If you say go...
This blog was first published on Heart for Jamaica by Michelle Chase and is being shared with her permission.
Back in September, John and I went to a New Wineskins conference, which is a global mission conference held every three years. People from all over the world gather and listen to stories and teachings from people on the ground in some of the most difficult countries for Christians to be in. They tell stories of God's faithfulness and goodness despite their hardships. It is so evident in these missionaries that the spread of the gospel and the salvation of souls are their priority, that truly, they understand what Paul meant when he said, "I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:8) These men and women have counted the cost and have decided that Jesus is worth it all. I was stirred in a new way.
I consider John and myself missionaries. We are urban missionaries, on the ground in Baltimore. We gave up our comfortable suburban life in Virginia, packed up our two youngest children, launched three children into independence, and moved to a city known for its high murder rate, violent crime, and heroin addiction. We serve the people of our city and spread Christ's love through prayer on the street at the methadone clinic, giving away groceries, volunteering and working in the public schools (Michelle), providing family nights and the Good News Club at the elementary school, serving as a chaplain for the police department (John), and building relationships with people in the community and with other missionaries in the city.
In addition to the city we take a team annually to an impoverished village in Jamaica to love and serve the people there. Our goal in both places is for lives to be transformed by the saving grace of Jesus Christ in order to transform whole communities. We love it! We love the life that God has called us to, though not always easy. I've had an armed home intruder hold me at gunpoint, our car stolen, shots fired while on route walking kids home from school, knives being pulled at VBS, the constant sound of sirens and helicopters, and now know all too well the sound of gunfire. But we know that he is worth it all—every nation and every soul. So yes, I am a missionary, but at this conference the Lord stirred something even deeper in me. He stirred in me a desire for more.
God has given me a heart for the nations, a heart that longs to see women and children (in particular) to know the love of Jesus, to know that they are worthy of his love and that he paid it all for them. My desire is to go anywhere and everywhere that the Lord sends me. I love that he has called me to Baltimore and Jamaica and that he uses these places to train me for more and to teach me how to love the one in front of me.
I have an opportunity to go to Mozambique in August to serve at an orphanage started by one of my heroes in the faith, Heidi Baker! This has been a dream that God placed in my heart over 9 years ago when I first read her book, Compelled by Love. I thought I was headed to Nigeria, but that trip was cancelled and this one arose. I love the way when we surrender completely to God’s will, how he orchestrates things accordingly, how all things work out in his timing and not our own. His ways are always higher and always perfect.
Michelle Chase and her husband, John are urban missionaries living in Baltimore City. Michelle serves as the Children's Ministry director at Church of the Apostles in the City (which now operates completely in the community serving the community). She also works part time in an inner city middle school. Seventeen years ago Michelle and John blended a family with seven children and added one more two years later, totaling eight children! The delight of her heart is loving her own children as well as loving and serving the children in her community and the children in Jamaica where the Chases lead a mission each summer. Michelle also loves ministering to women and longs for them to find their freedom through their identity in Christ. Her heart is for everyone, especially women and children, to truly know that Jesus sees them, knows them, and loves them and in return love Jesus and follow after him passionately.