This is a story of a regular guy, just one of the “72 others”. A regular guy with a regular job and a regular family who goes to a regular church in a regular little town. But, I seem to have an irregular desire to travel long distances and work in sweaty places for people i have never met and eat food that I can’t Identify in a country where I can’t speak a lick of the native language, and do this over and over again, as much as I possibly can. This is the story of how I started in short term missions and ended up with our restaurant, Soda Steve’s, which is our long term commitment to missions and outreach.
The “72 others?” What’s that you say?
That’s what I said when Jeremy Basset, the leader of my first mission to Vietnam said it in my first mission orientation. He told us that, as missioners, we were the “72 others” mentioned in Luke:10. Wow! “The Luke talks about me in The Bible? This is better than I thought it was gonna be!”
In 2002, I embarked on my first mission to Costa Rica. Sounds good, right? Twelve days is not so long; I would call that short-term, wouldn’t you? Only 12 days to be hot and sweaty all day and all night, shower with cold water, sleep with the flying critters on a foam mattress on a concrete floor in an open air schoolhouse. And build a whole building.
Little did I know that my first exposure to short-term missions would change my life; and the life of my family; to one of long-term mission commitments in countries that I could only have dreamed of traveling to at the time. I just wanted to take each one of my kids on one mission each so that they could see that everyone does not live in the land of air conditioners and video games. Just one per kid; I have three kids – you do the math, three missions! I am currently the team leader on my third mission to Vietnam which is my seventh mission overall. I have had the opportunity to team with, or lead over 62 people on nine missions to five different countries in the last 11 years and I’m just getting started!
The “72 Others”
It did not take long to learn that in Oklahoma we are fortunate to have Jeremy Basset as our Volunteers in Mission (VIM) Director, along with a host of fantastic people who work with him to assist in organizing all of the Oklahoma VIM missions coming and going from all parts of the world. Most states just have a really small VIM office with one person who is both the director AND the staff with VIM being only one of their four jobs. In Oklahoma, we actually have dedicated staff; we are one of the biggest VIM offices in the nation.
The first time I missioned with Jeremy, he told us something that has never left me. Well, he actually told me several things that never left me (some of which I wish would leave me, but I digress). Jeremy told us about the “72 others.” In Luke:9, Jesus sends out the 12 disciples. In Luke:10, Jesus talks about sending out the “72 others.”
The “72 others” are regular people who go out on short-term missions; sometimes into many of the same conditions as the disciples.
He gave the “72 others” the same overall instructions as he gave the 12; “Make disciples of Jesus Christ by sharing God’s love.” Jesus then goes on to detail the reception that we missioners will have, the conditions we can expect and even how we are to pack and behave. I think that being one of the “72 others” is sort of like being one of the 12 disciples (without the title and business cards). No business cards, bummer - but our work is no less important. I spin this wordy tale because it is one of things that has made short-term missions so important to me. This is the definitions of missions. So here’s the deal: when you really think about it, outreach and mission are the very essence of what we do as Christians.
Soda Steve’s
During my second mission to Costa Rica, we stayed in a small town on the East Coast called Matina. At that time, the Costa Rican District Superintendent’s wife owned a small café or “Soda” as they called them in Costa Rica. It is customary to name the Soda after the proprietor, so every day, three meals a day, we took all of our meals at “Soda Brenda’s;” beans and rice in the morning and rice and beans at night; however, lunch was my favorite meal because we got a choice; beans OR rice! This leads me into one of Reverend Basset’s favorite mission prayers – “Lord, I’ll get it down, you keep it down;” or the old stand-by – “Where you lead me I will follow; what you feed me I will swallow;” definitely and oldie but a goodie.
It was during one of our many meals at “Soda Brenda’s” that some of my team members suggested that our Veranda snack bar at Fin and Feather Resort be re-named “Soda Steve’s”. This idea simmered for a couple of years and in 2006 we did indeed change the name to Soda Steve’s.
With the new name (and opportunity to tell the story of how it came about) and new mindset, we soon outgrew our small location. In June, 2008, we moved into our new building with décor centered around all of my mission destinations. Here, you will find bamboo walls, thatched roofs, corrugated tin, palm trees and coffee - all things that seem to be so common in the mission places we have been.
Short-term mission and long-term commitment
When I am in Soda Steve’s, I am usually thinking about a mission, planning a mission, or telling mission stories and answering questions about missions from our guests. What happened to that whole cooking thing? What do I mean by short-term mission and long-term commitment? In the Methodist Church today, I would say that 90 percent of the missions that are taken are in one month or less and most being around the 7-12 day timeframe. Seven to 12 days would be the actual time spent on the mission; however, this does not include the time getting ready, preparing, arranging for time off, raising funds, making travel and lodging arrangements, etc. And when you get home, the time spent spreading the word about the mission, the plans for the next one, and the after mission advocacy.
Now does that mean that we have to have a mission and can only spread God’s love 11,000 miles away in Vietnam? No. Long-term commitment does not necessarily mean long-distance. It usually does in my case, but really, the missions are simply outreach. Remember the spreading God’s love part? You can do that across the street, across the state or across the globe.
When we talk about missions, many of us think you must stop your normal life, take two weeks off and travel to a far-off land and build something. I look at missions not so much as short-term or long-term, but fulltime. To me, mission is outreach and I strive to do that every day, no matter where I am because, again, that is what we do as Christians. One of the most relevant passages in The Bible for me is ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:22-23). I believe that if you live with the fruits of the spirit every day, no matter where you are, you are on a mission.
Missions come in many forms
Missions take so many different forms. One of my local outreaches is Little League Sports or my outreach that I have through my restaurant, Soda Steve’s at Fin and Feather. I have pictures of all of our missions, artifacts of missions, Christian and mission references all throughout the restaurant and/or websites for Soda Steve’s.
I even got together with Henderson Coffee to make a special coffee for Soda Steve’s called “Soda Steve’s Mission Blend.” We use this blend in both Soda Steve’s and we sell it retail as well. For every bag we sell retail, we deposit all the profit into the mission fund, and not only that – here comes the outreach part- but everyone who reads the back label will hear my story about missions. Hopefully, they become curious and check out our missions’ websites. Henderson Coffee also sells Soda Steve’s Mission Blend to other food service and convenience store outlets, so now even people who know nothing about VIM or Soda Steve’s will still be exposed to our mission vision. All of these are examples of a long-term commitment.
Yes, Soda Steve’s is my long-term commitment to missions. It has become a place that is my mission central.
My calling to Vietnam is also a long-term commitment. Currently, I am committed to helping Ut and Karen Van to continue to layout and actually build the UMC infrastructure in Vietnam.
But, here is the big take away for me: the real long-term commitment is the way I use my 70 or 80 years that I have been given on this earth. Using that time to spread the word, make relationships, inspire my kids – and every person I come in contact with each and every minute of every day – to make changes in their lives or to embark on their own short-term mission. Using my time in ways that will blossom into long-term commitments to Christ.
Jump in with both feet
To you, I say, “Go do it and stop waiting for someone to ask you to go on a mission, or expecting someone else to lead you on a mission. Stop waiting until you have enough time or enough money, because we will never have enough of any of these things. The people who we serve in missions have even less.”
So call the Volunteers in Mission office, Jeremy Basset or me. Jump in with both feet and make it your short-term commitment to take one mission and then don’t look back. Your life and the lives of so many others will be so much better for it.