Sam, who worked with the WEC team in Guinea Bissau for six months, wrote this article about what it's worth getting excited about and what that might mean. I think it speaks for itself.
One thing that’s really been reinforced here is recognising that our service is for God.
Like, I really can’t understand how people could do things only for the sake of philanthropy or results here. If your drive comes from looking for a good feeling, or gratitude from the people, then I can’t imagine how you could continue. If the focus is just on the people you’re working with or on yourself and what you hope to achieve, then it’s not a matter of if you’ll burn out, but when.
The drive to continue with passion in mission work needs to come from God, and it needs to be for God, as to seek God’s glory regardless of the circumstances is what stands out as crucial in the heart of a missionary who seeks to serve God.
The missionaries here have a heart for what they’re doing, but it lies in serving Christ rather than because they’re thrilled about the way things are in their work.
So God’s been showing me how it’s crucial to have a heart for serving God and glorifying his name, so that we can live for God in missions wherever we’re at, including when we’re at home. Because to simply be excited about the idea of “mission work”, but not be grounded in serving God first, just isn’t enough to continue fueling a desire to reach out to people.