Message Magazine Online - Vol. 53, No. 01, Spring 2005

In This Issue

• A Church on Every Block
  By Donna Messenger
• Preparing the Bride
  By Michael G. Loftis, President
• Tsunami Relief
• DNA and The Church: Biblical Church Multiplication
  By Norm Nicklas
• The Most Powerful Human Force in the World
  Dr. Michael G. Loftis, President
• Why Is Missions So White?
  By Bill Commons
• Invoking the Hand of God Together
  By Rev. Charles Ware
• The Missions Committee
  By Jim Ruff
• Equipping a Generation of Global Leaders
  By Jim Jeffery
• Global Access Partnerships: One Church’s Story - Part Two
  By Dave Livermore
• Missions Conferences With Impact
  An Interview with E.C. Haskell
• Women’s Missionary Groups: A Thing of the Past?
  By Dotty Ashley
• Into Life Eternal
• Children’s Corner

A Church on Every Block

By Donna Messenger, Editor

In October 2000, Ukrainian Pastor Nikolai Sidak and his wife Elena flew with me to the States for a two-week visit. I not only translated for them, but I had the privilege of introducing my Ukrainian friends and former ministry partners to my home country.

For Nikolai and Elena, this was their first time to travel outside their country. I enjoyed observing what things they photographed. They loved beautiful flower beds and carefully-manicured lawns, and raised the question, “You water your lawn so you can mow it again?”

One day as we drove around the streets of Grand Rapids, Nikolai observed, “There is a church on every block!” Grand Rapids boasts 614 churches of all denominations in a city of almost 200,000 people. In Odessa, Ukraine, a city of over a million people, finding fifty churches is difficult.

One of the strengths of the North American missions task force is sheer numbers. ABWE alone has over 4,000 supporting churches, that is, churches that support one or more of our missionaries. The typical church probably supports many missionaries from several different mission agencies. However, to any given church in North America, the task of world missions seems daunting at times. Churches question how they can begin to support all the missionaries who are waiting to go to the fields to which God has called them.

But the answer to this challenge is a resounding, “Together we can!” Remember that the missionaries you support have a sending church and several others who are standing behind them. You are not the only one who shares their vision, hears their needs, and carries their burdens. But without you, they could not go to the ends of the earth as God has called them. Yes, local churches are to be autonomous and independent, but in the task of global evangelism, it is crucial that we work together. So, join hands with your brothers and sisters in the next block and let’s aggressively send laborers into the fields of the world.