- Empower a missions champion. Every church can empower someone (staff or volunteer) to keep global engagement on the table.
- Integrate mission into discipleship. Don’t silo “missions” as a separate program. Missions should saturate everything we do, from small groups to sermons to singing.
- Tell stories from those on the ground. Cross-cultural workers can remind the church that God is still working around the world.
- Invest in both partnerships and projects. While short-term mission projects can be transformative and impactful, true mission partnership takes the next step. It listens, learns, and serves alongside the global church for the long haul.
- Reimagine short-term trips. Many churches send short-term mission teams, which I’m all for. But we need to be careful that these are truly missional and not just recreational. If the highlight is a ropes course, the trip might not be meeting real needs, having impact and supporting long-term workers.
These are just a few ways to center missions in a church. They can remind people that we are sent by Jesus as Jesus was sent by the Father (John 20:21).
A Challenge to Pastors
Pastors, our calling is to shepherd people toward obedience to Jesus. We need to disciple our students—and their well-intentioned parents and grandparents—toward saying “Yes!” when God calls. Even if that call takes our kids to other places in the world, we get the joy of watching them participate in kingdom advance.
All of this is why Urbana 25 in Phoenix is introducing a pastors’ and church leaders’ cohort. We want to empower you to equip your people, students, and beyond for global missions in our world. We want to help spark a new century of missions. I hope you will join us, and check out the pastors’ cohort at Urbana 25.
I’m praying that we rediscover the sending heart of God. The Spirit is still empowering believers to bear witness “in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
From our neighborhoods to the nations, from our pulpits to the peoples, our churches are called to join God’s mission: to make his glory known among all peoples as they follow Jesus.
