Our family (my wife and I and our two teenagers) will be heading to the poorest country in our hemisphere next week. Amy and I committed several years ago to take our kids somewhere around the world, at least once a year, so they might develop a larger worldview and a gospel heart for the nations. So the perennial question hangs in the air: Why Haiti? That is, why spend a boatload of cash to go to a country littered with corruption and already saturated with western missionaries while there are parts of the world in a true gospel famine?

It’s a great question. The short answer is, it’s complicated.

HISTORY OF MISSIONS

The history of missions, like any history, is varied and complex—full of flawed and broken people. From the very first mission endeavor of the 72 being sent out to usher in a kingdom awakening (Luke 10:1-23) to Paul’s missionary journeys (Acts 13, 15, 18), it is without question that mission is central to our DNA as Jesus people.

We are a people that go.

As we pull the thread of this beautiful tapestry, names come to the surface: Philip (Ethiopia), Patrick (Ireland), Augustine of Canterbury (England), Francis of Assisi (Egypt), William Carey (India), David Livingstone (Malawi), Robert Morrison and Hudson Taylor (China).  And the list goes on and on. Mission is the act of laying down our personal agenda and taking up the central agenda of God—His name being made famous in all the earth.  We are seeking out people groups who might find their all-in-all in God. Or as John Piper likes to put it, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” That is, we are in hot pursuit in helping those in other cultures find their ultimate worth and value in Jesus Christ.

Generally speaking, the primary task of missions is to take the gospel to places in which people have not heard. The Apostle Paul understood this when he penned, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known . . .” (Romans 15:20). Missions, therefore, is going where people need to hear.

WHY HAITI THEN?

Mission work in Haiti, like so many other countries in our hemisphere, is counter-intuitive. Haiti already has the gospel. They already have an abundance of churches, pastors, Christian radio, and even seminary education. So why go to Haiti? Of course, they need clean water and food and medical supplies and a heavy dose of gospel compassion—but the good news of Jesus is already on the move in this precious people. So why go?

For my children.

I am unabashedly selfish for my children’s sake. We’re going to Haiti for the Quitt kids. Yes, we are going to impact children we do not know. We will bring the life of the gospel to little ones we have never met, but we go to this island, unapologetically, for our kids.

OUR PRAYER

Selfishness is not a new motive when it comes to children. Parents are notoriously selfish in making sure their kids get the best education and most opportunity because we want it to go well for them in this world. I am selfish for another reason. I want them to understand that this life is not about them. I am selfish so they might experience true life—a life that orbits around the only One in the universe Who will satisfy.

So as we board the plane in a few days, I pray selfish prayers for my children.

Oh God, open their eyes to see the bigness of this world. Cause the scales to fall off their selfish hearts and see the brokenness of this sin-scarred planet. Cause their souls to come alive with the beauty of Jesus and His ferocious love for all peoples. Let their roots go deep into rivers of living water so that their arms of praise will stretch high. Grow their leadership so they might see the joy in calling others to living a life that matters. Stir up their love for the scriptures. Light a fire of worship in their hearts. Ignite a joy so hot that everything that does not draw them to faith in Christ burns away. Let the words “Risk is right for the glory of God” be the anthem on their lips.  Let their small dreams of money and power and worldly success die on the alter of missionary experience. Call our kids to gospel service for their entire lives!