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Powdered Donut Approach to Missions

The other day a friend challenged me to talk about donuts in my blog.  Not being one to shamelessly promote retail products, I had to think about this one for a while.  Of course, this involved doing plenty of research.  I went out and got significant amounts of powdered donuts and dug in for some intensive one on one time with the sugary manna from heaven.

As I was eating this diabetic coma in the making, I looked down at my black shirt and noticed sugary powder all over it like dandruff from an elephant (ok, similes are not my strength).  But it was at that moment that God spoke to me about how this could be used as a metaphor for our call into missions.

In about 24 hours, I will be leaving on a mission trip to Peru through my church, Chesapeake Christian Fellowship.  My focus has been all over the board as we get the team to ready to travel.  I’ve been praying for God to show me what He wanted from me and the team.  Through the use of powdered donuts, He showed this to me.

When we eat a powdered donut, we get a substantial amount of the powder in our mouths, but we also get a lot of the powder that falls onto our shirts, the car seat, the sofa, and, if you have a ceiling fan, spread throughout the house like drywall dust (ok, I liked that simile).

As we preach the Word to those we are providing missions, the Gospel gets consumed by those with which we are in close contact.  But what happens after the missionary leaves?  The people go back to their families and communities and repeat what they had just heard.  So just like that powdered donut, the sweetness of the Gospel gets spread to others without even needing to be there.

Matthew 9:6-8 is a great example of “powdered sugar missions” at work.  Jesus heals the man and he goes to tell others what had happened and those people gave glory to God.  The word reached more than that one person that day! It reached numerous people because of sharing with a single person.

John 4 also shows this example well.  As Jesus was walking, He came across a Samaritan woman and sparked a conversation with her.  During the conversation, the Gospel came to life in her as the sugary donut comes to life in my mouth as I eat it.  But after that conversation, she ran back home and told all of the other people in the town.

As we are out ministering and providing for the needs of God’s people, be in constant prayer that God’s word will not only touch the life of the person you are working with, but that it will spread like the powder of the donut into that person’s neighbors and community.

Now, back to eating powdered donuts!!