“I have seen the Vision, and for self I cannot live. Life is less than worthless, till my all I give.” –Oswald J. Smith, missionary evangelist

As Christians, we’re all called to expand God’s kingdom, but for each family God’s direction will be unique. Your family has a particular sphere of influence, abilities, and resources. You also have a unique background and likely a specific “drawing” to specific areas of need.

As my husband Jon and I often say,

“Missions is not just for missionaries; God’s call is for all.”

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This article links with a post on Ann Voskamps blog, “What Does a bit of Radical Christianity Look Like, Right Where You Are?” The post refers to two compelling mission books, Radical (by David Platt) and Kisses from Katie (by Katie Davis), both highly recommended reading for Daring Daughters.

Voskamp’s challenge is for us to share a glimpse of what it means for us to live a Radical Christian life, right now, right where we are. For me, I’m going to share a several-part series . . . of my everyday life as a mission-minded mom, all excerpted from my missions chapter in The Heart of Simplicity: Foundations for Christian Homemaking.

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If you visited our home, you would get a little glimpse of our heart.

Our family loves hospitality and we love life. There’s always a big pile of kid shoes on the front porch and a welcoming chalkboard sign. In the living room, wooden drums and elephants project a subtle international theme; Bibles, mission books, and an atlas are on the coffee table. Our kitchen has a “global” theme with teapots from various countries and world continents painted on wooden squares behind our coffee-shop kitchen table.

A peek into the master bedroom hints of European romance with a candle-lit fireplace and black-and-white Paris posters (with a “familiar” couple holding hands by the Eiffel Tower). If you played a board game in our family room, you wouldn’t miss our wall-sized world map. You might laugh at the crazy leopard carpet in our home-based mission office or get distracted by random souvenirs, a bulletin board covered with postcards, or an alpaca-skin wall-rug from Bolivia; desks are covered with newsletters in-the-works, and computers buzz with preparations for the next adventure.

But world missions is more than a decorating theme. By God’s grace, our family has collectively traveled and ministered in over 70 nations and on all seven continents. We have a heart for the world and a heart for our children. We have preached the gospel to genocide murderers in Rwandan prisons and to Ukrainian scientists in Antarctica. Sometimes crowds are huge; sometimes we share one-on-one.

We’re called to love God and to expand His kingdom. Jon and I have been happily married for over twenty-six years, and we have home-schooled seven children (with four high school and three college graduates). Our three youngest children still live at home, and several of our older children are now getting married and beginning families of their own!

Our family loves God, and we love each other. We have a heart for the world, a heart for the lost . . . and we simply obey. Although we have always lived in the United States, we have focused our lives on international Christian missions: winning souls, loving orphans, equipping national ministers, serving churches, and motivating mission-minded families.

We just do whatever God says, empowered by His love . . . and His grace.