What if the default path for Christians after college was to go and not stay?
The default mentality among many students is to think, “Where am I going to get a job after I graduate? Where will I begin my career?”
But what if we first considered going overseas, for the sake of the Gospel?
Here or There?
Some of us may feel led to stay and do ministry in the workplace or with those across the street. If you know without question this is His calling on your life, then follow it at all costs. However, if it’s anything short of an absolute certainty, then examine this.
There still remain over 6,000 unreached people groups across the globe. This means that over 40% of the world’s population—nearly 3 billion people—have little or no access to the Gospel. These people cannot easily find a Bible or visit a church like we can do here in the United States.
Now, it is certainly true that people in America desperately need Jesus just as much as those who are overseas. It is also true that spreading the Kingdom “over there” versus here is not more “spiritual” or “holy.” But look at the heart of Paul. His desire was to preach the Gospel where it had not been preached.
“I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
Romans 15:20-21
Just Two Years
So consider this: go on a short-term missions trip during your time in school, or even more, to give two years of your life after graduation to overseas missions.
Set aside two short years to give everything to see the kingdom of God invade an unreached people group. Sure, if He calls you back to the States, that’s fine. But at the very least, from that experience, you will be engaged in what God is doing globally for the rest of your life. Your understanding of God and the Gospel will also be fundamentally transformed.
But do not just follow the path of the American Dream because that is the default or because it is easy.
Historically, college students have always been at the forefront of great movements of God. If we merely say yes, and give all for the supremacy of Jesus Christ among the nations, we could very well see all the unreached groups taken care of within our lifetime. And then, as Jesus promised, He will finally return and take us home.
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Matthew 24:14