Why Your Church Should Prioritize Missions Partnerships and Sending Members to Serve (part 2)

2. Forming mission partnerships and sending people from your church will result in more of your members being fully discipled to maturity in Christ; it becomes one of the church’s primary means of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11). One study some years ago surveyed current International Mission Board Missionaries and found that 90 percent of them said that a short-term mission trip as a child or youth was a very significant experience in them discerning their call from the Lord to vocational missions. Creating a culture that challenges every member to consider being sent by the church on mission raises the bar, it creates higher expectations for what a true follower of Christ does. Nothing stretches and grows a believer’s faith more than a mission trip to work alongside one of the church’s mission partners. Committing to travel to a distant mission field with unknown experiences, dangers, and challenges pulls the believer out of their comfort zone and forces them to depend solely upon the Lord. During my pastorate at Crane, our church had partnerships with churches in Colorado, Texas, Belarus, El Salvador, Mexico and we participated in multiple World Changer’s trips to Puerto Rico, Chicago and Nashville. Out of those partnerships I witnessed those went return transformed, bold and deeper in their faith. I saw both young and old believers who eventually became teachers, pastors, missionaries and church leaders. One of those young men, Kyle Brosseau, accompanied us on several of those trips. He later went on to serve as an I.M.B. Missionary to India and the Czeck Republic and recently joined the teaching faculty of Southern Seminary as a Missions Professor.

One unexpected benefit of sending people to many of these places is that they came home overwhelmed with gratitude as they witnessed first-hand the reality that most of the world outside of the U.S. does not enjoy a fraction of the affluence and amenities we do as Americans. They saw that much of the world truly means it when they pray, “Lord, give us this day our daily bread.” Mission trips have a way of killing people’s vain pride and sense of entitlement and returning them to you humbler and more grateful.

Mission trips where believers serve alongside gospel partners are the best on-the-job training opportunities your members will ever have. For some odd reason, your church members, who were timid about sharing their faith or leading some particular ministry within the church, suddenly find the courage to do it when on a mission trip. I recently returned from a mission trip with my brother’s church where we set up some 10 x 10 shade canopies along Elk River at a popular spot where canoes and floaters pull out for a break. We simply served them grilled hot dogs, cold bottled water and had gospel conversations. Mission team members stood on the banks of the river and introduced themselves and after some conversation asked the person if they had any needs before praying with them. Upon parting we gave them a Jesus bracelet and a laminated card with a QR code which will take them to a gospel presentation and also has answers to pressing life questions from a biblical worldview. My brother, Victor, who is pastor of Evangelism/Discipleship/Church Mobilization at South Haven Baptist Church said these trips serve as one of his best evangelism training events all year. The light often comes on for people as they realize that if they can serve and share their faith somewhere far away, they can and should be doing it at home, too.