The Christian Church’s Worldwide Focus
The church Jo and I have been attending for the past few years celebrated their annual Mission Emphasis Weekend with events and services. Our minds immediately recalled personal experiences with mission-minded churches and individuals, as well as stories we heard from fellow missionaries. Since Jo retired for medical reasons after forty years of service with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and I retired recently after sixty years of service, we thought this would be a good time to share some of these recollections with you.
In the past four months since my retirement, we have been surprised and very pleased with how God moved people to give to us. One long-term financial supporter gave us a year’s worth of their usual monthly support as a personal gift, even though they received no tax-deductible receipt. And another couple, who had never financially supported us, gave us one of the largest gifts we had ever received—a full three months’ support. Both were completely unexpected. Wow!
Missionary friends have told us similar stories of receiving unexpected gifts, as well as some rather negative ones that left us feeling concerned for some churches.
One couple told us their pastor said, “Thank you for serving for twenty-five years in Africa. Now that you are back in Canada and working in the mission’s office, we have decided to send our financial support to a missionary couple on the field.” And what were these home office workers supposed to live on? Jo and I had the same thing happen to us when we finished the Canela Bible translation program and spent time travelling throughout North America speaking at Wycliffe fundraising banquets to support nationals involved in Bible translation.
One pastor who invited me to preach in his church told me after the service, “We focus on supporting medical missions and seminary training. Our missionaries are doctors, nurses and seminary professors, as well as hospital and school administrators.”
It made me wonder what would happen if God gifted and called someone who grew up in that congregation to serve on the mission field as a Bible translator? Does she go across town to another church to ask them to support her?
A church we know well has a totally different focus. They are heavily involved in a building program. No, not for their own meeting place; they rent from another church. They are building a church in an impoverished area of a foreign country to help the local congregation that the church’s missionaries have planted. Now, that’s the kind of building program I get excited about!
On the other hand, another pastor told me, “We are involved in foreign missions by facilitating groups from the church to go on short-term mission trips.” I asked him, “What if a young couple who grew up in your church goes on a short-term mission trip and is called by God to spend the rest of their lives in ministry in that country? Would they need to change churches to get financial support?”
We have often visited a large church in a heavily populated area and have been impressed by its emphasis on supporting foreign missions. Along the sides and back wall of the auditorium are dozens of large, framed colour photographs of the missionary individuals, couples, and families they support financially. Under each photo is a plaque with full information on where and how they serve. Notably absent were photos of the pastoral staff or the church board. Their focus was squarely on carrying out Christ’s worldwide Great Commission.
What an encouragement to missionaries to see churches like that! May the Holy Spirit move pastors and church boards across North America to focus their congregations’ actions on serving Christ by obeying His command to Go Into All The World.