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By Jason Ritchie
I knew little of what to expect as I pushed my broken-down luggage cart out of the Soviet Era
airport terminal toward a waiting van. It was already dark, and the 30-below chill of a central
Asian winter bit at my face and hands. Even at that late hour, a throng of would-be drivers,
peddlers, beggars, and travelers pressed in around us. “Be careful of pickpockets,” said the
team leader as he greeted our translator who would take us to our rooms. In that moment I
wondered, “What have I gotten myself into?”
My mind was awhirl during the next few days of that missions trip. I experienced things I had
not imagined. I ate things I could not describe and saw things I could not forget. I was shocked
by the harshness, the poverty, and the spiritual darkness. I made new friends: the children we
visited at a local orphanage, the government official fascinated by American cowboys, our
translator’s retired sister who had been a Russian acrobat, and the teen whose father beat him
black and blue for attending church.

With each new relationship came the growing realization that, for me, Ulaanbaatar was no
longer just a place on the map and the command to spread the Gospel there no longer felt
optional. Suddenly, my banking career seemed far less important than the urgent need to reach
lost souls in that place. I began to feel responsible for the needs of that place in a new way.

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The prophet Jeremiah describes a life principle for us in
Lamentations 3:51. It is that Mine eye affecteth mine heart.

That is the reason Jesus tells us in John 4:35 to Lift up your
eyes, and look on the fields. We can never truly be moved
with compassion as He was or weep over our Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts unless we go out
and see the needs of our world for ourselves.

BIMI CONNECT offers just such an opportunity: a safe,
economical, well-rounded program to help pastors,
missions directors, college students, teens, and others
see the need and discover how to be part of the solution.

BIMI CONNECT Trips help connect people with the
Great Commission in places like Colombia, Peru, Japan,
Uganda, Guyana, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Costa Rica,
Scotland, and many more. Each CONNECT Team Leader
is an experienced field director who organizes every detail
and serves as guide. If you are 16 years old or older, you
may apply for a variety of unique opportunities to make a
difference and assist in evangelism and church planting.

The old adage goes “Out of sight, out of mind.” That is true
for missions. The needs of our world are greater than ever
before. We must make a greater effort to keep those needs
before our eyes so that we can give, pray, and go as we ought.

We need to explore missions.

That missions trip in 2001 changed my whole life. A missions
trip might change your life too . . . if you are brave enough to
go! Renew your love for the world, reach your full potential,
and realize new opportunities. Come explore missions with
us. Join a BIMI CONNECT Team today! W
For More Information visit
www.bimi.org/connect 21