled at the acuity of God’s vision,” she says, “for I have been drawn time and again to places and situations I never would have found, understood, or tackled on my own. I’ve worked in obscure regions among pockets of forgotten people where my own puny skill set was somehow the right one to witness to God’s love for them and for me.”
If you think you may be ready to trust God’s vision and to hear that inner voice calling you to go beyond yourself to love and serve others, then we invite you to contact Scarboro Missions. Our programs for priest and lay ministry come out of the knowledge and lived experience of many missionaries in the more than 92 years of Scarboro’s mission history. We welcome you and feel blessed to accompany you as you take part in God’s mission for the world.∞