Oswald J. Smith once proclaimed, “The mission of the church is missions.” How true! The mission of the church truly is missions, and the church is filled with individuals who each have unique God-given abilities to fulfill their role in the mission. But first, Christians must be educated about their world and how to reach it. For this reason, providing a platform for mission education has become a vital role of local churches. Some people shirk at the idea of hosting a World Missions Conference because it sounds old-fashioned and dull! But, with today’s technology and the tools available for mission ministry, hosting a World Missions Conference at your local church can be one of the most exciting events on your church calendar.
Your mission conference is a wonderful way to bring the needs of mission to the hearts and minds of your congregation and to help them discover how they can get involved in fulfilling the Great Commission.
As a celebration, a World Missions Conference in your local church will:
* Encourage greater mission awareness through exposure to missionaries and nationals from the field.
* Give members of your church a better understanding of what God is doing through the Church of God in different countries of the world.
* Introduce your church to missionaries, missions field personnel and the many ministries of Church of God World Missions.
* Involve each department of your church, allowing them to feel a part of the Great Commission.
* Enlarge the vision of your local church, creating a greater burden for the lost.
* Educate the church about missions needs.
* Create a local church with a global perspective.
* Present the current needs of missions, giving church members an opportunity to respond with prayer and financial support.
* Identify local people who want to get involved.
* Raise financial support for the worldwide work of World Missions.
So, hopefully by now you are asking: “How do I get started?”
It is important to put a lot of thought and time into your conference programming. Be creative! Use drama, multi-media presentations, storytelling, music and food to demonstrate the need for missions involvement. Showcase your visiting missionaries and missions personnel. Do at least one new thing you haven’t done in your church before, so people will be curious and drawn to the occasion. Make it exciting and appealing to conference attendees of all ages. Involve as many people as possible and include something for everyone. Getting as many people from your local church involved in conference planning is a key to its overall success.
During your missions conference, don’t forget your children.
The best time to instill a burden and passion for missions in people is when they are young. Host a simultaneous mission conference for your children. Church of God World Missions has many wonderful products such as “Mission Possible” or “Mission Man” stories that are directed at training children in a creative way about the Lord’s commandment to “GO” into all the world.
Ladies Ministries are a great help.
Ladies ministries in the church could be given the responsibility of teaching workshops, overseeing decorations, coordinating host homes/lodging, and/or the transportation of conference guests. If possible, it is good to have the guests stay in several different homes. The interaction will build relationships and lasting friendships between the missionaries, national workers and local church members.
Youth need to be a part of a missions conference.
Youth groups are a great resource for researching (especially on the Internet), working on projects, advertising, hosting fundraisers and developing flyers, posters, etc. They also make great servers at the missions banquet or enthusiastic international-themed greeters and ushers.
Senior adults enjoy participating.
The seniors always enjoy being included in a World Missions Conference and can assist in many ways. One or more may plan the banquet meals and coordinate communication about the event with community leaders and nearby churches. Seniors are also great resources for transportation and housing.
Plan to let the music support the message of missions.
You can make your World Missions Conference really come alive by carefully selecting the music and multimedia used during the conference. Your music minister and/or worship leader can coordinate the music for your conference, as well as multimedia presentations. Mission music, videos and drama materials, along with narrations and illustrations, are available from World Missions. Videos from missionaries around the world will add excitement to the conference.
“To Every Nation” is a missions musical offered by SpiritSound (www.spiritsoundmusic.com). It is an interactive missions musical with new songs featuring the music of Terrell Brinson, Garry Turner and others, arranged by Dove Award Winner Lari Goss. This media-centered musical project offers:
* An enhanced DVD, which includes media recourses, split-tracks and drama ideas.
* A choral book and orchestrations with a CD demo pack.
Authentic video from around the world accompanies each song, depicting the overwhelming needs of the global harvest field.
“Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us.” Keith Wright
Every church needs a missions committee.
If we truly believe missions is the heart of God and the heartbeat of the church, the missions committee is the pump that keeps the local church’s heart for missions alive. The primary function of the missions committee is to promote missions, encourage individual involvement and enlarge the church mission program. The committee can help take some of the pressure off of the pastor by overseeing the mission ministry. Many churches have discovered that their total church program expands spiritually, numerically and financially when they shift their focus to missions, evangelism and prayer.
To get started, a local missions representative (LMR) should be appointed by the pastor and act as the key force for mission activities and promotion in the local church. The LMR works with the missions committee and pastor to establish and maintain a mission program. Here are just a few functions of the LMR and missions committee:
* Communicates with World Missions, missionaries and mission personnel about missions projects.
* Distributes Save Our World magazine and promotes Christ’s Birthday Offering, Love the World Sunday, Missions Heritage Sunday and Humanitarian Sunday.
* Keeps missions prayer requests before the church.
* Works with all church departments to ensure a consistent mission emphasis in their programs, such as YWEA, Men and Women of Action, People for Care and Learning, Children of the World and Operation Compassion.
* Works with the World Missions Committee and other church leaders/laity to organize an annual World Missions Conference.
“The harvest is not measured by the grain in the barn, but rather by the wheat still standing in the field.” J. Philip Hogan
In 1910, R.M. Evans and his family became the first Church of God missionaries. Since then, the Church of God has grown to include nearly seven million members in 168 countries and territories around the world, including the U.S. and Canada. Such phenomenal growth is the result of the Holy Spirit moving through the lives of thousands of financial supporters, prayer warriors, missionaries and national workers who have committed themselves to the Great Commission. Today, Church of God World Missions is a bridge between those God has called to “GO” and those He has called to “SEND.” Every Christian has a responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission, and Church of God World Missions can help you identify your role.
World Missions has made it simple to plan and implement a missions conference by providing a conference manual that gives step-by-step guidance. You can secure a copy by calling us toll free.
–R. Terrell Brinson, Administrative Assistant, Church of God world Missions