If mission team members could share Christ in London, we can share Christ here at home.
HEARTLAND | Serena Butler
One of the questions we ask of mission trip applicants is, “Why do you want to go on this trip?” Someone once asked me, “Why do you take people on mission trips?” I could provide a couple of answers. One might be to expose people to a different culture and learn that there are fellow Christ-followers living in other parts of the world. Another might be so that we can take the Gospel to a location that does not have as much access to the Gospel as we do here in the United States. Yet another is to challenge the participants to rely on God like they have never done before.
One of the purposes of our trip to London was to expose the participants to evangelism techniques they could bring home with them and use in their own community. Sometimes we are willing to try new things on a mission trip because it is all a part of the adventure. We will stand in a busy train station and ask people if they are willing to take a survey, with the goal of leading them into a spiritual conversation, but we would not do that at home. Would we transform our sanctuary into a coffee-house for the purpose of reaching out to our community and walk every street in our town to personally invite each resident to attend that coffee-house? I don’t know, but I know the members of Southfields Baptist Church did that in preparation for the London Olympics. I was challenged by their determination.
Southfields Church is just a 15-minute walk from the front gates of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, home to Wimbledon. It is also a stone’s throw from the main Tube (London’s subway) station nearest the tennis site. For years the church never thought to minister to the visitors to Wimbledon, until the Olympics came to town. It gave them a new perspective and drive. Now, after the success of the Big Screen Olympic Lounge, they’re planning to provide the same outreach each year during the Wimbledon Championships. So, what can we learn from our friends from across the Pond?
Will the Olympics come to Clinton, Illinois? Probably not. But Clinton is home to the Pork and Apple Festival each year. Thousands of people come each year to Morton to catapult a pumpkin through the air. Millions visit the State Fairs in Springfield and Du Quoin. Many of our communities host yearly events that draw people from nearby towns. What can your church do to creatively reach those people? Will it take work? Absolutely!! Will the work be worth it? If the gospel is shared and Christ’s love is made known … definitely, positively, YES!!!
I have challenged the London team to put into practice here at home what they learned there.
If they can start a spiritual conversation on an underground ride through the city, then they can start one with a co-worker. God will give us the strength to overcome our fears and take the first step. Then we just have to keep taking steps forward and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit wherever He leads.
A mission trip should not end when we come back home. The mission trip should be the first step in a new chapter in our life that teaches and trains us to re-evaluate how we are ministering and sharing the Gospel at home. May we be as bold and creative as our British friends who strove to share the Gospel with the world when it came to their city.
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