fulfilling a missions mandate

At Second Baptist Church, Springfield, Missouri, short-term mission trips have become our people's most common starting point for deeper missions involvement.

Members of our church who are involved in long-term missions often mention that their desire to serve
began on a short-term mission trip. Some even go into career mission service. Others say that a short-term trip whets their appetite for more, fueling a passion to fulfill the Great Commission as a volunteer-an on mission Christian.

This was the case for me. My life was forever changed during a short-term mission trip. On a mountaintop in China, God ignited a missions fire in my heart. I've never been the same since.

At Second Baptist we believe missions entails praying, giving and going. (You notice we don't consider the going part to be optional.) So, having agreed we all must pray, all must give and all must go, we turned our attention to Acts 1:8, which provides a geographical mandate. This verse tells the local church where to fulfill the Great Commission-parameters set by Jesus Himself. Our missions assignment is to the ends of the earth, beginning next door.

First, we divided our missions enterprise into our Jerusalem (Springfield), Judea (Missouri), Samaria (North America) and the ends of the earth (other continents). Seeing it that way helps us focus our efforts-staying on target and on task in all four areas-so we can keep our missions efforts balanced.

But this equilibrium is not easy to maintain. The scales tend to tip dramatically from one end of the missions spectrum to the other.

We know that some churches emphasize local work almost exclusively, others limit missions involvement to international trips. Our solution was to give a staff member responsibility for each point of the Great Commission compass, so we always have advocates helping us maintain balance.

In Springfield, our Jerusalem, we partner with a few other churches and many benevolence agencies to minister to human needs. We provide more than 200 tutors in the Springfield public schools. Second Baptist seeks to do good deeds, hoping to gain good will that will open doors for us to share Christ.

In Missouri, our Judea, we focus on our metroplexes-Kansas City and St. Louis. The level of human suffering and need in large cities is overwhelming. If believers are not laboring in Jesus' name where people live in mass, we are absent at the very place our Lord wants to be present.

In North America, our Samaria, we have partnerships in almost every direction, including Nebraska, Chicago, the Rio Grande Valley, Atlanta, Washington and Colorado. We work with Native Americans, Hispanics, Russian immigrants, cowboys, the rich, the poor, up-and-outers, down-and-outers, etc. The variety of cross-cultural experiences expands our minds and helps give us a true feeling of being on mission, of breaking free from focusing only on people just like us.
To reach the ends of the earth, we have long-term missionaries from our church and ongoing partnerships with missionaries serving in seven of the International Mission Board's 11 regions. Our goal is to have significant ties with all 11 IMB regions. This will enable every Second Baptist member wanting to do international work to have a conduit directly from our church to any region of the world.

One vital lesson we've learned about short-term missions is the need to return again and again to the same location to minister. A hit-and-run strategy will not result in the long-term results we want to accomplish in our missions enterprise.

Only by returning can we establish strong relationships with people we seek to help. As we come to know them better, we find them more open to what we have to say. They first learn to love us, then they transfer their love from us to our Savior.
On our first mission trip to a site, we often sense skepticism. We can tell they wonder why we've come and if we truly care. And often, when we're packing up to leave, the locals will ask: "Are you coming back?" Our answer carries more weight than whatever work we've done among them. They want our commitment.

Missions is hard work. It requires repeated plowing of dry, packed soil. The stubborn ground is best softened by taking many trips down the same furrow.

This repeated touch puts names and faces on missions. Over time you become dear friends with the people you serve.
As years go by, this human touch makes it easier to plan and raise enthusiasm for subsequent mission trips, because your members have committed themselves not just to people-but to friends.

We urge your church to encourage every member to accept the responsibility to pray, give and go. We challenge you to find at least four places to do short-term missions: in your town, state, North America and other continents. In all locations, plant yourself. Put down roots. Stay connected. Go back again and again.

Dr. John Marshall is pastor of Second Baptist Church, Springfield, Missouri and author of Through the Eyes of God (Randall House, 2005).