Enumclaw is not the kind of place you think of when you think about being relevant to global missions. This small town in the foothills of Mt. Rainier in Washington State is small for a reason: People want it that way.
One bumper sticker seen around town says,
“Help save Enumclaw: When you leave take someone with you.”
Not the kind of thinking you hope for when you want to make a difference in global missions. But we made a difference anyway.
Our church made an intentional decision to be relevant to global missions. In the 23 years I served as senior pastor, this church generously sacrificed to make a difference. Their support was critical in everything from planting churches in the Philippines to the launching and developing of The Foursquare Church in Russia and beyond. This small church in a small town made some big decisions that had big results.
Imagine it: God has issued an invitation to us all, “Put our hand to the plow.” We are part of the greatest conspiracy of all time: God uprighting a world that has fallen over.
You may live in the great cities of London, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam; or you may live in the small towns and villages of Chinnor, UK, Staromyshastovskaya, Russia, and Enumclaw, Washington; it doesn’t matter because when it comes to global missions, we are all called to reach the nations with the Good News of Jesus Christ. (And yes, I have vibrant ministry partners in all these places.)
Dear Christ-follower, you will be amazed at what happens when your throw your obedience into the cause of Global Missions. You will be amazed at what happens “on the field” and “in your house.”
Here are 5 ways your church can be relevant to global missions regardless of your congregation’s size or location:
1. Set aside “7 Minutes to Change the World.” Designate one Sunday a month to focus on global missions. During this time you can focus on “global hotspots” or missions updates, pray for missionaries, and receive an offering for Global Missions. It will take about seven minutes, but these seven minutes can change the world.
2. Connect with missionaries. Foursquare Missions International has some amazing missionaries serving around the world. We would love to connect with you and your church to help you in your quest to fulfill the Great Commission.
3. Set aside a portion of your church’s annual budget to support individual missionaries and projects. I am writing within the Foursquare Church context, so apply this accordingly: As part of The Foursquare Church, we have a shared mission we support through the Global Missions Fund. As individual congregations we have specific assignments as well. I am suggesting you give the monthly missions offering to the Global Missions Fund as an expression of our shared mission, and that you give of your annual budget to specific missionaries and projects as an expression of your church’s specific calling. This is just my suggestion; if you have a better idea, do that instead.
4. Mobilize every department and ministry in your church to connect with global missions. I cannot tell you when I first realized I was called to be a missionary, but I can tell you when the seeds were planted: I was perhaps five or six years old. Every week our Sunday School would receive an offering for missions. I would ask my mother for a quarter to have something to give. That is my earliest memory of being involved in global missions. Who would have ever thought a six-year-old boy giving a quarter in a Sunday School offering would lead to this? Weave the Great Commission into every aspect and expression of your church and watch what God does.
5. Go (or Send) workers. The greatest need we have on the field is for laborers to reach major cities and unreached people groups. Perhaps as a pastor or leader you are sensing a transition in your life. Consider being a missionary. If being a missionary is not your calling, then help send missionaries. We need to raise up and send out the highest caliber of leaders to the mission field. We can only do this when we work together.
Now, let’s get to work because the harvest is ripe.
Let’s connect on FaceBook and Twitter.
Don’t forget to add your email address in the box on the upper righthand column. Updates will be sent directly to your inbox.