I'm a Missionary (Guest Post by Mike Koolen)

Today we have a guest post from my friend Mike Koolen. Mike is a long-time listener of the podcast who has become a friend over the years. I’m grateful for his heart, his passion, and his unwavering focus to lengthen the Table of the Divine to make room for everyone, everywhere. As his post says, he truly is a missionary - in the most unique of ways.

Check out Mike on the socials and his blog:

FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/mike.koolen.14

BLOG - https://constructingchristian.blogspot.com

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Well folks, if you’ve been following along with me for a while, I think you may have the general gist of who I am.  If you’re new to my writing, welcome, it’s a twisting road.  With that being said, I’ve come to a realization.

I think I may be a Christian missionary. 

Trust me, I was as shocked as you are.  Anyone who knows me is probably falling off their chair laughing right now and any missionary that knows me may very well be doing the same.

In past submissions, I’ve made little secret on how I feel about the mission field etc.  I follow the idea of “they’ll know you are disciples” (John 13:35) by your actions rather than me preaching to them.  I don’t believe in “civilizing the savages” or showing anyone the “one true way.”

With that being said, this month I went to my second Pride festival, and I believe that I became a missionary in the truest sense of the word.

Did I give out bibles or tracts so that people would “find Jesus”?  No.

Did I tell them the good news and that whatever they were following or not following was wrong?  No.

Did I go to a foreign country to do some good deed that made me feel good while actually taking a job away from a local?  No.

Surely, I must have offered some sort of reward or benefit so long as they listened to a bible study or sermon by me?  No.

What I did was demonstrate love.  I went to a Pride festival (the first of its kind in a city of 120,000 people) and walked around wearing a “Free Dad Hugs” t-shirt.  I didn’t solicit any interaction with people; I was simply there.  I was around the festival; I was at a booth and I was watching performances. 

Do you know what happened?  Young people consistently reached out for Free Dad Hugs since it was something they couldn’t receive on their own or at least something they hadn’t had in a long time.  You could tell the folks that needed it because they held on a little longer. 

It’s at this point, as a missionary, I’m sure that I was supposed to learn about their journey and what brought them there that day.  I was supposed to show them who Jesus is and how he loves them. 

But you know what? 

I didn’t do any of that. 

Their story is theirs alone.  I may be hugging a kid who had a fight with their dad over coming to the Pride festival.  I may also be hugging a young person who hasn’t spoken to their own father in years and was kicked out based on their orientation. 

Ultimately, it wasn’t my place to ask any of these questions.  I wore a shirt that said Free Dad Hugs and that was my role at the festival. 

I like to believe that some of the hugs I gave out made people feel just a little better.  A little calmer and a little bit happier.

I may not be your traditional missionary, but that Saturday at the Pride festival, I truly believe that I was doing the work of Jesus himself.