Missions Catalyst 04.09.08 – Practical Mobilization

In This Issue: Finding a Fit, Baby Steps to the Nations, and More

  • Finding a Fit
  • Families with a Focus
  • Baby Steps to the Nations
  • Subversive Mobilization: Glorious Failures

Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!

Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.

Dear friends,

I spoke at a fascinating church a few weeks ago. Although not large, they are sending a high percentage of their people to various parts of the world. Talking about all the groups heading out this spring and summer, the pastor jokingly asked, “If we all go overseas, who’s going to turn the lights off?”

That got me thinking . . . Is this the goal of mobilization? Everyone goes overseas? No, I wouldn’t imagine so. But since there are still relatively few models for cross-cultural investment, the natural tendency is to imagine that obedience to the Great Commission means following step by step in the path of Lottie Moon, Jim Elliot, or Mother Teresa.

This mentality results in many bright believers (who rightly discern they’re no Lottie Moon) assuming there’s no part for them in God’s global purposes. Dang. I hate it when that happens!

If I have a goal in life, it’s that everyone would find and play their role in this planet-encircling Kingdom of God. For that to take place, we need to model a variety of responses to Christ’s call to the nations. And along the way, we must find relevant baby steps – fun ways for all kinds of people to begin.

That’s what this month’s column is about.

Cheers,
Shane Bennett

PS: Missions Catalyst welcomes 300+ new subscribers from Apex Community in Dayton, Ohio. If you know someone in Montgomery County, OH who’s looking for a big church or a house church, point them to Apex.

Finding a Fit

By Shane Bennett

Here’s some missions counseling you can do in your sleep: “So, yeah, I think God would like me to make a difference somewhere in the world and I have this growing passion for the poorest of the poor.”

“That’s great. What’s your profession?”

“I’m a dentist, but I also just completed a Masters in TESOL. Oh, and my school loans are all paid off.”

“Hmmmm, I bet we can find some place to put you to work.”

Some cases are much more challenging. But my foundational assumption that God has a role for everyone who wants to play keeps me from accepting that any are impossible. Even so, I would concur that it’s very nearly impossible for someone starting from the place of an average churchgoer in an average church to see how they fit and chart a course to that role. So what can we do to help people envision how they fit?

1. For starters, we stop berating them for not being long-term, cross-cultural church planters. As I speak around, I still see people visible relax when I tell them I’m not going to try to guilt them into service. It makes me think that, at least for folks who’ve warmed a pew for a few years, there’s some latent guilt and wariness regarding most things “missions.”

2. Look around. I love Finishers and Mission Next. These sites allow people to fill out a personal profile that is searched by sharp mission agencies. Some dear friends dove into Finishers a few years ago, received warm and caring responses to their profile, and now live and work in North Africa!

3. Relationships must be a key as well. A mechanical engineer would be more apt than I am to design a bridge you’d want to drive on. But I might have an idea how a mechanical engineer could find a job working on the tallest man-made structure in the world, currently rising toward heaven in Dubai.

We as mobilizers we need to continue to build relationships with people on both sides of the equation, those who need to see what role they might play, and those who understand (or maybe even create) the roles.

What else will help us present to keen believers a variety of relevant models to take Jesus’ love to all the world?

Families with a Focus

At least in the U.S., we’re seeing a growing number of families looking for ways to connect to the ends of the earth. This poses significant problems. Namely, kids. Now, I like kids. I have five of my own. But I’ll be honest: Kids are expensive, and they take up a great deal of time and energy. They also tend to lose stuff (like passports) and step in yucky stuff as they walk down the street!

That said, many of the cultures that still wait for a living presence of the Kingdom place a high value on children. Families may be uniquely prepared to demonstrate the love of Jesus and model ways of following Him among these cultures.

But what are the intermediate steps for people with kids? How can we answer someone who asks, “Do you know of a missions experience my family can participate in – together?” Here’s my specific question for you: What experiences have you seen or maybe run yourself that meet these three criteria:

1. Designed, or at least suitable, for families with young-ish children.
2. Drivable. It seems both unlikely, and maybe unwise, to expect families to buy five or six international plane tickets for a two-week experience.
3. Focused on relationship building with under-evangelized people.

I would love to hear about successful examples, or even valiant attempts!

Baby Steps to the Nations

Finally, what are the best ways for people to begin a journey of involvement among the nations? It’s my view that Perspectives is, hands-down, the best experience to educate, inspire, and transform someone for a life of service. But really, you have to be a few clicks down the road before you’ll sign up for Perspectives.

What, then, are some good very first steps? I’m thinking things that could probably be done today, that have value in themselves, but that also serve as preparation or qualification for further action. Here’s my “top five” list of baby steps to the nations. I’d love to hear yours.

1. Pray through the news headlines.
2. Eat ethnic food from under-evangelized nations.
3. Look for God’s thoughts about the nations as your read the Bible.
4. Read a missionary biography to a kid.
5. Send an email of encouragement to a missionary working in a difficult place.

I relish this role God has given us of helping people find the part He has designed them to play. Be encouraged that He is using you to open doors of opportunity that will not only transform the lives of people who respond, but will also result in the Kingdom of God growing around the world.

Subversive Mobilization: Glorious Failures

OK, here’s a chance to come clean on your sordid mobilization past: I’m working on an article about how to mobilize your church without making everyone hate you.

I need some stories of glorious mobilization failures. International dinners that gave everyone food poisoning, mission trips in which travel mishaps resulted in fully 80% of the team’s time being spent in airports, and speakers who were so soporific even the coffee team working double time couldn’t keep the crowd awake.

If I use your story in the article, I’ll be sure to include your full name and photo! Not really. But just among us, wouldn’t you like to get that story off your chest? Go ahead, share.

Questions? Problems? Submissions? Contact publisher/managing editor Marti Smith.

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