A Piece of Kake

This entry is part 4 of 12 in the series Missions

Since I’ve been taking Perspectives, I’ve developed a burden for missions that I want to share with my cell group. Missions can seem like such a vast, overwhelming topic, especially when people are largely unaware of what God is doing in the world and how they can participate. Before the missions prayer meeting and Perspectives, I never knew where to begin. I’ve compiled some ideas people have been brainstorming for how to get your cell group thinking about God’s plan to reach the world.

• Share and pray about a different unreached people group each month. There is a wealth of information on the Internet; joshuaproject.org is a great place to start. After you share the first time, ask if someone else would like to choose a people group to research for next month. Encourage everyone to continue praying for that group.

• Start a library of books and articles about missions. It’s good to include articles since they’re more manageable for people. Once they are convicted about the topic, they’ll be more likely to invest time in reading a book. Circulate the material and generate discussion about it during and outside of cell group. Subscribe to missions magazines like Frontiers, Voice of the Martyrs, and Send or newsletters from any organizations. Search the on-line archives of Christianity Today—they published at least one missions article per month for the last three years.

• Support a missionary or child together. Organizations like India Gospel League and Gospel for Asia have monthly suggested donations that go directly to a native missionary or child. Split between the members of your cell, the individual cost could be only five dollars a month. Be sure to pray for the person you support.

• Get your cell to attend the monthly missions prayer meeting. There they will hear a teaching, get updates about missionaries, and hear news about what God is doing in other countries. Fin dout about e-mail subscriptions that give news and suggestions for prayer. Missionaries’ personal e-mail or postal addresses may also be available. In cell group, write a letter or e-mail together to encourage and thank the missionaries, who need emotional support from other Christians.

• Encourage you cell group to memorize verses about God’s plan to reach all peoples with the gospel. Consider using Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, or Revelations 5:9-10. As they learn the verse, discuss what it shows about God’s plan and the role He wants us to play. Show how reaching the world has been God’s plan from the beginning—see The Scarlet Thread for background.

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