Pastor to Pastor: Keep Missions Alive

By Wally Stephenson

The annual missionary conference was over. It was a fine conference, with challenging messages and commitments for greater prayer and service. The missions committee breathed a collective sigh of relief and considered their work finished. All except Pete – the new man on the committee. He said, "How can we keep missions alive all year long? Can’t we do more than the mission conference and a few special missions weekends?"

With prayer and planning a solution developed. "Mission Moments" became a high point every Sunday morning. Each week a missionary from Bosnia or Brazil or Bangladesh gave an update in person, by email or letter, PowerPoint or telephone patch. Along with these cross-cultural challenges, other members gave their reports of evangelistic opportunities. People such as Florence at General Hospital, Rob at State Bank, Caitlyn at City High, Frank at Forest Hills Estates, Sam Jones among the Jones clan, and Little League Baseball coach Bobby gave testimony of their witness and ministry to local people.

The church exists to worship God and to disciple and equip believers to evangelize our world for Christ. We have often departmentalized missions to mean a group of specially trained people working in foreign countries among various ethnic groups. The people of America, however, need the Lord just as much as those in Albania. The church needs to hear about, encourage, and pray for every evangelistic effort. Whether in my town or in Mongolia, hearing stories of fellow believers sharing the Good News fires up God’s people to pray and share the message of salvation locally and globally.

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