Our Lord Jesus Christ, left His glorious throne in heaven, came down to the earth to physically

point the way to the Kingdom of God to mankind. However, as a result of the short time His
mission on earth lasted and lack of the type of means of communications as we have today during
His time, He could not reach out to all the nooks and cranies of the earth, so he entrusted this
task of reaching out to all mankind to His early disciples “Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you and Lo, I am with you always even to
the end of the age” (Matt. 28: 19 & 20). While sending His disciples to mission, He warned them
to be on guard against religious deception by those He called false prophets.

The disciples should expect to be persecuted, and should also expect the apostacy that so often
follows persecution (Matt. 24: 6-8, Matt. 5: 11-12 see also I Tim. 4: 1-4, 2 Peter 3: 3). But despite
this persecution, the gospel will be preached to the end of the earth (Matt. 24: 14).

God gives to each person a unique mission. Some are called to very public lives; others are
called to quiet and simple lives. Some are called to use their minds in powerful ways; others are
called to use their hearts in special ways, but each person has a unique mission from God.
Seeking to know what the Lord asks of you is essential to your journey of holiness and, therefore,
happiness. When fully embraced, this mission will bring abundant fulfillment to your life because
of one simple fact: every mission is a mission of Mercy.
We live in changing times with regard to many aspects of church life, and this also affects our
approach to mission. Changes in our society and in the opportunities and possibilities given to us
lead to new approaches and new avenues with regard to the exercise of the believer's mandate
in the world. Given our history we are accustomed to think of missionaries as those who go to
very primitive areas and preach the gospel to people who are illiterate or totally cut off from the
mainstream of civilization. But the constellation of mission work of the Reformed churches is
changing. We now work in more civilized countries, and in more advanced cultures. And most
areas of the globe have been confronted with the message of the gospel in one way or another.
Some are now sent out to teach rather than preach, or to provide help and assistance in training
pastors rather than being ministers themselves.

It has become clear that it is not enough to have a strong parish that meets
the needs of its parishioners. The parish life of sacramental nourishment,
support of a Christian community and the guidance of pastoral care is
essential to deepen our connection to the Body of Christ, but one more step is
needed to mature our faith. Our faith is matured and complete when we
realize that we are called to go out from the comfort of our parishes and be
missionary disciples. We are called to evangelize. Pope Francis calls us to be
a Church in a constant state of mission. In our imagination we may think of
evangelizers as those priests and sisters who go to foreign non-Christian
lands, or we may think of the preaching of the apostles. What the Gospel
calls us to and what Pope Francis reminds us is that to evangelize is an
essential element to being a good Catholic.
The effect of this on the Church is that we are called to go out to those in
need, not wait for them to come to us. We are to proclaim the mercy and love
of God to all we meet. Pope Francis describes this call to evangelize by
saying that we are to “go out to the peripheries, the edges, to reach out to
those who have been left behind and most in need of God’s mercy and love.”