Most Christians assume the call to go abroad is a special calling reserved for a select few. Charles Spurgeon once said, "Millions have never heard of Jesus. We should not ask, Can I prove that I ought to go? But, Can I prove that I ought not to go?"
Receiving the call to gospel ministry is a great honor. No one would deny that fulfilling the Great Commission is the priority of this calling. However, we often neglect the implications of the Great Commission when deciding where to serve the Lord. Is the call to gospel ministry an automatic call to serve in your home country, or, as Spurgeon said, are we to "prove that I ought not to go?" Pointing the reader to Scripture, the example of the Apostle Paul, and to his testimony, Missionary Joshua Mead challenges the reader to consider making the fulfillment of the Great Commission the starting point for deciding where to serve God. Only when the next step in your calling is a step in the direction of reaching the uttermost, will we fulfill the Great Commission.