11 Ways to Involve yourself in Missions
By G.P.
Edited Sept. 2003 by Nate Wilson
1. First of all, PRAY throughout the process! Ask God to give missions vision and passion to those around you. Work on a plan and strategy for reaching your community for Jesus in culturally relevant ways - as if you were missionaries sent there. Prayerwalk your area. Two excellent resources are Prayerwalking and Taking Our Cities For God.
2. Talk with your church leadership about your vision for missions. There are a number of consulting groups that can help your church develop its mission vision. DualReach is one such.
3. Encourage a core group to take the course "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement." Offered in many cities throughout the USA and the world each semester, this outstanding class, which meets one night a week for 15 weeks, is fun, interesting, and has a life-changing impact. Go to www.Perspectives.org to learn about a class in your area.
4. Plan a short-term mission trip for your group. Discuss this with your church leadership. For more ideas check out www.ShortTermMission.com.
5. Initiate friendships with internationals living in your area. A great way to learn, serve, and build world vision. ISI (International Students, Inc.) can provide great ideas and resources regarding how to befriend internationals. www.ISIonline.org
6. Begin world-focused prayer times. Incorporate prayer for unreached people groups into ongoing meetings. Use Operation World, or Global Prayer Digest, or Caleb Resources Unreached Peoples Prayer Guides.
7. Provide fun, interesting missions education for children. Your denomination or your favorite mission agency probably have one you can use. Wycliffe Bible Translators has several.
8. Encourage all the youth you know (ages 13-25) to attend an "Acquire the Fire" weekend! It's a week-end of worship, skits, Bible teaching, videos, thousands of youth, and a call to radical commitment to follow Christ in one's teenage years, as well as a great challenge to go on a summer missions trip with Teen Mania. Call them for info at (800) 329-FIRE.
9. Incorporate one of these missions video curricula into your church or campus activities: Destination 2000, or Vision for the Nations, or Shaping Eternity - from Caleb Resources.
10. Subscribe to mission periodicals: Try Mission Frontiers , Missions Catalyst, or Evangelical Missions Quarterly.
11. Move your fellowship toward adopting an unreached people group. Contact Adopt-a-People Clearinghouse for information, or click to the AD2000 Adoption Guidance Program for information on adopting a people group. Order Caleb Resources’ video on adoption, "Ordinary People/Extraordinary Love."
May God guide you in these and all the steps you take to mobilize your church, campus and friends to help take the good news of Jesus Christ to "all nations."
