Can you construct a church building in an instant? Establishing a community of believers to occupy such a building may not be instantaneous either. Now imagine that you want to establish that community in another country — without a common language, without transportation, infrastructure, water, electricity, a home, or a Bible in a common language. What kind of team would you need to complete your work?

New to missions? Zeal is a gift — aim it. Before you fill out anything, take the five keys in order. It is the fastest way to learn what you don’t yet know you need to know.

If missions is about access to the Gospel, then “missions right here, right now” is difficult, because none of us speak the language or know the culture of the people who have no access to God’s message. The unreached, unengaged people groups do not live near you — but the people who could work together to reach them do. Everybody around us here already has access: they have you, Christians in their workplace, Bibles in languages they understand, and churches in their communities. Reaching them again and again is the normal, ordinary, expected ministry of Christians in their communities. The people who live, work, and die outside the edge of the church — people with no messenger at all — are where we must function as a Body. (Romans 10; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4)

Even knowing God’s direction and purpose, a person normally spends time learning, growing, and ministering to others before the Holy Spirit sends them out. Paul spent three years in Arabia, six in Tarsus, and two in Antioch before the church sent him.

Where do missionaries come from? Who passes on the vision? Who disciples and equips them? Who sends them, funds them, cares for them and their children over a lifetime, prays for them, and creates a culture of sending in a local church? These are normal, ordinary activities of individual Christians in a thriving Body. Do you want co-workers on the mission field ten years from now? Lay the foundations for missions in the minds of the children, youth, church members, and leaders where you are now.

Start moving: five directions

  1. 01

    Practice evangelism at home

    Will you suddenly be skilled overseas, in another language and culture, at what you have never done at home? A good way to find out what you don’t know is to tell other people what you do know. By sharing the Gospel with people around you, you clarify the message, cultivate a heart for others, gain confidence in God’s word, and grow in dependence on the Holy Spirit. Tools: GoodSeed, Come and See, and Tactics by Greg Koukl.

  2. 02

    Educate yourself

    Do you know the metanarrative of the Bible? What on earth is God doing, and in light of it, what should you be doing? What is an unreached, unengaged people group, and why have they not yet heard? How do you learn an unwritten language, and when is a missionary’s work complete? The best start I can think of is a weekend at Wayumi.

  3. 03

    Educate others

    Help people become rooted in Christ (Establish Series), aware of Christ’s mission (the Basis), and alert to the needs of unreached people groups — then bring a group with you to learn more.

  4. 04

    Go short-term — and bring people with you

    Wayumi (a week or weekend in Pennsylvania), Encounter (overseas education and work projects), Interface (six summer weeks in Brazil or Papua New Guinea), and internships alongside experienced missionaries.

  5. 05

    Get training for a lifetime of service

    Ethnos360 Bible Institute — every book of the Bible in two years, taught by experienced missionaries, on campus or online — then Ethnos360 Training for career preparation.

Things you can do this month

  • Adopt an unreached, unengaged people group — pray for God to raise up laborers; learn where they live, what they believe, and what it would take to establish a thriving church there. (peoplegroups.org)
  • Organize prayer groups among students, dorms, or small groups around one people group with no access.
  • Show missionary videos to children, classmates, and churches — start with these.
  • Read missionary biographies — organize a reading event or book club.
  • Fix missionary cars. Host a missionary. Take one out to dinner. Practical care is real teamwork.
  • Create a fund-raiser — fund flights for national church-planting missionaries, or help provide a helicopter for people groups near the ends of the earth.
  • Help your peers know the difference between ministry and missions, and between “unreached” and “unreached-unengaged.”
  • Subscribe to Ethnos360 Magazine and the prayer bulletins, and join A Third of Us.

Neal Pirolo’s book Serving As Senders can give you many more ideas. Completing the Great Commission involves evangelism, growth, discipleship, service, sending, and going — you might be involved in one or several. (Hebrews 11:6; 2 Peter 1:3-15; Matthew 28:20; Mark 10:45; Romans 10:15)

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