A guest post by Hannah Hood Lucero
When I was a teen, I attended a Christian summer camp called MFuge or Mission Fuge sponsored by Lifeway. I can’t remember a lot of the details aside from staying in a college dorm, walking around in a sleepless haze (in the best way), and feeling a fire ignite in my spirit during corporate worship. When they split us all up to serve on various missions in the community, I landed on the prayer walk team. I remember being so disappointed. Others were doing stuff, and I was just going to wander around the city . . . praying?
Fourteen-year-old Hannah didn’t yet understand the significance of spiritual warfare or the real power of prayer. But that walk—praying with purpose alongside leaders and peers—took me by surprise. I felt things around us that I couldn’t explain and experienced a shift in my spirit that changed how I viewed my faith and how I talked to God. I learned that prayer wasn’t the least exciting task in missions and our everyday walk as Christians, but the most important of all. Four years later, I enlisted in the United States Army. At basic training, we had to memorize The Soldier’s Creed. My mission during the initial entry phase of my career included being able to recite (LOUDLY) the entire creed, at the drop of any drill sergeant’s green hat. Hesitation or failure to comply was not an option. I won’t subject you to the entire creed, but I’ll share the set of principles emphasized as The Warrior’s Ethos. This is the portion we had to scream the loudest:
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
There is a parallel to be made between Christianity and military service. Soldiers learn the Army values initially due to a fear of consequences. Failure means pushups or holding a rifle out in front of you while squatting against a wall until your muscles give up on you as thoroughly as you gave up on your duty. The bigger picture is one of facing your own mortality. Having those values etched into your very DNA is life or death. Failing the mission could result in the loss of liberty for an entire nation. And if one soldier gives up in a firefight, he or she is not only risking their own life, but the lives of the soldiers to their left and right.
Christianity is much the same. Our mission is to memorize God’s word—without it, we are disarmed and vulnerable to attack. We are to pray scripture over ourselves, our families, our fellow believers, and our communities and world. We are to share the gospel. Failure of our mission results in catastrophic losses far greater than any physical war has ever produced. Every battle is a fight for people’s eternal salvation. Every time we pray and witness, it is vitally important, even if we can’t see any of it bear immediate fruit.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness.” Ephesians 6:12, CSB
That prayer walk from MFuge was one of the most spiritually defining experiences of my life. It was when I realized that every Christian is a missionary—a soldier for Christ—even if they aren’t called upon to travel to a foreign country and spread the gospel as a full-time job. As Christians, we are all called to the Great Commission. It’s a lifelong commitment and the mission is 24/7. It looks different in every season. Some of us go to work every day and sit next to a lost person who is watching us—God’s image bearers. Others are at home, raising children and teaching them how to love like Jesus and make choices that put them on the path of righteousness. Some write stories of bravery in the hope that their words will be edifying and bring glory to God.
I encourage you to be brave every day. Even if the season you’re in doesn’t feel significant or the message you share is not well received, be bold in your faith. Read God’s word and pray. Always place the mission first. Never accept defeat. Never surrender. Never stop reaching out to bring lost people closer to the Truth.
Hannah Hood Lucero is a wife, mom of three, Army veteran, and self-proclaimed word-slinger. While it is the brackish waters of the Mississippi Sound that flow through her veins, western North Carolina holds her heart. Her love for storytelling is the fruit of a lifetime of cultivation in the vibrant cultures of the Gulf Coast and the Blue Ridge Mountains. She currently resides in South Mississippi with her husband and three children on their ten-acre homestead. They have a dog, thirteen chickens, and at least fifty species of mosquitos, depending on the month of the year. When she isn’t in the garden, at the stove, or homeschooling, she can be found at her computer—just follow the sound of frenetic typing. Her motto is, “Draft, edit, read, repeat.”
