An Invitation to Go to Work

Out of Captivity

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII

[If you haven’t already read the “Out of Captivity” series that immediately precedes this post, I highly recommend that you do to understand the background of this invitation]

I will be on the Hopi Indian reservation in north-eastern Arizona during the weekend of September 23rd and 24th for the purpose of teaching the Gospel. I imagine I would arrive there as early as the 22nd and perhaps leave as late as the 25th. I will probably find a campground nearby to sleep each night I’m there. I would like to invite anyone who feels a similar desire to join me. If you are interested in joining me in preaching to the Hopi that weekend, please send an email to missiontothehopi@gmail.com and I will create a Google email group so we can discuss the effort and plan whatever needs to be planned. Of course you are free to not do that and show up that weekend anyway. I anticipate that there will be many questions about this mission so I hope to address at least some of them here.

I don’t intend to control anything that will happen that weekend. Thankfully, I am in charge of absolutely nobody and, while I may have brought up the idea to do this specific thing, nobody needs to listen to me. I’m sure the Spirit will guide each person in what they need to do. Of course, that doesn’t automatically mean the complete lack of organization on the part of those that participate.

I don’t know what the work will actually look like, I don’t know if it will require any subsequent visits, and I don’t know if it will require any money. I know very little about what is going to be accomplished there. I have ideas and hopes about some of those things and I know others will have ideas as well. For those who wish to join me as equals in this endeavor, we will be able to talk about our ideas, pray about them, and make decisions over the next several months.

I don’t believe this mission is any sort of exclusive opportunity. The Lord is very clear that anyone who has desires to serve is called to the work. I’m sure there will be other missionary efforts in other parts of the world. I hope this is just one of many efforts in the work of the Lord. There is absolutely no reason to judge or condemn anyone who doesn’t want to participate, including those who are opposed to this endeavor.

While I may have hopes about what this mission can accomplish, I make no assumptions about the outcome. Enos and Ammon both had righteous desires to preach to the Lamanites and I’m certain they both acted in faith. The former didn’t see any success while the latter saw lots of success. My desire is to do good and invite people to follow Jesus. People need Him. The way people respond to the work does not define my reason for doing this. While I would certainly rejoice if anyone accepts the message, I will be happy just to spread the good news.

I don’t know if the Hopi are descended from anyone in the Book of Mormon and I don’t know if this mission will fulfill any prophecy whatsoever. The Lord can worry about that. Honestly, those things don’t matter nearly as much as the fact that the people on the Hopi reservation are children of God who need redemption. The people are the focus. Prophecies will take care of themselves as we follow Christ and love and serve people.

There are probably many good points people could make that would show the folly of this missionary effort. Make no mistake: They would be right. I am weak and this is a weak effort. Just like the mission of Ammon and his brethren, this mission is a bad idea (Alma 14 [RE]). It is an idea so dumb and bad that hardly anyone would ever think it could possibly be useful. Yet I remain convinced that we need more ideas like it. It is my experience that the Spirit often inspires “bad” ideas that go against conventional wisdom. It was certainly a “dumb” idea when many of us started seeking for more knowledge of God outside of mainstream religion. So I hope everyone follows the dumb and bad ideas they receive through inspiration that lead them and others to believe in Christ.

St. John 2 [RE] says, “The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth, so is every one who is born of the Spirit.”