Missionary

The new model is subtractive: You take away my comfort. You take away my agenda. You take away my assumption that I am the hero of this story.

If we are going to use the term today, we have to check that backpack at the door. Strip away the colonialism. Strip away the judgement. What’s left? Missionary

Let’s be honest. When you hear the word “Missionary,” what image pops into your head? The new model is subtractive: You take away my comfort

That core is still beautiful. It is the doctor who leaves a comfortable city practice to treat river blindness in a remote village. It is the teacher who learns a difficult language just to read stories to children who have never held a book. It is the engineer who digs wells not for a contract, but for the quiet joy of clean water. If we are going to use the term

At its absolute core, a missionary is simply someone who is sent . Specifically, someone sent to love people who are not like them.

And that, I think, is a mission worth keeping.