As of late, we have been putting a lot of emphasis on our global missions efforts — specifically the people groups we are considering for formal adoption by our congregation. These are exciting endeavors for our church family. But even as we consider these excellent works, we need to also keep an emphasis on gospel Continue reading
You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
(2 Corinthians 9:11, ESV)
The Ecuador missions trip will be June 18-26. Have you considered how God would have you be involved in this partnership this year? Will you send or will you go? Please be open to being involved in our Ecuador partnership this year and consider whether or not God would have you go on this trip or financially and prayerfully support those going.
10 REASONS YOU NEED TO GO ON A SHORT-TERM MISSION TRIP
1. It will awaken and embolden your heart to God’s global purpose. Evangelism and Missions are commissions given to each believer – they are not options. We are to share God’s burden for the salvation of persons from every tribe, tongue, and people group. Going on a short-term trip serves to widen our perspective and instill us with a passion in this regard.
2. It will contribute significantly to your spiritual growth. A short-term trip takes us out of our daily habits and comforts and stretches us in ways we cannot anticipate, thus deepening our dependence upon God and our experience of His grace. No true Christian will ever go to a foreign field and remain spiritually unchanged or unchallenged.
3. It will provide you with new venues and opportunities for obedience. Quite often, we allow the comforts of our Christian “bubble” to insulate us from new ministry opportunities. A short-term trip will take you out of your bubble and provide new ways for you to use your spiritual gifts to further global missions endeavors. It is a spiritual delight to discover these outlets and to experience new ways of investing in eternal things!
4. It will reawaken your zeal for personal evangelism. If you can travel to another part of the world to tell people about Christ, then you can also cross the street or the aisle to tell a neighbor, co-worker, or classmate. God has an amazing way of using short-term mission trips to lead us to repent of our apathy in this area and to renew our passion for personal evangelism.
5. You will love interacting with vocational missionaries. These men and women have sacrificed the relative ease of American culture and their relationships here to follow God’s calling upon their lives. As you spend time with them on the field, their love for lost persons and their dedication to sow the gospel in their chosen people groups will touch your heart and open your eyes to aspects of God’s work that you have never before considered.
6. You will either be called to vocation mission work or you will develop a fervor to send more missionaries. God commonly uses short-term mission trips to call persons into full-time mission service, to confirm callings He has already put in place, or to develop in us a passion for sending more workers to the field. I have even seen entire congregations driven to prayer and shaped into fertile seed-beds for future missionaries. We could want nothing better for our children or our church!
7. You will gain first-hand experience of new cultures. We are a very “Ameri-centric” people who largely choose to remain ignorant of the beauty of other cultures. Trust me when I say that we are missing out on so much. When you go to interact with people in other cultures, you will experience the joy of seeing how much we have in common with them, but you will also be struck by the beauty of their unique traditions, perspectives, foods, and family dynamics.
8. You will appreciate what God has given you here in America so much more. Visiting other nations deepens your appreciation for the religious and political freedoms we enjoy as Americans. Being away from home for a time will likewise make you appreciate your parents, spouse, and children even more. It also makes you realize how wealthy we are when compared to the rest of the world.
9. You will build deeper relationships with members of your own church family. As fellow members in one local body, we worship and learn and serve along side of one another in many ways, but often we still lack “deep” friendships in the church. Traveling together, rooming together, and serving together in a foreign land will build bonds of friendship that will last you the rest of your life.
10. Your example and testimony will touch your congregation and build a passion for global outreach. When we go, we pray that the passion of those going will be matched in the congregation by a passion for sending and supporting. When we share testimonies upon our return, we hope to foster in our spiritual family a common joy and unity in striving for the completion of God’s global purpose. God wants to use you as a catalyst for this kind of congregational growth. Regardless of your age, your occupation, or the current constraints of your life, you NEED to go and experience the glorious privileges and challenges of sharing Christ among the nations. I love you all!
Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3, ESV)
November 8 is the day of this year’s missions conference with Bob Sjogren. It is also the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This year, on the second Sunday in November, our church will participate in this day of prayer again. We will have 24 hours of continuous prayer for the persecuted church on November 8. If you wish to participate please contact Judd Hough at 284-5567 to sign up for an hour of prayer. Judd will provide you with a time slot that works for your schedule and a prayer guide to help direct your prayer during that hour. Please prayerfully consider the exhortation of the author of Hebrews to remember those who are in prison and mistreated since we also are in the body.
You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
(2 Corinthians 9:11, ESV)
Continue to use the prayer guide for our team. Please also pray for the families of the team members who are still stateside.
As our Southeast Asia missions team prepares to depart this Saturday, the subject of missions here at Morningview is preeminently upon my heart. We go to take the gospel to people who are lost and blinded by false religions. There are some challenges and minor dangers associated with any overseas trip, but such undertakings are worth any sacrifice God calls us to make. As you pastor, I go as an example to us all and as a representative of Christ my Lord. I likewise pray that with each passing day, our fervor and dedication to missions will grow. To that end, here is a great article from John Piper that will help stoke those fires.
“World Missions: The Purpose, the Promise, and the Price”
By John Piper October 21, 1997
The purpose of world missions is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God into people groups where there is no indigenous, evangelizing church. This assumes something about “disciples” and something about “nations.” These terms are used in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” My assumption about “disciples” is that they are people who have seen “the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6), and who cherish “God in Christ” as the supreme value of their lives (Philippians 3:8). My assumption about “nations” is that they are not geographic, political countries but “tribes, languages, peoples and ethnic groups” (Revelation 5:9; 7:9).
Based on these two assumptions, then, the purpose of world missions is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God into people groups where there is no indigenous, evangelizing church.
According to one research group (Joshua Project 2000), in June of this year there were 579 peoples in the world with populations over 10,000 which did not have any church planting missionary effort in them. In July, the Global Consultation on World Evangelization (GCWE ’97) met in Pretoria, South Africa with the result that all but 172 of these peoples were targeted by mission agencies. This is a remarkable progress toward finishing the real missionary task of the church.
But the real source of hope in world missions is not the statistics of man; it’s the promise of God. Namely, Matthew 24:14—“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.” The “shalls” of God are backed by omnipotence. This great work of spreading a passion for God into people groups where there is no indigenous, evangelizing church cannot fail. This is the great hope of the missions enterprise. The word of God will not fail.
But the price will be very high. Not so high that it is not worth it. But very high. Jesus expresses it in Matthew 24:9: “You will be hated by all the nations because of my name.” The purpose and the promise will not happen without the price of opposition and suffering. In fact, the price is not just the result but the strategy of the purpose. God has a certain number of martyrs appointed (Revelation 6:11). Jesus said that when you are arrested and taken before governors, “this will be a time for you to bear testimony” (Luke 21:13). The purpose, the promise and the price are all bound together.
Did you notice the phrase, “all the nations,” in the purpose, the promise and the price? The PURPOSE – “Make disciples of all the nations.” The PROMISE – “This gospel . . . shall be preached. . . to all the nations.” The PRICE – “You will be hated by all the nations.” I call all of you with Hebrews 13:13 (again!) to “go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.” What will this mean for you? It will have to do with “all the nations.”
Ecuador Theological Seminary In-Gathering
Sunday, September 13
10:30 am
Missionaries Steve and Carol Thompson (our missionary contacts in Patate) have been serving faithfully in Ecuador for over twenty years. They have detailed plans to open a much needed theological Seminary in Patate by January 2010. They have secured the initial leadership for this Seminary and are ready to complete the Continue reading
You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
(2 Corinthians 9:11, ESV)
Please be in prayer about what God would have you give to the Ecuador Theological Seminary In-Gathering on September 13. As you consider how God would have you involved financially in supporting this ministry, consider the words of Randy Alcorn:
“The opportunities for using our financial resources to spread the gospel and strengthen the church all over the world are stronger than they’ve ever been. As God raised up Esther for just such a time as hers, I’m convinced he’s raised us up, with all our wealth, to help fulfill the great commission. The question is, what are we doing with that money? Our job is to make sure it gets to his intended recipients.”
Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3, ESV)
A Uighur Christian has been imprisoned for a year and a half for “his Christian faith and witness among the Uighur people” in Northwest China. He was finally granted a trial last week. Chinese authorities did not permit his wife, two children, and mother to attend the trial. Authorities warned his wife that she should not have become involved in advocating and speaking out about her husband’s case. Please be in prayer for this believer and his family as they await the outcome of the trial in 2 weeks. Ask God to strengthen the Uighur church in the midst of this persecution.
TURKS OF TURKEY’S MEDITERRANEAN REGION. “In our city, water is diverted into canals that run through the city, and although it is forbidden, children swim in these canals and many drown each year. Last year, the mayor decided to build swimming pools all over the city so the children would not swim in the canals. Because of this, a new pool was built in an area that is near us, but it is in an area to which we have limited access. For over a year, we have walked the streets of our city in prayer once a month. Having access to many areas of the city has been a part of our prayers. These pools are one answer to those prayers. Already we have been able to meet men whom we otherwise would not have met. Please ask the Father to draw these men and their families to Himself: ‘Father we pray that You will reveal Yourself to these new friends, and that they will come to saving faith in Christ. Lord, may they in turn return to their neighborhoods with the Good News. Father, may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.’”
