Everyone can be involved in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth...
International Missions and You
by Deborah St. Lawrence
Everyone can be involved in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. In fact, everyone should be. Sadly, most people think the only way they can play a role in missions is through financial support. And don’t get me wrong. Giving is very important. But there are other ways you can be involved.
Pray
While this suggestion probably comes as no surprise, it’s easy to get in a rut. Explore new and creative ways to keep the needs of missionaries in the forefront of your mind, in family devotions, and in front of your church.
Use missionary prayer cards. Rotate through the cards by praying for a different missionary each day or each week. Choose a country and focus on its needs and missionaries for a full month. Hang a small corkboard in a high-traffic area of your home, and post all of the missionaries for a particular country each week.
Sign up for Hotline. Published each Wednesday, Hotline focuses on current and urgent needs. Sign up to receive a weekly email or visit the International Missions website (www.fwbgo.com/pray). While browsing the site, take a moment to review specific missionary pages. Make note of the prayer requests they have listed and incorporate them into your prayer time.
Request missionary news and newsletters. Written by missionaries, newsletters will give you a field perspective of missions work and keep you informed about upcoming events and answers to prayers.
Encourage
Sharing the gospel is hard work. Add another language and cultural barriers to the equation, and it becomes incredibly difficult. Missionaries often pour their lives into a person or a group with few obvious results. The current global economic crisis has placed a financial strain on nearly everyone involved in missions. Knowing that someone in the States is thinking about them, praying for them, and caring for their needs is extremely encouraging.
Take note of missionary birthdays and anniversaries. Send a card, jot a note and email it, or send a message on Facebook. Take special note of MKs birthdays. Send small gifts like Koolaid packets or their favorite gum or candy that may be hard to find in their host country. The small tokens of kindness will be greatly appreciated.
Send a care package. Take time to discover favorite foods that may be unavailable on a regular basis. Include current books or movies. Send age-appropriate toys or family games. Use your imagination. What would you want to receive if you were half a world away from home?
Respond to missionaries concerning the news they post or the information they publish in their newsletters. It’s good to know someone is paying attention. Let them know if a particular item strikes a chord with you, challenges you, or moves you to prayer.
Don’t always expect a response. Understand that missionaries are often overwhelmed with ministry, administrative, and family responsibilities.
Learn
The more you know, the more strategic your prayers can be, and the stronger your encouragement will be.
Visit www.fwbgo.com often. Read news updates. Subscribe to missionary newsletters and read them. Take a couple of minutes to watch an IMpulse video. All segments of the video magazine are on the website and can be watched online or downloaded to view or to share.
Learn about the countries where Free Will Baptists missionaries are working.
Read missionary biographies or other books. Releasing this month, Into the Darkness provides a bird’s-eye view of Free Will Baptists worldwide efforts for the last 75 years. Reading firsthand accounts from missionaries across the decades will help you understand and appreciate the challenges that missionaries continue to face today.
Attend missions events at the National Association. This year’s convention schedule is filled with opportunities to learn more about International Missions. Tour a walk-through museum that highlights FWB mission history. Encourage children and pre-teens to participate in GPS (Global Purpose Seekers) events during the National Youth Conference.
Go
You may not be called to career missionary service, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of ministry on the field.
Join the Go10 Walk for the World. The walk is well underway. Students and adults have walked through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, eastern Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York over the past eight weeks and are now in western Virginia. Visit go10walk.com to see when the walk is coming near you. Sign up to walk or sponsor a walker. See how you can help. Funds raised for the Go10 Walk will be matched, up to $500,000.
High school students can participate in E-TEAM, a three-week program designed especially for them. Intensive training and full immersion into another culture will give high school students a revealing glimpse into the life and ministry of a career missionary.
The Mission offers a variety of opportunities for College students calculated to give them maximum exposure to cross-culture ministry in a condensed time period. Students may participate in team projects or serve solo with a missionary family. Assignments vary from 10 days to two months. Rigorous training precedes their assignment.
A variety of short-term opportunities are available for adults who wish to use their professional skills and abilities in a cross-cultural environment. Humanitarian, medical, and construction trips are ongoing. Volunteers open to longer terms of service may teach English or serve overseas as a missionary intern. Typically, interns minister for one to three years.
This is Your Chance!
Don’t just read this article and lay it aside. Stop and think about what you can do today to participate in taking the gospel to those who have never heard it. What will you do this week? This month? This year? Everyone can be involved. Everyone has a role to play. Together, we can reach farther. Together, we can impact the world. Let’s start today.
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