Been meaning to post this here for a while. I have been ruminating on the whole idea of mission for the last year or so and I believe the following quote really drives home the point so well. I found this quote in a book written by a man named William (Bill) MacDonald called True Discipleship. The quote comes from a letter written by a university student after he had gone to Mexico and become a Communist. He wrote to his fiancée, breaking off their engagement. Here is part of what he said:

"We Communists have a high casualty rate. We're the ones who get shot and hung and lynched and tarred and feathered and jailed and slandered, and ridiculed and fired from our jobs, and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible. A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned. We live in virtual poverty. We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessaryto keep us alive. We Communists don't have the time or the money for many movies, or concerts, or T-bone steaks, or decent homes and new cars. We've been described as fanatics. We are fanatics. Our lives are dominated by one great overshadowing factor, THE STRUGGLE FOR WORLD COMMUNISM. We Communists have a philosophy of life which no amount of money could buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty personal selves into a great movement of humanity, and if our personal lives seem hard, or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us inhis small way is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind. There is one thing in which I am dead earnest and that is the Communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife and mistress, my bread and meat. I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens as time goes on. Therefore I cannot carry on a friend-ship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating to this force which both drives and guides my life. I evaluate people,books, ideas and actions according to how they effect the Communist causeand by their attitude toward it. I've already been in jail because of my ideasand if necessary, I'm ready to go before a firing squad."

Don't get distracted by the object of the man's passion, but just take note of the passion itself. This man is marriage material. Admittedly, I have a long way to go to get to where this young man was at when he penned the aformentioned letter, but I believe that every believer should make it thier goal to cultivate this sort of passion for advancing God's kingdom.