Caring for the Global Church
by Nick Cooper
Last summer in the midst of one of the most confusing and challenging years of my life, God turned my life upside down and placed a calling on my life to become a Biblical Counselor. Never before had I dreamed of or even given the faintest thought to spending my life listening to and counseling others. It wasn’t until a mission trip with an organization called Chosen Vessels that I began to see God’s calling stir my heart to the great need and opportunity before us.
The purpose of most mission trips within a church context is to conduct short-term trips to provide temporary care to a non-profit organization through VBS, building projects, or humanitarian relief efforts. But what If I told you that some of the most important mission projects the Church can do are to care for those workers who are in the fields daily — working the soil for the harvest that is to come?
Chosen Vessels is an organization that provides Member care to ministry workers, missionaries, and local ministry personnel in other countries through debrief sessions, year-round video, phone, email, and in-person counseling and prayer. Their mission is to Encourage, Equip and Empower global workers. In October I had the opportunity to partner with them to host a 4-day conference for global workers in Romania. It was a respite retreat that allowed for 100 global partners and their kids.
The goal of the respite retreat was to provide a space where they could step out of the ministry work they do tirelessly day after day, and to commune with each other, and with God. Through worship, designated prayer time, as well as key teachings and trainings, our goal was to invest in the lives and souls of those whom God had entrusted to us that weekend. I think that this is what the global Church is lacking. Many of us can recall the Great Commission verses in Matthew 28 where we are called to “go and make disciples.” But what happens to those we send out? Where is the ongoing support for them?
We are all missionaries, called to make disciples “as we go.” The mission of God is not only carried out by international missionaries - you and I do this in our everyday lives as we bring the gospel to bear in our homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces. But there is a unique strain on an individual or family serving and ministering in a foreign context, away from family and friends, in an unfamiliar culture, often learning a language as they share the gospel. While we believe that we are all missionaries, we would do well to remember our brothers and sisters ministering abroad and the particular care they need to serve sustainably and well.
I asked Bekah Baxter, the founder and Executive Director to answer the following questions pertaining to Member Care—these were her responses:
1. WHAT IS PARTNER/MEMBER CARE TO YOU? “Member Care is the charge to love one another well, sharing in one another’s burdens of daily life and displaying kindness in celebration and grief. Throughout Scripture, we are commanded repeatedly to love one another as Christ has loved us. Member Care in the intentional way of loving cross-cultural workers in order to develop resiliency and endurance in their areas of service. The goal of Member Care is to renew and refresh global workers throughout the year so they can continue to labor healthily.”
2. WHERE DO YOU FEEL CHURCHES ARE LACKING IN THEIR ABILITY TO PROVIDE CARE TO PARTNERS? “While many churches thrive in preparing their cross-cultural workers to serve through financial covering, prayer covering and even pre-field training, many do not have the resources to provide essential continual care throughout their time of service. “Out of sight, out of mind” is very common as families and individuals relocate abroad, leaving many with a once-a-year check-in or a simple connection when they return to their passport country on leave or sabbatical. Many churches also don’t have access to Member Care Resources and training that could equip and empower them to care for their workers well.”
3. WHAT ARE SOME IMPORTANT STEPS EVERY MEMBER OF THE GLOBAL CHURCH CAN TAKE TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN THIS? “Each of us has a unique opportunity to step into roles at home and abroad to serve the global Church. First and foremost, we each can cultivate a practice and commitment to prayer for the movement of the Gospel. Start with finding out who your church has sent in the past or who is currently serving. Commit to praying for one or two families over the course of the year. If information is available, find out their birthdays or anniversaries and send a card around those dates. Hop on to a short-term service trip opportunity focused on serving workers and their families. When workers are on leave or sabbatical, offer to set up a meal at your home for others to come and hear about their work. It opens up doors for financial support and provision. There are tons of small ways that make a big impact that anyone can do to support workers at home or abroad.”
We Are Sent and We Support
Sundays at New City Church, we gather together and worship and fellowship with one another. And one of my favorite parts is the end when we are reminded and challenged that as we go from that place back to our everyday lives, we are sent. What would it look like if weren’t only sent to our respective communities, but if we also supported and came alongside one another in the ways we are sent all over the world?
We would recall who God is, what He has done, and who we are in light of those things.
In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve and told them to go and be fruitful, to multiply and subdue the earth. But sin entered the world and broke that relationship. So God sent His son Jesus to rescue us and bring us back into right relationship with him. And through his perfect life, his death, and his resurrection defeating death, hell and grave — we have redemption and are restored to right standing with the Father. Because Jesus has rescued us and made us family, we serve and care for one another as we proclaim the kingdom to the nations.
Hearts would be stirred by the Gospel
As we love and care for those who are sent and serving in various places, believers and non-believers alike would see what Jesus came to do. We would be reminded of the early church in Acts where all were together and had all things in common. They were selling their possessions and giving to each that had need, they were praying together and for one another. The gospel is our motivation to teach, preach, pray, counsel, and evangelize - and as we do these things we proclaim its great beauty.
The global Church would be strengthened
In a world where everything is out to divide and separate us, where doctrine and small insignificant preferences divide the American church on Sunday morning — imagine feeling so connected through prayer, and to the global churches’ expansion in places like China or Africa through stories and updates on a consistent basis. God’s family is much bigger than the people on your street - in God’s time it will reach every people, tribe, nation, and tongue, and we can celebrate that the gospel makes us family with people all over the world.
The mission field would be saturated with Gospel-centered believers who were living and serving from a healthy soul overflowing with grace and mercy; showing compassion and love to every person that they encounter
International missionaries and global workers are not super-Christians. They are men and women just like you and me. They are imperfect broken people, and they need more than just our financial support. They need to be reminded of scripture; they need prayer warriors in their corner; they need to know that their work is not in vain. The work is difficult, and the sacrifices they make are real. So this year let us resolve to look for new opportunities to love and serve our brothers and sisters in the work already being done.