101 Ways to be a World Christian ...

 


Senders | Servicers | "Go-ers" | Going



Although much talked about, this is the area in which workers are most desperately needed. Keith Green wrote that since America has 5% of the world's population, then only 5% of Christian workers should be serving in America. Yet the "harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Could God be calling you to advance His kingdom overseas?

Local Church Involvement:


 It sounds simple but remember that Wheaton College is a community of believers and has wonderful resources but is not a church. Therefore the first thing to do when you are thinking of being mobilized for missions as either a sender or are going is to get involved as a regular worshipper at a local church. Let church leaders know of your heart for missions and ask them to start praying for you. Acts 13 gives the wonderful example of Paul and Barnabas being sent out for missions from the local church.

Short-Term Missions:


Short-term missions can build us spiritually and give us a vision for God's world. In terms of kingdom advance, these trips are most effective when they are for the purpose of serving long-term workers and/or getting experience in the area of long-term service.

Most of the agencies listed below provide excellent short-term opportunities and internships.

Articles about Short-Term Missions: http://www.missionfrontiers.org/archive.htm
(Click on the March-April 2004 edition called "Real Fools for God?")

Long-Term Missions:


The following categories fall into rather awkward divisions, because many overseas workers are involved in overlapping areas of ministry. While "tentmaking" has often been thought of as a creative access method to closed countries, areas such as teaching and development work can and should be an integral part of holistic ministry. As Christ's love is demonstrated in concrete ways, we should see disciples born and churches planted.

1) CHURCH PLANTERS

    The following agencies are involved in planting effective, reproducing indigenous churches. Many of them work among ethnic groups where no such church currently exists.

    Christar
    Christar's passion is to plant churches among the least-reached.

    Pioneers
    Pioneers sends teams to initiate church-planting movements among the least-reached peoples, in partnership with local churches worldwide.

    Frontiers
    Frontiers sends teams for the purpose of seeing church planting movements among Muslim peoples.

    New Tribes Mission
    NTM works with tribal peoples worldwide.

    OMF International
    OMF plants churches among the least-reached peoples of the Far East.

    African Inland Mission
    AIM is committed to building strong national churches on the continent of Africa.

    Operation Mobilization
    Although well-known for short-term work, OM also does church planting. Also, check out this website for stories about hwat God is doing in different countries around the world.

    SEND International
    The focus of SEND is to plant the church where it does not exist and serve the church where it does.

    The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM)
    TEAM is an evangelical, non-denominational, international mission whose work it is to help churches send missionaries to plant reproducing churches in other nations.

    Arab World Ministries
    "We are a team-oriented mission expressing faith in Christ through love for Muslims."

    Mission to Unreached Peoples
    "Mission to Unreached Peoples seeks to obey the Great Commission of Jesus Christ by investing our lives, gifts, resources, and vocational skills in God's work."

    World Team
    World Team's purpose is "to glorify God by working together to establish reproducing churches among unreached peoples of the world."

2) TENTMAKERS

    Global Opportunities defines tentmakers as "Christian professionals who work in secular jobs in order to reach another people with the gospel, by integrating work and witness." The opportunities are limitless!

3) DISCIPLERS AND TRAINERS

    Church planting involves training local believers to witness and produce church planting movements. Training institutions are often helpful in this; for example, check out Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary.

4) ENGLISH TEACHERS

    Educational Services International
    ESI provides good training, and a range of short-term opportunities in a variety of places. You can also acquire a Master's Degree while serving with them overseas.

    English Language Institute of China
    ELIC provides many of the same opportunities as ESI, including the tuition-free Master's Degree! Their focus is in East Asia.

5) RELIEF/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

    World Vision
    "World Vision seeks to enable the world's children to realize their God-given potential by tackling the root causes of poverty."

    Samaritan's Purse
    "Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world."

    World Relief
    "Together, World Relief and partner churches are saving lives and restoring hope through ministries that address poverty, disease, hunger, persecution, and the effects of war and disasters."

    Mission Aviation Fellowship
    MAF has five main causes: Evangleism and Church Support, Community Development, Medical Assistance, Crisis Relief, and National Training. Through aviation and technology services, MAF helps to cross daunting geographical barriers that would otherwise keep people groups isolated from spiritual and physical help.

    Educational Concern for Hunger Organization (ECHO)
    "Our vision is to bring glory to God and a belssing to mankind by using science and technology to help the poor."

    Lifewater International
    This organization is dedicated to providing safe water for the rural poor around the world.

6) MEDICAL WORK

    Samaritan's Purse
    The motivation behind all our efforts is to go and "heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'the kingdom of God is near you.'"

    MedSend Project
    MedSend Project helps medical missionaries reach the field by providing student loan repayment grants and financial counsel.

    Mercy Ships
    These are traveling hospital ships that serve in Africa and the Carribbean.

7) JUSTICE WORK

    International Justice Mission
    IJM pursues justice for the oppressed by using legal work and law enforcement to rescue victims of injustice (e.g. exploited children), and educating people to act for the cause of justice.

8) TRANSLATION AND LITERACY

    Wycliffe Bible Translators
    Wycliffe'smission is to assist the church in making disciples of all nations through Bible translation.

    SIL International
    "By facilitating language-based development, SIL International serves the peoples of the world through research, translation, and literacy." They also provide training in a wide number of linguistic-related areas (e.g. literacy, language learning, sociolinguistics), and are highly respected worldwide.

    International Bible Society
    "The purpose of IBS is to faithfully translate, publish and reach out with God's Word so that people around the world may become disciples of Jesus Christ and members of His Body."

9) ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

    http://www.wycliffe.org/ethnomusic/home.htm
    Ethnomusicologists assist Christians overseas in producing worship music that is authentically indigenous, so that they can worship God in their own musical "language". SIL offers graduate study programs in ethnomusicology.

10) MINISTRY TO PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

    Voice of the Martyrs
    VOM seeks to encourage and empower persecuted Christians worldwide, provide relief for families of martyrs, and inform the world about the persecuted church.

    International Christian Care
    ICC is a non-profit organization devoted to serving the persecuted church

11) URBAN WORK

    Servant Partners
    Servant Partners develops and sends holistic church planting teams to the urban poor in cities around the world.

    InnerCHANGE
    InnerCHANGE is a Christian order composed of communities of missionaries living and ministering incarnationally among the poor and striving to follow the Lord God's injunction to "do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8).

12) CHRISTIAN MEDIA

    Trans World Radio
    "Trans World Radio is an international Christian broadcasting ministry that has been proclaiming the Good News of God's unfailing love nad everlasting forgiveness for nearly five decades."

    The Jesus Film Project
    The Jesus Film seeks to give everyone a chance to hear the gospel in their own language. It has been shown more than 5 billion times since 1979.

    Gospel Recordings Network
    "Our purpose is to communicate the Good News by means of audio recordings in all of the world's languages and dialects. Priority is given to non-literate, unreached peoples."

13) REFUGEE CARE



For comments or questions, please contact Brian Medaglia, Director of the Office of Christian Outreach and Supervisor for World Christian Fellowship. You can call the office during normal business hours CST at 630-752-5076.