Flex and Obey

This column highlights the ministries of Disciple’s parent organization, Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel (AMG) International, a non-denominational missions agency.

With the Vancouver Winter Games still fresh on our minds, I am reminded of my most recent experience leading an AMG Mission Adventure Team during the Winter Olympics. This was during the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy, where we had the privilege of leading not just one but three short-term teams who all came alongside AMG missionaries Larry and Mary Lowery.

One of our foundational philosophies for mission teams is for team members to “flex and obey.” Early on in the training process, we teach team members a little song to the tune of “Trust and Obey” that goes like this:

“Flex and obey,
for there’s no other way,
to be happy in Jesus,
than to flex and obey.”

We have found that most of us go to the mission field, even short-term, with some expectations. The purpose of teaching this little song is to help our team members begin to rethink why they are going on a mission trip and to leave their expectations at home.

The reason for this is simple. While we make some definite plans for our teams and seek to accomplish specific goals, we have come to understand that God does not always work on our timetable; and if we want Him to accomplish His purposes through us, we need to wake up each morning with an attitude of complete surrender while we are serving on a short-term team.

One good example of this was with our 2006 Winter Olympics Mission Adventures team in Italy. As you would expect during the Winter Games, snow was everywhere and it was bitterly cold. We were staying with the Lowerys, and they live high up in the mountains in a small village just above Aosta. The road up the mountain is very narrow, steep and curvy. After spending an entire day in Torino, distributing evangelistic booklets, trading pins and seeking to share Christ with all who would listen, we were cold, a little weary and ready to be home “by the fire.”

After traveling nearly two hours back “home” from Turin, the unexpected happened—halfway up the mountain, as we slowly wound our way up the snowy roads, the snow chains broke off of one of the tires on each of our vans! There was no way to keep going except to walk, so we all piled out of the vans and started up the snowy road in the silence of a winter wonderland in the Italian Alps at midnight.

With the moon peeking through the trees and the crunching of snow beneath our feet, a funny thing happened. In the midst of the initial frustration of getting out of warm vans so close to home and beginning to walk, what could have been a disappointing end to a very long day of ministry became the realization that God was giving our team a special treat that none of us would soon forget.

Like weary soldiers coming back from battle, the five mile hike uphill in the snow that night became a time the Lord used to draw us closer together as a team but also closer to Himself. Completely unanticipated, this experience became one of our most fond memories of this trip. Why? Because we had all come to appreciate the need to “flex and obey.”

AMG Mission Adventures short-term team ministry exists for two reasons. The first is to shepherd and disciple team members in their walk with Christ. The second is to come alongside AMG’s ministries and co-workers on the field to provide support, resources and encouragement to see the ministry move forward. Over the past 10 years, AMG Mission Adventure team members have accomplished much for the cause of Christ around the world, and our prayer is that each one returned home with a deeper walk with the Lord. Many have returned two, three and four times…making a long-term impact out of short-term service!

Is God calling you to serve on an AMG Mission Adventure Team? Check out AMG’s website at www.amginternational.org and click on “World Missions” to learn more.

Pat Ragan is vice president of development for
Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel (AMG) International in Chattanooga, Tenn.