Getting started as a member of a mission committee or global outreach team.
If you are a first-time member of the group in your congregation that is responsible for global mission, you are trying to start such a group, or you are simply looking for ways to revitalize the global outreach of your church, this article is for you.
The importance of local churches and local church leaders who are committed to expanding the mission of their church globally can hardly be overstated. In Romans 10:14-15 the great missionary Paul points to that importance by asking a series of rhetorical questions ending with, “How can they preach, unless they are sent?”
Of course, today’s context allows for more and deeper involvement by mission committees and churches than was imaginable, even one generation ago. It is an exciting time to serve the LORD in the mission of His Church. Here are some ways to get started.
Learn
For a church or a church committee, vision is vital. If your team is new or needs renewal, it may be especially important for you to learn together something about the Biblical basis for mission as well as some of the things that are going on in missions today so that you can be encouraged and pass along that encouragement to the rest of the congregation. That learning will certainly involve getting acquainted with the particular ministries that your congregation already supports. However, you may also want to get a broader “education” about missions by accessing missions education resources like those found in the document “How to learn more about global mission.”
Although the pioneers of the modern missions movement, like William Carey, already used many and diverse approaches to mission, the dimensions of global mission have grown significantly in recent years. An article by that name can give you lots of ideas on aspects of mission that your church is or may want to be involved in. A couple of decades ago, there was a lot of debate in mission circles about the relationship of Word and Deed ministries. The upshot is that both are vital under the larger banner of advancing God’s Kingdom, and they must be integrated in growing Christ’s Church.
Get involved
Learning must lead to action. There are many ways in which you or members of your congregation may want to get involved. Many ideas can be found in the document How to get involved in global mission. Among them are ways to promote mission awareness in your congregation, support ministry and missionaries as well as direct service overseas.
Many churches are sending short term teams to learn, serve and develop relationships with overseas partners. Some are going beyond that to develop partnerships for ministry. And, of course, individuals feel called to mission service and their churches have questions about how to support them in their call. All of this may be administered by an effective mission committee or global outreach team. We hope that you will find the resources on this site helpful to your journey.
