I DONT KNOW if it was the hot Texas sun or the ice cream, but suddenly my cousin John switched to the subject of fishing. Assuming we were headed toward a conversation about bass (and Ive caught a few of those myself), I was hooked, so to speak.

I wanna fish in every state, he confided with a grin. Wait, make that catch a fish in every state. Its on my list of Things To Do Before I Die.

And with that he whipped out a 3x5 index card tucked into his wallet for easy reference. Studying it intently, he appeared relieved to verify that he had specified catching a fish, a notch up the success ladder from simply baiting a hook and going fishing.

I peered over his shoulder. Sure enough, John carries a neatly lettered list entitled Things To Do Before I Die:

double our investment portfolio...look up relatives in England...lead 10 people to Christ...

Wow! I fairly shouted, drawing stares from others at our family reunion. I pointed to the entry which caught my eye. Thats it! Thats what it means to be on missionbeing deliberate and intentional about sharing your faith with the goal of leading people to Christ. Its much more likely to happen if you have a plan, dont you agree? I mean, lets face it, you probably wouldnt fishexcuse me, catch a fishin every state if you didnt make that a definite goal and start looking for the fishing holes.

I was pretty excited. John was bewildered. The term on mission wasnt part of his vernacular. So I told him about the magazine, its objective of equipping readers to lead people to Christ and how I joined the staff as editor.

Ill be honest, John was only moderately impressed. He had e-mailed before the reunion to make sure I was coming. You add color, he wrote. I knew what he meant. John has watched my 30-year career in journalism go from Associated Press reporter to book author to correspondent filing stories from the presidential campaign trail plus exotic news locations like Jerusalem, Moscow and Tokyo. And, as much as his own life reflects the values of my new job, at first he couldnt imagine my switch from such excitement to, well, what he thought might be a bit mundane.

Hey, its my biggest professional challenge, I assured him. The more I talked about the magazines goals, the more John understood and got caught up in the excitement. Its thrilling to hear how readers are using our articles. On Mission contains words worth writing.

And I meant it. Each story has been planned, penned and prayed over with the knowledge that it must pack a big wallop. It must inspire, encourage and instruct people on how to evangelize, a process which requires a conscious effort. The magazine must be relevant, specific and detailed.

Plus, it must be a forum of ideas, not just one-way communication from us to you. Take our list of ways to open a conversation about Jesus. Our ideas are only a start; we hope to hear yours (well publish as many as we can!).

And, speaking of our list, I cant resist adding an item: how about sending a copy of On Mission to friends and relatives? Talk about a conversation opener!

Ill certainly be sending this one to my cousin John. Ive already e-mailed my suggestion for amending his list: Hey, cuz, how bout catching a fishand leading someone to Christin every state?

Carolyn Curtis
ccurtis@namb.net