"The most effective aspect of this class was the purposeful introspective look at my own Church's support of global missions." -- student on course evaluation
The following two "An Accurate Picture of My Local Church's Involvement in Global Evangelism" reports were turned in on the same day. The two students were supposedly reporting on the same church.
What a difference! One student did the proper research, while the other attempted to write a report simply from personal observation (which turned out to be less than stellar!).
Windsor Hills is a small inner-city church that, for its size, actually has a great deal of missions going on. They don't have a very large worldwide missions program and only donate money for that cause, but they focus more on evangelism in their community.
They have Angel Food Ministries that helps bring in other families that normally wouldn't come near a church event. They also have a Southern gospel outreach the last Saturday of every month. There are prayer circles and cards that go out for other people as well as several hospital and nursing home visits. Compared to a lot of churches, this isn't very much, but for a church that averages less than 100, it is fairly impressive.
That was brief. Sounds like not much was going on in terms of global involvement. Indeed, the first paragraph has the only information relevant to what the student was supposed to research. No bibliography of people interviewed for the report was included.
Now, take a look at this second report. Remember, these two reports on the same church were submitted to me on the same day.
I attend Windsor Hills Church of the Nazarene and serve as the Director of the College and Career Class. We have been attending Windsor Hills Nazarene for two and a half years. I interviewed the NMI President at the church to get a better glimpse of how our church participates in world missions. Even though my husband and I are on staff, I realize that there are sometimes things that go on behind the scenes that we are unaware of. I was greatly surprised at some of the things that I learned.
Every once in a while, posters and flyers are posted on bulletin boards throughout the church building, but this is not the major way of advertising for missions' promotions. Generally, skits will be done at the beginning of a Sunday Morning Service to help promote missions. I think that this is a great idea. It is more interactive with the congregation rather than just passively expecting people to glance up at the billboards and expect that to get them on the bandwagon as a result. I think that people, in general, will respond more positively to skits that are done live. For one thing, it is unpredictable as to what will happen, and secondly, it allows them for a second to step into someone else's shoes.
Our church does give financially to missions through various means. We participate in Faith Promise, Easter Offering, and Thanksgiving Offering, as well as the Memorial Roll program. Even though I have been in a leadership position for almost three years at this church, I did not even realize that all of these offerings went to world missions. The sad truth is that most believers don't give much to missions. One drawback for my church is that we are so far behind on paying district budgets that it seems hard to raise funds for other areas.
Once a month -- normally the third Wednesday -- the midweek service is focused on missions. Our NMI President told me that she wished that she could do more toward this service such as preparing foreign foods and such that had been done in the past, but she just doesn't have the time. She runs our women's ministries. Her husband is in charge of Angel Food Ministries and she heads up NMI on top of her full-time job and commuting to church from Riverview to Windsor Hills. I felt bad when she said she wanted to do more, but I appreciated that she herself acknowledged that more could be done in these areas. The church also brings in three to four missionary speakers a year to help promote a global worldview.
One thing that our NMI President wants to do differently is to have the missions done on Sunday evening instead of Wednesday. She feels that one of the biggest hindrances to the effectiveness of missions' promotions is simply that people are interested but don't want to be involved. She thinks that this is the case because most people don't think that they are a part of missions. They just don't feel a connection between themselves and the missionaries serving around the world.
I do see areas where my church could be more active in missions, but I also completely believe that they are doing it to their full capacity. I now feel that it is time that the pastoral staff steps up to the challenge and figures out a way to help with promoting world missions. I think that a big part of that simply begins with our own attitude toward missions.
[Attached was a bibliography of three or four people who had been interviewed for the report.]
-- Howard Culbertson,
"This course has practical assignments that involve what is happening in the local church!" -- Lynda B., Nazarene Bible College student
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-- Howard Culbertson,
"This is a great course that opened my eyes to the struggles Christians face around the globe. It gave me an understanding of the real need for missionaries around the world. It's still hard to fathom that there are over two billion people who have not heard about Jesus.+ -- student on course evaluation