IT TAKES A CHURCH...
...to raise an on mission Christian. The church body has a responsibility to model on mission behaviors for other Christians, especially those who are new to the faith and just discovering their new spiritual DNA. Developing an on mission lifestyle doesnt just happen over night. Its a process. And during that process, people come alongside us and help us develop certain behaviors that become part of who we are as Christians and hopefully will be multiplied in others.

My process began years ago as a child growing up in a Christian home and a missions-active Southern Baptist churchFirst Baptist Church, Tullahoma, Tennessee. As we began to work on this issue of On Mission, we spent a lot of time talking about our cover story and how important mentoring relationships are within the lives of Christians. I couldnt help but think of the men and women in the church who had a profound impact on my life and who helped shape me into the woman I am today.

I know its not an accident that I work at the North American Mission Board. God has been preparing me for this all my life. Im a product of Girls in Action (GAs), Acteens, Sunday school and Church Training, you see. Missions, evangelism and church planting have always been a part of my church life. The girls and I learned about missionaries in Hawaii as we ate fresh coconut (for the first time) and strung together silk flower leis. Ill never forget the piata I made out of a brown paper grocery bag that was supposed to serve as a teaching aid when we learned about missionaries in Mexico. I also learned why the Cooperative Program makes the Southern Baptist Convention unique. Im so thankful to Cindy Pelphrey for making missions education a priority in our church. She and the other GAs and Acteens leaders instilled in me a passion for missions.

Eleanor Hodge was the president of the WMU at our church for years. I was just a little girl during her reign, but Ill never forget how she emphasized missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering year after year. It was always a big deal. Ill never forget how she talked about these special offerings and how they supported our missionaries at home and overseas.

Ill also never forget my first mission trip. I was 14 and so excited that I was finally old enough to go. It was almost like a rite of passage. Our team of adults and youth loaded into vans and cars before the crack of dawn and caravanned from Tullahoma all the way to Houghton Lake, Michigan. I loved every minute of that trip. We led Backyard Bible Clubs during the day and held concerts at local churches at night. This was the first time I realized that there were children in the U.S. who had never heard the song Jesus Loves Me. It was an awakening moment for me as I saw first hand the need to share the gospel in North America. Our church had a partnership with the Northland Associa-tion, and over the next several years our church sent teams to help start churches, lead Bible clubs and help construct buildings for existing churches. Our pastor, Dr. James Porch, was the catalyst for these mission trips and many other mission activities within our community. He saw the importance of assisting churches in areas where there was little or no Christian witness. I am so glad he modeled those on mission behaviors for me. And I am so thankful for a church that was committed to missions.

John Argo is a friend from college whose passion for sharing the gospel was contagious. I can remember walking around campus with him as he visited with non-Christian students hed met in class. It came so easily to him. He could weave the gospel into almost any conversation. He was a great example of someone intentionally developing relationships in order to share the gospel. He helped push me to the next level of sharing my faith.

Im amazed at how God continues to put people in my life who encourage me in my on mission lifestyle. And He places others in my life who I can come alongside and encourage. So let me say thank you to Bonnie, Miss Frieda, Lonnie, Andy and many others who mentored me and showed me how to be an on mission Christian. I hope I can honor you with my life. I am so grateful for your influence on my life, and I pray that God will use me to influence others.

As you read Discovering Our Spiritual DNA on page 22, I hope youll think about those whove helped you develop your spiritual DNA into an on mission lifestyle. Also, look around your church and discover people who God placed in your life. Could you be a mentor, investing yourself in them as others invested in you?

Carol Pipes, managing editor, cpipes@namb.net