What's in a Name?

You may be wondering why we chose the name Mission 567 for our organization. Let me explain.

For several years I helped with an organization in the Philippines named 818 Missions (instagram.com/818missions/). This organization does an excellent work fighting generational poverty and providing opportunities to street kids in Cebu in the name of Jesus. I learned a lot from them. The name of their organization was inspired by a New Testament verse, Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” It’s a wonderfully inspirational name and beautiful beacon of hope.

So, I decided to shamelessly copy the concept, and to look for a Bible verse that would be a fitting name for the work we have been called to do.

If you have known me for a while, you might know that I have a long complicated and relationship with the practice of prayer. It’s hard for me to pray. That may be why I often ask other people to pray for me. I assume they do it better than I do, and that their requests have a better chance to be heard. I often find it difficult to believe that God wants to hear from me.

In November of 2023, I attended a retreat in Germany about prayer taught by Shaun Dagget. At that retreat, in a kind and wonderful way that is too intimate to describe here, God pointed my heart to I Peter 5:6-7. I was stunned by these verses: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” The verse immediately before these speaks of God’s opposition to the proud and favor to the humble. Then, in a connection I had missed in the past, Peter explains that to pray requires humility.

I have often been tripped up by the audacity of the concept of prayer. Who am I to make requests of the creator of the universe? Instead I prefer to linger “humbly” in the shadows and stand in awe at God’s marvelous works. But Peter here teaches the opposite. He makes the bold claim that to pray requires humility. Then he makes, if possible, an even bolder claim… that God cares for us.

I’ll leave that there for you to grapple with on your own. But this is the story of how we found our name. If there’s one thing I want the families we serve to know, it’s that God cares for them. If there’s one hope I want the families we serve to hold onto, it the promise that God will lift them up in due time. And if there’s one path they must follow to receive this blessing, it’s the path of humility.  To come, to trust, to consider a different way of life, to dream big dreams, to take small steps toward a bigger goal, these tasks require humility.

So that’s the story of how Mission 567 got its name. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God cares for the Roma community. I am also convinced that He cares for you. I’m slowly coming to accept the idea that he even cares for me.