by Luciano Cozzi Some of us travel quite a distance to worship together, and it is natural from time to time to ask ourselves why we keep doing this. Sure, we like the fellowship we have been sharing for so many years, and we certainly don't wish to discount its value and importance, but as we dig deeper in the complexities of our question, we realize that perhaps all this travel is really not needed to worship and serve the Lord. In fact, we often find ourselves asking if we couldn't serve Him better in our own community.  So, what moves us to keep traveling every week, and at times even more than once a week? The best answer to this question may very well be something that surfaced in the course of a recent conversation with a brother in Christ who was sharing his views about our local mission field. We have often talked about evangelizing and making disciples as part of the very mandate and purpose of our Church. Yet, some among us still found it difficult to relate to this "local" evangelistic calling in a community so far from their own. One way we can look at what God is doing with us, and why He brought us together from a variety of communities, is to compare this ministry with the missionary field. In a sense, as we travel to a community other than our own, we are missionaries for Christ. As such, we get involved and provide the needed support for those whom God is calling in the community, and together we serve and preach the gospel, build Jesus' church, and help establish a solid presence there. So, in a sense, we can look at ourselves as missionaries, at least for a time, in that specific community where we travel weekly.  Missionaries are Christians who come into a community that is not their own, establish themselves in that community, and get involved for the common good according to the gifts God has endowed them with. As the missionaries spread the seed of the gospel among the unchurched of the community, with God's blessing fruits begin to be produced, and a church is planted. As the members then begin to mature, local leaders with the proper  passion and gift mix are identified and trained to shepherd that flock. Once the local leadership is trained and empowered to minister to the planted church, those who are still missionaries (the commuters) can focus on another of their communities, where the process then repeats itself with the support of the sister churches previously planted. In time, all the communities from which we have been called can be reached, and with God's blessing can have a local fellowship planted and growing, continuing to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ among those who are unchurched while tending to Jesus' flock.