Heidi and Christine Armao; Nathan, Julia and Olivia Bowers; Emily Elwood; Jay, Bev, Kelsey, Jonathan, Zach and Daniel Fowler; Mark, Beth, John Mark and Eric Griggs; Jay, Susan, Taylor and Andrew Helton; Tori Henson; John and David Herberich; Hope Horne; Jamie Martof; Mark Miller; Eric and Boo Mullinax; Emilie Musto; Andrew Smith; Mike and Olivia Tawzer; Emily Vatt . . . WOW, what a great team! Of course, I’m a little biased. But, you should be too.
These folk will comprise CPC’s summer mission team to Reynosa, Mexico. There the team will work closely with CPC-supported missionaries, Nolton (NoNo) and Kate Beale. The Beales direct Isaiah 55 Ministries, a grace-based ministry that evangelizes the communities of northern Mexico through the education of the deaf - an unreached and often neglected people group. A vital part of this mission is ministering to volunteer work teams as they join them in fulfilling the Great Commission.
Maybe this is the time to share again why I’m an unabashed advocate for such short-term mission teams. A lot of churches, including Covenant, have spent considerable amounts of time, energy, prayer and money in short-term mission trips. Some ask is it worth it? Do we get a good return on our investment? Couldn’t we do better by sending those funds for such trips to finance national workers and mission projects without the expense and, some say, the ineffectiveness of sending Americans who know little of the culture or the language? Doesn’t this do more to satisfy our wishes for adventure than really to extend the kingdom of Christ? My response is that there are few better ways to invest people and money.
Some of my reasons include:
1. Such teams and individuals are a great source of encouragement to missionaries, who often labor in difficult cross-cultural assignments. Those teams bring needed fellowship and support.
2. Mission teams encourage national Christians as they see, meet, fellowship and work together with brothers and sisters in the Lord who have traveled great distances to minister to them and their people. This to me is the partnership that Paul speaks of in Philippians 1:5.
3. Such teams represent, just by their presence, not to mention their ministry in word and deed, an effective evangelistic witness to the unsaved.
4. Team members’ view of God’s wonder-filled work in the world is often broadened and thus their mission’s perspective transformed.
5. Such mission trips tie the participants’ hearts to the work there, fueling further ministry through prayer, on-going correspondence, contributions, return trips, etc.
6. Mission teams and individuals serve as a catalyst and energize congregations when reports and testimonies are shared upon the team’s return.
7. Short-term mission team participants are the seed bed for a future harvest of career missionaries. The vast majority of those who go into missions as a career are short-term veterans.
8. Such mission trips are simply life changing experiences for participants.
9. Churches that send teams regularly on short-term mission trips far exceed giving to international missions than those that don’t participate.
So, you may ask how can I partner with our team as our team partners with Isaiah 55? Pray and give. Pray for all needed preparation for the team and productivity of the team in Mexico. Consider giving ($) to help us with our team expenses and also, giving goods for our fund-raining yard sale, here at CPC on May 3. Thanks.
Pastor Mullinax