Missionary: Impossible

Jason Whittaker shares photographs from mission trips around the world. He has ridden unusual animals, traveled through jungles, distributed Bibles, discussed Christian radio with important leaders, and taken part in unfamiliar ceremonies. He describes the work as humbling obedience to Jesus' command to carry the gospel into all the world, but Alex hears mostly the danger and excitement.

Alex immediately abandons his plan to become a computer consultant and decides that missionary work is the perfect career. Sarah remembers an advertisement from Around the World Missions inviting people of every age to serve the following summer. She gives Alex the telephone number, and he signs up for two weeks at the Nairobi Children's Home.

Because Alex has recently studied Nairobi in geography, he assumes the home is in Kenya. He begins learning Swahili, researching African customs, and imagining elephants, deserts, jungles, and a lifetime of adventure. He also asks Nathaniel to help raise the nearly twenty-five hundred dollars he believes he will need for travel and expenses.

Nathaniel treats fundraising like an advertising campaign. He wants photographs that make Alex look like an experienced world traveler, even though Alex has never left. Sarah refuses to dress as a Maasai warrior because Nathaniel is unwilling to wear the costume himself. Still, the boys begin building an image around the heroic missionary they expect Alex to become.

Whit prepares international foods in honor of Jason's return, while Alex practices phrases he does not fully understand. Jason encourages the new commitment but helps correct Alex's pronunciation and assumptions. Alex is already so focused on raising airfare that he has difficulty concentrating on the culture he claims to be preparing to serve.

Nathaniel and Alex go door to door asking for donations. Nathaniel describes drought, famine, war, and starving orphans whether or not any of those claims apply to the children's home. Alex objects that the sales pitch is deceptive, but straightforward requests bring in only a few dollars. After more than an hour, he has collected about fifteen dollars, including birthday money from his grandmother.

At Whit's house, Jason explains that he simply helps people understand his work and the value of taking part in it. Photographs allow supporters to picture what they are helping accomplish, but he does not recommend pretending. He encourages Alex to speak with Vince Ludwig, his sponsor at Around the World Missions, and promises to match the first two hundred dollars Alex honestly raises.

Nathaniel turns Jason's advice into an excuse for even more false images. He photographs Alex beside homemade pyramids, posters, costumes, and signs that transform ordinary Odyssey locations into famous places. A tiny disclaimer admits that the pictures are not as real as they look, while the boys deliberately make it hard to notice. They even trespass near an elephant display so Alex can film himself as if he were preaching in the African jungle.

Jason finally contacts Vince Ludwig and learns the truth. The Nairobi Children's Home is not in Kenya at all. It stands in Oswald Heights near Connellsville and is named for its founder, Walter C. Nairobi. The advertisement and Alex's telephone conversation had both identified it as a local trip, but Alex had relied on Sarah's brief description and his own imagination instead of checking.

Alex loses interest when he discovers that there will be no plane ride, safari, or exotic adventure. He dismisses the opportunity as babysitting messy children rather than important missionary work. Jason reminds him that serving in a Kenyan children's home would also involve ordinary, dirty work. Jesus' command to go into all the world includes nearby neighborhoods as surely as distant countries.

If Alex truly wants God to use him, Jason explains, he must be willing to go where God sends instead of choosing the place that makes him look impressive. Alex accepts the local assignment. Later, his own photographs show him reading Bible stories with children, cleaning bathrooms, and turning an ordinary wall into their playful Great Wall of China. The work is not the grand adventure he imagined, but it teaches him that a missionary can share Christ's love anywhere.