Missions Work

[wvmtnkid]

Having just finished up a missions trip and praying for a fellow mod who is beginning an overseas mission trip, it got me to thinking about all of the others who are involved in missions work in some capacity. I thought I would just start a thread for us to share our experiences and maybe our dreams of what we would like or hope to do in the future.

This could maybe be a place of encouragement. It took me a bit to become involved in missions even though I felt a call on my life to. I guess I was a bit concerned where the Lord was going to call me to serve when I answered! :D

One more thing-I know missions are a strong emphasis of the Methodist church. Are they in the other Welseyan tradition churches?

[Reborn_in_Christ2003]

One of the core values of the Nazarene Church is that we are a Missional people.

[AngelAmidala]

I used to always think that mission trips were just like going to other places and preaching and teaching Scripture. And you had to go to a different country to do it. And while that is a huge part of missions, I think I'm more called to the missions where you do things for the glory of God to help out where needed.

In April I did a short mission trip to Providence, Rhode Island. Some of the youth from my church met up with youth from another church and we helped clean up and fix up a church and a halfway house that the church owned.

That's the sort of mission work I feel I'm called to. Helping where my help is necessary, and doing it while fellowshipping with other Christians and bringing Christ to the area you're in....just by one's actions.

[HeatherJay]

Yeah, missions are a huge part of the Church of the Nazarene. My hubby is the vice president of the NMI (Nazarene Missions International) at our church. He gives a 'Mission Statement' once a month and gives the most informative lessons on what's going on with our missionaries and how much of an impact we make in the world. In fact, he's giving one tonight. :)

Also, our youth programs have a huge focus on missions. We have a teen group leaving on Sunday for a mission trip. They (the teens) try to do at least one group mission trip a year, but many of them also participate in individual mission programs.

Here's a link if you want more info. :)

http://www.nazarenemissions.org/

[overnight]

mission is big at our church too. The chairperson of the commitee on missions is very dedicated and we have several drives and such to support UMC mission work. I agree with a statement made arlier that we often think of missions as having to be in a forgien country. Here in America it may be the largest mission field in the world. I took a mission trip to eastern Kentucky when I lived there that really touched me. It looked like one of those commercials for helping a foriegn country. People living in shacks, no food, their dress was horrible,but their love for us was real and we touched them in a special way.

[wvmtnkid]

I used to always think that mission trips were just like going to other places and preaching and teaching Scripture. And you had to go to a different country to do it.
Exactly! I think that was the reason I was so reluctant to get involved with missions because I was afraid that God would send me to some remote jungle in Africa. (Now, I sorta wouldn't mind to do that for a trip!) But, after going to a foreign country on a mission trip, it just made me realize that there are many people right here in the US that need help as well. Now I am not saying that we (Christians as a whole) shouldn't do mission work in other countries, because I still think that is important. But I guess what I am trying to say is that God will equip us for whatever or wherever He wants us to go. And I wish I would have gotten involved in missions much sooner then I did. I regret my fear kept me away.

[elanor]

Goodness, this is timely! :) I was approached this past weekend by a couple of women from the United Methodists Womens group asking if I'd be interested in attending a missions conference in Nevada later this summer. They will have a special session on missions and prayer, and I've long believed that I have a gift for intercessory prayer and I know my heart is in prayer for missions (at home and in other nations). It's exciting to read that others here have that heart for missions, too! :)

[wvmtnkid]

Wow-that's great elanor! I am glad also to hear that our Nazarene brothers and sisters have a strong emphasis on missions.

[WesleyJohn]

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[HeatherJay]

In the CotN, we have a program called "Work and Witness." I would guess that we always have about 20 W&W teams on the field. Each team has 16-20 people. They raise their trip cost, plus a 'project cost' to build something. In February, I went on my first W&W trip to Belize. Our $10,000 "Project Cost" bought enough supplies to build the basic structure (concrete block, cement floor, rafters, roof, windows, & doors) for a church in Altamira Belize). All 20 of us stayed in the Pastor's house with his family, and worked alongside the local church members as we helped build their building. We got it all done in about 10 days. It was a wonderful opportunity to help build the Kingdom in another part of the world.

Grace and Peace,

WJ
Yes, the teen mission trip (they're leaving Sunday morning...say a prayer for them :)) is a Work and Witness trip. They've worked for the past several months nearly every weekend washing cars and doing odd jobs (mowing lawns, painting, cleaning, dishes, laundry, lol...whatever the church and community members were willing to pay them for). I think it's so wonderful to see them working so hard (as opposed to being gifted the money) to raise money just to help others in need. Those are the type of kids that can really show us that there is hope for this generation. :)

[OnceDust]

I have been on no less than 10 mission trips. Of those about 5 were through the methodist church. We just held a big missions fair at my church. We had a lot of minsitries the church supports. I'm happy to belong to a church that has such priorities.

Blessings.

[TCapp]

We have a work and witness crew up here in Whitehorse (they came back with us from District Assembly) and they're gonna do some renovations on our church. Woohoo! :clap: