“That’s not accurate!” The young grade-schooler stated emphatically, with a look of consternation and passion. “ANYONE can be a missionary, and EVERYONE should be a missionary because Jesus said we need to reach the unreached!”

I stood back, watching the dialogue between this bold, determined little girl and the AFM staff member playing a True or False game with her and her classmates. The game, part of AFM Kids’ Day (an annual event for school-age children to learn about missions), had been created to encourage the children to decide between two staff members making similar statements about missions. Who is telling the truth? Clearly, this little girl knew her facts and was not about to allow anyone to say a mistruth about the Great Commission.

After observing several similar interactions with this girl, I leaned over to another staff member, saying, “That little girl is going to be a missionary someday!”
Little did I know how I had misspoken!

The class continued to play games and interact with the AFM staff. This portion of the day’s activities focused on helping students recognize how much missionaries are needed and how AFM seeks to find and send out more missionaries to the unreached. Throughout the day, I kept seeing that same little girl and watched how determined and passionate she was. Rarely have I seen such focused passion for missions in one so young.

At the end of their rotation through our station, she confidently approached me, looked me straight in the eye and said, “God has called me to be a missionary. Right now, I am raising money for Zimbabwe. I don’t know what it is for; I just know I am supposed to raise money.”

She told me she had already raised $2,000 and that “You are welcome to contribute if you are able.” She also explained that while she did not know where she was supposed to go yet, she knew she would be going overseas as a missionary someday.

What I said about her being a missionary “someday” came back to my mind, and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “This little girl is already a missionary for Jesus, doing all she can to share Him with others using what she has right now.”

God, grant us all such focused passion and determination to fulfill Jesus’ call to “Go into all the world” with the resources He has already given us.

This grade-school missionary said it best, “ANYONE can be a missionary, and EVERYONE should be a missionary because Jesus said we need to reach the unreached!” If you would like to know how you can partner with missionaries to the unreached, scan the QR code or visit our website at www.afmonline.org/unreached.

• Twitter