Cultivating the habits of a World Christian are necessary to maintaining world vision. If we do not remind ourselves of how to Pray, Give, Welcome, Mobilize and Go we are in danger of losing the overall vision of engaging in God’s Great Commission. We must commit ourselves to a lifetime of training and be faithful to what God has called us to.
Sacrificial giving does not have to begin once you have a ‘real job.’ Consider building the habit of giving into your life now!
During a season that is meant to bring glory to God and allow Christians to give back to others through service and generosity, why not also be intentional to be missional? Here are ten fun, easy ways to live missionally during the holiday season and during your winter break!
Although the Bible has a lot to say about money and how we handle it, the most foundational truth is this: all money is God’s and should therefore be used for His purposes.
So you want to be a sender? Great. But how do you decide where to give? Here are a few guidelines for choosing where your money goes.
Be a learner not a knower. Be a server not a master. Be a listener not a speaker. Go with only the expectations that you are open to God’s plan and you want to be used in any way he wants to use you. Go with the heart that you have been sent by God. Act like a diplomat of God’s kingdom, because you are.
It is easy to be critical. I was once listening to a teacher from a European country lecture at a U.S. seminary on the evils of short-term missions. It was a highly critical lecture (with which I largely agreed), but there was no direction for what was appropriate in short-term missions. I don’t think he realized that he was actually participating in what I would classify as a short-term missions trip—a full-time intensive visit to another culture for a focused time of vocational ministry.
Short-term missions is fraught with problems, and many wish such trips did not exist, at least in the common form today. Robert Lupton says, “Contrary to popular belief, most missions trips and service projects do not: empower those being served, engender healthy cross-cultural relationships, improve quality of live, relieve poverty, change the lives of participants [or] increase support for long-term missions work.” Ouch! What follows will surely frustrate many.
The missionary movement, once filled mostly with trained vocational ministers, has slowly gotten younger and less trained. Now, due to students’ flexibility, most trips are geared for those between 15 and 22 years old. It seems that almost anytime I travel overseas I see a pack of students wearing the same colored shirts with a Bible verse on the back that announces their intentions.
Inviting an international student home with you is one of the best ways to welcome them to our country and demonstrate the love of Christ. But we know bringing an international student into your family can be a little intimidating, so we asked Andy Pearce for some advice.
Before going on a mission trip, you're usually busy preparing everything you need to take with you. But how do you prepare spiritually? Here's a 30-day guide to help you do just that.
Most people have no idea that some of the most important steps in raising support are after you get home from your mission trip.
Our lack of sacrificial giving is one of the key reasons that untold millions remain untold.
In prayer God changes us. He brings us face to face with the Lordship of Christ and the Church rediscovers how fully Christ is Lord of heaven and earth.
As mobilizers, what is it that we want students to do? Cross an ocean? Reach out to internationals? Pray for the world? These all are great things, however, we do not want to mobilize students to a single activity.
Each year, no less than 200,000 sincere, dedicated people contact mission agencies asking about possible service. But the heartbreaking news is that less than 1,000 will ever make it to the field. Why? There is no one to nurture and guide and equip them to complete the process. In other words, the workers are plentiful, but the mobilizers are few!
“The two pioneers of civilization-Christianity and commerce-should ever be inseparable.”
A World Christian isn’t better than other Christians. But by God’s grace, he has made a discovery so important that life can never be the same again. He has discovered the truth about the unreached world and the fact that he stands in the gap for the church and the world. World Christians have the burden of Christ to believe, think, plan, and act accordingly.
What role are you called to play in God's global mission? Discover four that any Christian can do.