Want to be involved?

Have you ever wanted to be involved in mission work without the travel, preparation shots (ouch!), etc.? With Partners 4 Africa, they are always looking for help in different areas that does not require a lot of your time, but a heart that desires to help. When Dorian Flynn was with us, he shared a list of things that we can do to help his mission work. Today I would like to share that list with you.

• Make teaching materials: flip charts, posters (bible songs, bible facts, verses, etc.)
• Collect bible class supplies: paper, pens, pencils, stickers, bible coloring books and pages, easy to read bibles, composition notebooks, folders
• Soles for Souls: shoe drive
• Collect money to buy Zulu Bibles
• Make adult and children's items: crochet, knit, sew, etc.
• Have a Missions Day: every class has a missionary come tell them about the country where they work, the people, how they share Jesus, etc. A potluck that includes foods from other countries, as well as, from the U.S.
• Provide medical supplies: For clinics and hospitals, birthing kits, antibiotic ointment, aspirin, Tylenol, vitamins for adults and children, band aids, gauze, used glasses, etc.
• Adopt a hospital ward: provide sheets, blankets, and pillowcases
• Tie-Raid: gather all of the men's ties you can to ship to Africa
• Challenge to dig a well: Use the big water bottles and have one in the lobby at your building, make a cardboard "well" to put up front in the auditorium and after kids collect money in class, let them all come forward one Sunday and pour their money in the well.
• Feed a Family: individuals can give $25 to feed a family of 4 for one month in Zimbabwe. Includes cornmeal, oil and beans - their staple food
• Feed an orphan one meal for $0.50
• Support the sewing center at Nketa9 by collecting fabric, thread, buttons, zippers, etc.
• Buy needed items at yard sales for cheaper
• Pack banana boxes full of good used clothing to ship and involve the congregation
• Children can make book markers, teens can gather soccer equipment and uniforms, write notes of encouragement to your missionaries

I challenge you to find one thing on this list that you can do and start a movement locally to help our foreign missionaries. Our youth group will begin collecting $.50 to buy orphan meals, that is a project we plan to begin being a part of. If each student donates $.50 each week, we will have enough money for 15-20 meals for orphans each week. If we do that, in a year we will have provided between 700 - 1,050 meals to orphans in Africa. It is so simple to help, it just takes some initiative. 

For more information about Partners4Africa and Dorian Flynn, visit www.partners4africa.com

Evangelism

Every Thursday we have a youth bible study in our home using the Hashtag Video Series "For His Glory" as our material. This week we viewed the video on evangelism and discussed how we can evangelize.

For a 26 year old youth minister, I made the assumption that everyone knew this word "evangelism"; however, to a not yet Christian 6th grader, this word was foreign. So, the question, "What is evangelism?" came up before we even started the video, which was a perfect place to jump in to our discussion. We started from the beginning, defined the term, and talked about how we can use it to reach others before watching the video.

However, this exchange made me think - Are we failing our youth when they do not know what evangelism is? Am I taking their knowledge for granted and skipping over basic things that need to be reinforced? Are they ready for such a topic as Evangelism when they are still growing in their knowledge of who God is and what He does? These questions flooded my mind, then I came up with a simple answer. You are never too young to hear about how we should share God's love with other people, and we are never too old to stop wanting to share God's love with others. There is no age limit on evangelism and yet, we sometimes just skip right over and take it for granted that people understand this concept.

What is our mission? One of the things we focus on in our student ministry is simply the word "Go" which is a concept Jesus used in His ministry and reminds us to do the same.

• GO make disciples of all nations. (Matt. 28:19)

• GO baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:19)

• GO out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. (Luke 14:21)

• GO out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. (Luke 14:23)

• GO proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations. (Luke 24:27)

• GO be witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:28)

• I chose you and appointed you that you should GO and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. (John 15:16)

I want our students to have a heart for missions and evangelism, a heart that reaches out to the hurting, a heart that is concerned for the spiritual well-being of others, but we sometimes become so focused on those outside the church that we lose focus on the ones inside the church. We have students in our youth ministry we need to reach out to, parents who are hurting, and adults who are wavering. What are we doing to reach out to them? I challenged our group on Thursday night with this question, "What are you doing to reach out to others in our youth ministry?" The response: silence. No one had ever challenged them to reach out to our own, they had never thought of ways to reach out to them, and they certainly didn't have an answer when they were asked what they were doing. I could see the look in their eyes. It was a look of nervousness because they knew they should be wanting to do more, they just simply have not been doing it. I tossed some numbers at them concerning our ministry and the youth who are a part of it. They were simply astonished realizing that we were not reaching our full potential as a ministry. 

Evangelizing is a 365 day effort, not just an every now and then thing. It sometimes takes the smallest of tasks like simply inviting someone to worship with us, asking them to fellowship with us at an event, asking someone how they are doing, or telling someone they've been missed. Sometimes it simply takes a "Hello" on our part to welcome a visitor. There are a couple of conferences for our young people that specifically focus on evangelism. One in Montgomery, AL at the end of the summer, Southern Evangelism Conference (SEC) and one in South Carolina in November, East Coast Evangelism Conference (ECEC). It is my goal and my aim to take our youth to one of these every year to re-emphasize the importance of evangelism. For 3 days out of the year our youth receive training for 362 days of evangelism!

Let me share with you some tips and encouragement from the ECEC twitter page:

Pray every morning that God will bring someone hungry for the Gospel into your life. Study so you'll be ready when He does! #362evangelism

Going into school is going into one of the biggest mission fields in the world. Are u making a difference? #362evangelism

Invite those u eat lunch with to pray with u to bless ur food. #362evangelism

So, my question to you is simply this, "What are you doing to reach out to others in your school, your family, your church family, your workplace, or your community?"

Missions Workshop 2014

This week I have been blessed to be a part of the First Annual Missions Workshop at Rose Hill Church of Christ with our missionary from Africa, Dorian Flynn. I have never been a part of a missions workshop that took place during the time that normally a gospel meeting would've been held.

On Sunday, Dorian Flynn gave us an update on his work with Partners 4 Africa and preached two wonderful lessons. On Monday and Tuesday, we had men with missions experience come in and speak about their work, followed by a round table discussion with questions coming from the audience. Wednesday, Dorian again presented another wonderful lesson that closed out our workshop for this year.

I am truly thankful for the men who had the vision to put something like this together. It was truly inspiring to hear of all the wonderful things that God is doing through His servants around the world. It takes a special person to have the heart to be a missionary, especially overseas, and I am truly thankful that God is working through missionaries all over the world to spread the gospel.

One thing that helped to reignite a fire was the discussion on short-term missions. I've read several articles lately of the lack of change in a person that short-term missions has. Personally, I've always seen growth in people and a renewed energy to continue in God's work. However, to hear it straight for a missionary's mouth that short-term missions is something we need to be doing more of, was a breath of fresh air. Dorian explained that every youth, parent, adult, leader, etc. needed to at least be a part of a short-term trip (especially domestic) if they could not or would not go overseas. I have a heart to do short-term missions, but a life as a missionary? I don't feel called or compelled to do that, not yet anyways.

While life of missions overseas is great, we have a whole world in our own backyard in Columbus, GA. When Jesus said, "Go into all the world...", I think we sometimes miss the big picture and we focus too much on foreign missions and not domestic missions. Yes, a spark was ignited in me this week for missions work and I want to continue being a missionary, in Columbus, GA. I firmly believe we have so many opportunities to minister to people here and we have not seized those opportunities yet. It's going to take a lot of prayer, God's power, and faith but I believe we can a mission minded church right here in Columbus, GA.

Think of the possibilities: a homeless ministry, an inner-city ministry, clothing those in need, serving those who are financially strapped, a military ministry, and this doesn't begin to touch the service. My prayer is that we will open our heart to the mission field that lies before us and walk through the doors that God is opening up for us.

As our Socktober drive wrapped up, I was reminded of just how easy it is to be a servant to someone in need. For the month of October we asked for people to donate new socks, toiletries, non-perishable food, and blankets. The socks and blankets we will hand out directly to our homeless community for the winter while the supplies will go to our local homeless shelter. I was reminded of two verses:
1. Deuteronomy 15:11 - "For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’"
           - There will always be people to serve. There will always be people in need. There will always be people who are poor. We need to open our hands and heart more to these people, to be a compassionate people.

2. Matthew 5:16 - "...let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven"
           -That's what it is about giving glory to our Father in Heaven and getting others to see His glory. The way we do that is allowing our light to shine through our good works. We can shine our light anywhere, but I want Rose Hill and our congregation to make a special effort to allow it to shine brighter here in our city.

Pray with me:

Father, we are so thankful for the many things you are doing around the world through mission work. I stand in awe of your almighty power. Father, I pray you will ignite a fire in us to be more mission minded, to take our mission to heart, and take your word to Columbus, GA. If there are opportunities that are waiting for us, I ask that you show it to us so we can continue to let our light shine and do good works. Help us to understand that everything we do, it's not through selfish ambition, but to give you the glory. I ask that you will bring revival to Columbus and reignite a passion in us to know your word and bring souls to Christ. Thank you for your continued love and I pray we never take that for granted but that we share your love to others. Bless Rose Hill, help us to be the church that helps the needy, supports the poor, and serves without conditions. Thank you for giving us the example of the ultimate servant, so we can pattern our lives after Him. It's in His most precious, holy, and loving name we pray. Amen.