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Writer's pictureBradley Bell

Small Churches Can Be Sending Churches

This wasn’t my first encounter with Travis. We met years before in a missions seminary class. Engaging me in conversation, I discovered that he, unlike the rest of my classmates, was taking the course for pure pleasure. He had no vocational obligations to motivate his studies. The man simply loved God and his mission. And the more I got to know him, the more I realized he was cultivating the same sentiment at his church, even with his limited time and capacity.


I was curious. What was his story? How did he develop a pastor’s heart with an eye toward missions? Three key factors quickly became clear.


Scripture


“I never planned to be a non-staff pastor with a heart for missions,” Travis began. “But I did want to be a man of the Word.” As he studied both the Old and New Testament, God’s overarching mission to redeem people “from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9) was undeniable. It became part of the basic framework of what it meant for him to be a Christian. “Acts 1:8 was really the key verse in this process,” Travis said. “I memorized it and put it in my heart.”


Prayer


“I also wanted to be a man of prayer,” Travis continued. “I went to the Psalms and learned of Christ there—but nearly every psalm also mentioned the nations. I found myself praying from Psalm 2:8, ‘Lord, make the nations your inheritance.’ I also read and prayed Psalm 22:27, and from Psalms 45 and 102. The vision of God is so majestic, it gives way to the nations. This led me from awareness of the nations to concern for them.”


Discipleship


Travis committed to pray with other members of his church. “Three times I went to our missions prayer gathering, but no one showed up because it had been cancelled. Well, I had come to pray, so I sat in my car and prayed for the nations by myself.” After that Travis decided to include Great Commission passages as an integral part of his discipling of others. “I always wanted younger believers to have a heart for the lost,” he said. “That meant the nations too. So I had them study passages like Acts 1:1-11 and we would pray for God’s glory around the world.”


This is where the interview went to a whole other level. God’s global mission is easily touted during missions giving emphases or when missionaries come to visit, but taking regular missions action can feel overwhelming and irrelevant. I asked Travis how he transmitted that passion into action among his local church in a sustainable way. Here is a list of his simple, yet profound responses:


“I began by admitting my own limitations. I can’t go myself. But I’m gonna do something. I will pray. My limitations motivate me to pray. It’s hard, but it’s what I have to give. Whether we’re staff or non-staff, we can pray.”


"I’m honest about my weaknesses and regrets. I don’t have enough money to give as much as I would like. I didn’t go overseas when the opportunity was available to me. It makes me encourage others to give and to go be a missionary while they still can.


“During family devotions we let the kids pick a place on the globe and we pray using Operation World. We believe that people are getting saved because of our children’s prayers.”


“I read a missions book with other Christians and took new believers to international restaurants. I want them to understand that missions is what normal Christianity looks like.”


“I remind people of the missionaries we’ve sent. I recently joined a missionary advocate team.”


“I tell missions stories.”


“When I get to preach, I mention missions as the Bible gives me opportunity. Or I work in a missions illustration.”


“I engage internationals with the gospel.”


“I invite people to missions events I am going to.”


“I used to meet up with another pastor from a small church in the area to pray through missions prayer guides.”


“I email our missionaries to see how they’re doing. I also let them know how I’m doing.”


See what I mean?! Do you think Travis’ church is affected by these plain, faithful measures? Let me answer with a story.


Remember when Travis missed those three missions prayer meetings and sat alone praying in his car? That was several years ago. Travis then told me, almost in passing, it was “during that time God began moving my heart to pray that our church would begin reaching out to [a particularly hostile people group]” (removed for security). No big deal, right? Except that two days before our interview, his church had just commissioned and sent their first missionaries—to the very people group he had prayed for long before.


Pen drop.


Could it have been…was it really…do you think that…wow. That’s amazing. But in Travis’ words, that’s just Christianity.


And that can be normal for any church, even small ones.


This article was originally featured at The Upstream Collective.

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