An Idea To Help Praying for Missionaries

I've seen prayer letters included in the bulletin. Others read portions of letters as a "moment" during the service.

Part of it could come from the Missions agency if they worked at it.

We visited a SBC church about 15 years ago and were very interested in the missionay's ministry. I gave them a business card on the way out and asked to be placed on their mailing list. This never occurred, no contact was made, emailed the agency and asked - nothing happened and no response. Snail mailed a letter of disappointment to the agency and received no response.

I had to wonder how they ever raised any interest in their workers.

 

I don't know if this will help but here's what we do:

1. We do a missions conference every January (3rd and 4th Sundays) where we spend a whole week across two Sundays emphasizing missions. We have a missionary or missions leader come and speak one Sunday and then do a big program the other about what we're doing as a church to be on mission.

2. During February (following the conference) we mail everyone in our church a calendar with specific things to pray for, missionaries to pray for, on specific days. We spend the whole month praying for missions.

3. Once a month or so we take intentional announcement time to cover an upcoming or ongoing missions activity local, nationally, or internationally.

4. We wrap missions stories into our messages.

5. We are always asking the question, "What are you doing to be a missionary where you live, work, and play?"

Finally, we spend a lot of time getting our student ministry to go out on mission throughout the year. I'm pretty convinced that we aren't called to assemble and sit, but to get and go. Part of our spiritual formation process is about 1/4 book studies, 1/4 personal growth, 1/2 going and doing. Passion is caught, not taught in our culture.

 

The PrayerLine: 1-800-395-PRAY Share
SBC IMB

1-800-554-7729 (press 2)
SBC NAMB Prayer Line

Pray for missionaries on their birthdays
you can find them listed in Open Windows magazine (quarterly publication)
or you can find them http://www.namb.net/prayerrequests/

 

Lat year I bought the book Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation by Jason Mandryk. I have found it to be quite helpful about countries.

 

At every offering time, I will inform the church of a specific missionary or missionaries who are serving Christ at some place in the world. I remind our congregation that a part of our offerings every Sunday go to support this mission work. We pray by name for those missionaries.

Further, we invite missionaries to speak when they are stateside (or if their assignment is stateside, which is ever more the case!).

After that, the single best way to cause a local congregation to support missions is for them to embark on missions. It is far too soon in my current congregation to begin this next idea, but in time it will come about. I intend to take the ENTIRE CONGREGATION on a mission trip. We will place a sign on the door that says that WE ARE ALL GONE ON MISSION FOR THIS WEEKEND and that we will return next Sunday. Then, we will plan, travel, and serve.

The idea is radical, but I cannot think of a better way to make a congregation mission conscious than to DO missions work in some form and it is high time that we get radical enough to take the entire congregation and work to that end as a group.

 

Make it simple at first... Find a worthy church planter, then flood his city to help his cause. Everyone pays for their own motel and transportation costs with the church picking up those who simply cannot via gifts and fundraisers. Buses work well for close-by work. Planes for longer distance work. Book an entire hotel!

Oh, and get the press involved. Just imagine hitting the nightly news on all the major networks as A LOCAL CHURCH FILLS 3 PLANES to fly to Guatelala for a mission trip. They've never seen that sort of thing before!