"I know first hand what it means to be in ministry and the fear that accompanies if your ministry doesn't work out. It's a tentacle that reaches into your thoughts, impacts the decisions you make in ministry, what you say and don't say. We make success in ministry such an important part of who we are... I also know the love of Jesus in a deeper way. I know that His delight in me isn't contingent on what I accomplish, but on what he has accomplished at the cross. The power of the cross is becoming, for me, much more than a theological truth to know; it is an inhabited reality that is rewriting my narrative of self-sufficiency.
"I want people to understand their own need for Jesus so that they can be propelled deeper into the fabric of a broken world where they're going to be able to say: 'the brokenness that resides in my heart is the same brokenness in Sudan.' I want people to be able to grasp that dynamic interdependence of Jesus loving me and pushing me out beyond myself to love others... On the flip side, loving others - missions - will always test me and push me beyond the bounds of my ability. And that brings me back to Jesus. I inevitably discover that I need Him more. It can seem a little anti-climatic that what we really need in ministry is what we have needed all along - Jesus."
- Jeff McMullen, World Harvest Mission
Reflections on mission to Japan's next generation
