One of the most underutilised areas of ministry in the life of local churches is their involvement in God’s worldwide mission field. Jesus’ commission to local churches was not just to go to their Jerusalem, but to their Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.
Satan’s lie is that you are too small and lack the resources to be involved in mighty acts of mission beyond the four walls of your church. Don’t believe it!

I discovered in our church that if we truly believed that the Father was at work in the world and we asked Him to show us where He wanted us to join Him, then He would guide us through open doors into areas of mission that would be tailor made for us. Further, that He would provide the necessary resources that would be needed for each outreach.

NEPABUNNA

Unbeknown to me, I was to learn this lesson in a surprising way when a fellow pastor asked me to join him for 4 days to visit an Aboriginal community in a remote part of outback South Australia. As I familiarised myself with this area, I was deeply moved. The community of 100 Aboriginal people was located in a place called Nepabunna. As I wandered around the community, I gradually became aware of an inner prompting that the Father was at work in this community and would step by step open a door for our church to become involved in an amazing mission project.

It occurred when I was being shown through a disused children’s school in need of much repair. The school classrooms, dining facilities, showers and toilets had not been used for many years. By the end of the day I found myself in a room talking to the leaders of the community sharing the idea that a team of construction workers from our church could travel to the community to restore the school facility and in the process transform it into a tourist accommodation centre. Would this be of help to them?

Their response was most enthusiastic in that it would provide employment and generate funding and connect the community with tourists who wanted to visit the Flinders Ranges in the north of South Australia.

On my return, I shared the adventure with our church and two members who worked in the building industry volunteered to travel to Nepabunna to develop a construction plan to renovate the school with the estimated funding that would be needed. The Father’s fingerprints on this project were becoming apparent during the week that these two members were away. I received in the mail an anonymous cheque for $20,000 to be used for an “unnamed mission project” This amount just happened to equal the estimated budget that would be needed to restore the school buildings.

It was an exciting time when our church said farewell to 20 of our members who had taken two weeks of holiday to travel to Nepabunna to live among the Aboriginal community to create a tourist accommodation centre out of the old school buildings.

Two church members being commissioned to go and live in the Nepabunna Community

The relationship between our church and the Nepabunna community continued to grow and it wasn’t long before one of our members felt a prompt to start taking teams from our church to Nepabunna each month to share the love of Jesus in a number of practical ways and to start church services. One of our church’s families successfully applied for the full time job of community administrator, a position that had become vacant, and moved to Nepabunna to live amongst the community.

The Father was at work leading our church out on mission in a way that we never could have anticipated. And this was just a part of our church’s story as we grew to develop a strong sense of calling that the Father wanted to use us in His worldwide mission purposes. It followed that in most years we would have around 50 members on 3 mission teams, all self-funded, travelling to different parts of the world, to serve in various ways.The relationship between our church and the Nepabunna community continued to grow and it wasn’t long before one of our members felt a prompt to start taking teams from our church to Nepabunna each month to share the love of Jesus in a number of practical ways and to start church services. One of our church’s families successfully applied for the full time job of community administrator, a position that had become vacant, and moved to Nepabunna to live amongst the community.

MONGOLIA

Following a week long leadership training intensive that I conducted in Mongolia, two leaders shared that they were in need of a church building to accommodate a church plant in an area called Zuunkharaa. I shared the need with our church and the response was amazing. A team of 14 people from ages 17 to 68 was assembled. They raised their own funds and lived among the Mongolian people for three weeks as the building took shape. During that time they preached at a number of churches and participated in daily prayer meetings. The Mongolian people loved and supported them and cooked for them. And the Father provided for all their needs in amazing ways.

After building a heavy roof truss that weighed half a ton, the team suddenly wondered how they would get it on the roof. As the last bolt was tightened, a yellow crane just happened to drive by. One of the Mongolian team raced after the crane on his bicycle and for $50 the truss was securely in place in an hour. (see picture) Today the church building is the hub for a thriving church community with church services and a range of children’s and youth activities impacting the community.

THE PHILIPPINES

It wasn’t long after the beginning of the Nepabunna story that a group of seniors (average age 65) felt the Lord prompting them to explore the possibility of sharing the love of Jesus with a large community of people living on the edge of a rubbish dump in Cebu in the Philippines. Two of our members visited the community and were moved by the fact that these people were living without any medical clinic, school or church in substandard housing. God had put a burden on their hearts and our church leaders confirmed their sense of calling.

A suitable block of land was purchased by the team and over the next five years regular teams of volunteers travelled to Cebu for three week mission trips to build the community centre. In the process, the volunteers raised a total in excess of $250,000 to fund the project. The community centre transformed the rubbish dump. It also has become a haven in times of typhoons and earthquakes. In addition, teams ministered to prisoners in jails, participated in church services and encouraged missionaries. Subsequently, another community centre was built on a rubbish dump at a place called Lapu Lapu using 8 shipping containers. This community with little hope inherited a pre-school and school and a clinic that resulted in much improved health services for all.

BUSINESS 4 TRANSFORMATION (B4T)

Peter Ochse was one of our church members who led the outreach to The Philippines and subsequently felt a call as a business person to use his business skills and resources to make an impact in the world of mission. He is now part of a worldwide fellowship of business people who belong to Business 4 Transformation and who are involved in a wide range of projects that are transforming communities in 14 countries in Africa and South East Asia.
Business leaders can be part of the great commission as they link with Christian leaders in various countries to bring social, economic, environmental and spiritual transformation in communities. Recently, a nationwide food distribution in 18 different sites in Myanmar reached 8,000 people of which 2,300 made decisions to become followers of Jesus Christ. They are now being discipled and integrated into local churches. If you would like further information regarding B4T you can email Peter at peter@benefitness.com.au          Web :  B4T – Business in the heart of missions

How exciting it has been to have pastored a church that took seriously our Lord’s call to be His witnesses in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the utmost parts of the world. And my conviction is that this call is for every church, no matter what size they may be.
Every church that :

• believes that the Father is still at work today and initiates open doors for each church into His worldwide field of mission.
• is prepared to take steps of faith believing that the Father is more than able to provide the necessary resources for the open doors that He initiates. It is never a matter of what we can do with our resources but rather what God can do with our resources. We never included a budget item in our church’s finances to cover expenses for these mission trips. They were self-funded.
• believes that it is not the size of the church that is important, but it is the size of the vision that the Father reveals to the church that is important.
• has visionary leaders who model the priority of the great commission in their teaching and their lifestyles. The mission statement of our church was, “A light to the nation and the nations.”
• gives priority to prayer into the world of missions.
• is prepared for its members to live sacrificially and generously so that the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples are of first importance to the church.

Jesus said to His disciples,
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Ask the Father to show you where He is opening doors for your church to be involved in His worldwide mission purposes. And then be ready to step out in faith as He reveals His plans to you.

Rod was lead pastor of Clovercrest Baptist Church in Adelaide, Australia from 1993 to 2008 during which time this story took place.