Mission Minded Churches

Just as constantly-running water can cut a channel through the hardest rock, so persistent prayer on behalf of unreached peoples has the potential to create channels of God's blessing, resulting in the advance of the gospel. Hopefully, your experience praying for the 10/40 Window will result in continuing prayer and labour for the unreached. Below are a number of ways you can help your church or group continue to be involved.

Give a Report to Your Church or Group.

A concise and envisioning statement of what occurred while your church or group was praying through the 10/40 Window is a great way to capitalise on the momentum that was generated. This report might be a short announcement, a group testimony, or even a fellowship dinner. Try to find ways to share experiences, impressions, and feelings. Be creative! Be prepared to help others know how they can help.

On-Going Intercession.

Consider how your church or group might engage in on-going intercession. Host a monthly or weekly prayer time and invite others to pray for the unreached. Invite people from other churches to take part. To be effective, each meeting will require planning and preparation. Does someone from your team have interest in facilitating the group? A facilitator can gather prayer letters and news updates from the region to be fuel for prayer and help to lead each meeting.

Host a "Sunday for the World."

Help your church catch a big-picture vision with an all-church program. This might also be an opportunity to kick off adult-education classes based on START, Catch the Vision, or Destination 2000. (See the resource list for complete information on these resources.) Any of these Bible-based courses could spring-board your congregation into deeper understanding of and commitment to missions. Consider using drama, video, or some kind of visual demonstration to help capture people's attention and understand missions concepts.

Get Involved With the Internet Missions Community.

Today the Internet is becoming available in many parts of the world, and Christians are not missing the opportunity. Especially for missions, where one of the major problems is distance and communication, electronic mail or e-mail has become invaluable. What that means for you is that you have the opportunity to be involved in the cutting edge of missions from your school or even your own living room if you have a computer. You can help encourage a missionary by receiving prayer requests from him or her and by helping them find information they need. You can listen in on electronic conferences where the future of missions is being planned today. You can even volunteer to do vital people-group advocacy work by e-mail. See the list of Internet resources at the end of this book for more details.

Start Fun Missions Education for Children.

A number of excellent and enjoyable Sunday-school programs for children are available which help draw kids into the action. Included are Bible stories which show how God's heart is for all nations, activities to teach kids how to pray for unreached people groups and the missionaries working with them, and other motivating lessons. Check with the organisations listed at the end of this book to find what is available in your area.

Host a Concert of Prayer.

Invite people from many different churches to come together for one evening for a Concert of Prayer. Divide the evening into short "seasons" of prayer, with each season having a slightly different prayer focus. Each season should begin with an explanation of the prayer focus and how to pray for that topic. It is helpful to sing and worship between seasons as well.

Send a Prayer-Journey Team.

Many from your church may show interest in visiting the peoples for whom they have prayed. Prayer Journeys are great ways to help your church or group gain face-to-face experience with the unreached and begin to plan how to be involved long-term. Praying on-site not only produces more informed prayer, but also produces strategic relationships with Christian workers on the field. These relationships are one of the best ways for your church or group to invest itself strategically.

Church-Leadership Expeditions.

Consider planning a special leadership expedition from your church to follow-up the efforts of the initial prayer effort. These follow-up trips would help your leaders to be able to influence your whole fellowship as they discover first-hand insights about these relatively unknown peoples. A church-leadership expedition is similar to but distinct from a prayer journey. For example, it might have a shorter time frame. It should incorporate many of the same aspects as a prayer journey: on-site intercession, briefings and interaction with indigenous pastors and expatriate workers, and face-to-face encounters with unreached peoples. It should, however, devote more time to discussing and praying about specific roles your group can play in long-term ministry there.

Develop Your Group's World Christian Leadership.

Encourage a few key people from your leadership team to attend a conference or gathering of missions activists. In the US, Advancing Church Missions Commitment (ACMC) conferences are good for this purpose. There are many organisations in the final section of this book which can refer you to a conference near you. You may also find classes available at a local college or university which can help develop missions leaders within your group. Ask if the excellent Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course is available near you.

Adopting Unreached Peoples.

Encourage your church to consider "adopting" one specific unreached people for long-term ministry. To be effective, your whole church should embrace the adoption and integrate it into the life of the fellowship. For more information on what it means to "adopt" an unreached people group, contact one of the agencies listed in the appendix.

International Student Ministry.

There are over 400,000 international students studying in universities, junior and community colleges, and language centres throughout the United States with many others in all the major European cities. In many cases, they represent the very peoples and cities for which you have been praying. Their presence is one way that God has brought the nations right to our doorstep. One creative step that you might take is to minister to international students in your own community. Although there are a number of ministries focused on international students, the largest in the US is International Students Incorporated.

Prayer-walking Right at Home.

Praying for unreached peoples can lead to a heightened concern for needs in your own city. It is quite natural that your church would incorporate prayer-walking into a strategy of reaching your community. Consider leading prayer-walking workshops for your church. Some who thought they would never go overseas on a prayer journey may change their minds after they prayer-walk through their own neighbourhoods.

Adopting a Missionary or a Project.

Though most unreached peoples have very little Christian activity focused on them, many of them do have small works or projects which are just beginning. These start-up teams or projects are always under-funded and under-supported. If your church or group can find one of these teams or projects, it is a tremendous encouragement to those involved for you to seek them out and offer your assistance. Single out one of these people or projects to focus on with prayer, finances, and other assistance. A church's committed and faithful backing means a great deal to those labouring in spiritually isolated situations, and every missionary can be more effective with more finances, prayer, and people backing him or her.

Send a "Missionary" from Your Church.

Through the course of the prayer project, many in your church will learn about a number of people groups, perhaps for the first time. This is a key time to be inviting or challenging people throughout your church to become "missionaries." Many agencies list their greatest need to be teachers or administrative helpers. Make sure people know that one does not have to have seminary training to be effectively used on the field. Try to offer opportunities for all kinds of people, young or old, experts or beginners. Encourage some to think about getting the training required to become church planters, but ensure that everyone in the congregation knows there are overseas-service opportunities for them, perhaps in teaching English or in a critical support role. If someone from your church shows interest in full-time cross-cultural ministry, be quick to rally support for them from the church. Encourage everyone in your congregation or group that Jesus can take our five loaves and two fish and use them to feed a multitude. Help anyone who shows interest to quickly get in contact with mission agencies or others who can help them get to the field.

Championing the Vision.

Because of the growing prayer movement for the unreached peoples in the 10/40 Window, a number of churches may be sending prayer teams to the same cities and people groups. Vision is growing throughout the church for completing world evangelisation; soon there will be networks of churches, organisations, and individual Christians committed to seeing churches planted among every unevangelised people group. Perhaps you or someone you know can become a champion for one specific people group, networking and co-operating with others who focus on the same group. You can be a point-person for your church, finding ways your fellowship can co-operate with other churches, advocating for your specific unreached people. If you would like more information on how to "advocate" for a specific unreached people group, contact Caleb Project -- People Specific Advocates.

Send a Church-Planting Team.

Perhaps your church or group has the unique gifts required to actually send a church-planting team to minister among an unreached people group. This is not at all an easy task. Some churches have found great success forming a partnership with a missions agency that has experience in sending church-planting teams. Sending a church-planting team is a serious commitment, but one with great rewards.

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