Amos was an unlikely prophet or missionary. He was not a member of the prophets' union (there was one!) but a shepherd and dresser of trees. The professional prophets mocked him by calling him a visionary and a dreamer. Amos was not popular. He was a foreigner and telling people things that they did not want to hear, things that were upsetting.

But Amos responded to God's call and left his own people to speak to his kinsfolk in the North. He went where he was sent and would not leave without delivering the message God had given to him.

True prophets and missionaries challenge the current situation and energize people to make changes in themselves and the situation. True prophets and missionaries bring hope that the future can and will be different if we are willing to be changed, if we take note of how our God remains very close to us. True prophets and missionaries call us the people we were created to be: daughters and sons of God, holy and blameless before God and full of love. True missionaries are converted, made purer and receive the grace to live with a clear conscience by the authentic practise of their religion.