Age – The effectiveness of a missionary or project does not
depend on age. There is always a
push to support younger projects and it is indeed important to invest in the
future of missions. However, there
is something to be said for people and organizations that have been serving for
ten years or more. New
missionaries must learn culture and language while those on the field long term
are in place to do significant ministries. Those who invest in the stock market look for a proven track
record of the companies. That
would be true of missionaries and mission organizations on the field as well.
Venture capitalism is important, but I wouldn’t put all of the resources into
those with just a good idea.
Diversify - Try
to keep your projects in balance.
Avoid investing all your capital into one region of the world or one
people group. The congregation will
weary if they only hear about the needs in China when there interest may be in
Ukraine or some other part of the world.
Even if your mission budget is only $10,000 a year, divide that money
among two or three projects, not just one.
Keep People Informed – There are several good ways to keep
the congregation informed. One is
to focus on a missionary or missions project each month. If you have a bulletin for Sunday services,
highlight one project or person each month in that bulletin. Some churches have “mission moments”
each month, where they take five minutes of the morning service to report on
missions. Sometimes it is a video
clip from the missionary on the field.
One of our supporting churches writes me occasionally to set up a Skpe
presentation. The person in charge
video’s my greetings to the congregation, activities I am involved in and
prayer requests. They then show
that presentation in their morning service. Posting prayer letters on a board is okay, but it’s not the
best approach these days. People
want “real time” updates. Always
remind the congregation how the church’s mission program is funded and how
vital there participation to the Great Commission.
Conferences -
Whether you call it a global impact week or discover missions or a missions
conference, each year their should be at least one Sunday that is dedicated to
the Great Commission effort.
Though the days of having nightly services Wednesday through Sunday is
not as effective with 21st century Christians, a week of highlighting
the congregations missions effort is still the best way to keep global outreach
a priority before the people. One
church I know has bookend Sunday’s.
The fist Sunday sets the tone for the missions emphasis week, with
different missionaries speaking in Bible classes and a special speaker for the
morning service. International
suppers on Saturday sometimes work as well as a breakfast for men or women to
hear a missionary speaker. Though
the attendance may not be high for all venues, the goal is to give opportunity
for busy people in the church to pick the forum that fits their need for
engaging in missions. The first
Sunday is informational, the second Sunday should be for challenge people to do
their part in reaching the world with the Gospel.
Evaluate Annually -
Each year the mission’s team should meet to evaluate the missionaries
and projects they support.
Analysis should include their ministry activities the past year, their
prayer needs and their support level.
Prayer – Finally, in all things pray that the Lord of the
harvest guide and direct the team and the church in how to be engaged in world
missions. If the church members
are praying then it is probably a safe bet they are also giving and going.
One lady came up to me after a conference and said she just
couldn’t wrap her head around missions, that it was vast and complicated, “like
the national debt.” All too often
when people think about “taking the Gospel to the whole world,” they are
overwhelmed. They don’t believe
God is calling them to be a career missionary and they are dissatisfied with
just giving money. It’s the role
of the local church to help each member to recognize they do have a role. Giving is indeed a part and certainly
going. But being engaged with
missionaries and projects may be as simple as getting on Facebook with a
missionary family. Through
constant contact people can be informed and pray for those who serve in
different parts of the world.
CONCLUSION
I trust these simple guidelines on how to energize the local
church for the Great Commission has been helpful. Certainly there are many other issues that need to be
discussed. If you have a specific
question, please write to me (drrglewis@gmail.com) and I will give you my best
opinion, and recognize, it is just my opinion. God bless, as together we seek to take the blessed hope of
Christ to every nation, people and tongue in the world.
