Here are some ideas for taking a mission trip right where you live. Finances or time may not allow you or other church members to travel overseas, but that doesn’t mean you can’t engage in projects to share Christ in your immediate area. Plan several ways to reach out into the neighborhood around your church.

• Enlist youth to visit local businesses and volunteer to wash their windows. When asked why they are doing it, they can reply, “We are grateful for what Jesus did for us when he washed away our sins, and we want others to see him clearly.”
• Host a family fun night at the church, at an apartment complex, or in a block party format. Pinterest has great ideas for easy games such as fishing, ring toss, or pick a duck that children will enjoy. For information on making “salvation necklaces” go to wmu.com/projects  Invite non church members to participate.
• Face-Painting is always popular and doesn’t require a lot of effort. Enlist volunteers with a bit of artistic ability and others to interact with the parents while they wait for their children. Find out some key information: Where do they live? Do they go to church? Have they heard about Jesus?
• During warm weather set up a water stand in a community park and distribute bottled water. Ask to pray as you give away the water. Make labels with your church address and service times and attach to the bottles.

A missions emphasis in your church won’t form automatically! Establish a team that will specifically address the missions education needs of your congregation. Following are some questions you might consider as you develop a strategy for education your members about how Southern Baptists do missions.

What kind of missions education do you currently have?

   There are resources for different age groups to help you expand and strengthen how you do missions in your church, including a yearbook of mission projects and emphases to guide your planning. Start small and grow from there!

Will you need training for leaders and volunteers?

There is online training available through the Christian Women’s Leadership Center for age level missions leaders. Go to cwlc.com for information on the user-friendly courses. SEIBA’s Missions Education Consultant, Linda Clark, is also available for group and individual training or to consult with your missions team.

How do we begin?

With a plan and a strategy, you can begin as soon as this fall. Free starter kits are available upon request, and information on discounted curriculum is provided through the Indiana state WMU office. Contact Allison Kinion, director, at akinion@scbi.org  Information is also available from Linda Clark at lclark1213@hotmail.com

Unfortunately, hunger doesn’t take a summer break. Now is the time to get involved in your church’s or community’s feeding program. Many programs provide hot meals 3 days a week during summer vacation. Find out what your community does to alleviate the hunger issue and enlist volunteers to help cook, pack, and distribute food to children who might go hungry otherwise. This ministry is a wonderful way for your church to become involved with families in your town and to develop relationships with them.  Go online for information about these hunger relief groups:  New Albany Food Pantry, Dare to Care (Floyd County), Community Kitchen Inc (Jeffersonville), Summer Food Service Program (Clark County).

As persons whose first language is not English continue to move into our area, the need for literacy grows. There are 3 categories of literacy missions your church might consider as it seeks to minister to adults and families who need to learn to read and to become more proficient in English.

#1 – Adults Reading and Writing (ARW): This approach works to improve reading and writing skills to enable adults to find better jobs, help their children in school, and raise their educational level

#2 – English as a Second Language (ESL): This ministry helps people with writing and reading and adds skills needed for those whose first language isn’t English. Learning English will help them navigate everyday activities such as shopping, going to the doctor, filling out school forms and taking citizenship classes.

#3 – Tutoring Children and Youth (TCY): This program assists students in reading, writing, and math while learning in a safe place with an adult friend. The Bible is used as a textbook to teach cultural values.

Literacy missions began 58 years ago and is still a viable way for churches to expand their impact on newcomers to their communities. For more information go to Patches of Light blog at AnnKnowles.com  Knowles has worked in literacy missions for 40 years and encourages persons to volunteer to help change lives for Christ. 

WorldCrafts has just introduced a Global Perspectives Collection that will help your church learn about other cultures and topics in a fun and exciting way. Each product contains activities and materials that are designed to inform, intrigue and inspire.

WorldCrafts, a fair trade ministry, provides financial assistance to artisans around the world. It is a holistic approach to financial security as it introduces artisans to God’s love through His Son Jesus.

The Global Perspectives Collection offers 3 kits: Africa, the Amazon Basin, and a special Christmas Around the World unit. They can be ordered online at WorldCrafts.org

If your church is seeking ways to minister to refugees, consider the following steps to take to connect with newcomers to our nation and state.

• Find out who they are. Displaced from countries experiencing conflict, most refugees are distraught, frightened, and alone.
• Discover their background. Learn about where they’re from and what their home was like. Find out about their culture and what kind of trouble they’ve experienced.
• Step toward, not away from refugees. Pray for guidance as God helps you overcome your hesitancy about unknown circumstances. Ask Him to free you from any fears you have about interacting with strangers.
• Understand the many possibilities for ministry. Respond to needs as opportunities to share God’s love.
•  Be a resource for refugees to receive assistance with learning English, applying for jobs, housing, or childcare. Connect with refugee families in a warm, friendly way and be ready to help them in practical ways.

Reaching out to people who have experienced great loss can be a rewarding ministry. The relationships you form will demonstrate God’s love and point them to a saving knowledge of Christ.  

Now that we are in 2018, how about some fresh ideas to involve others in mission activities? Here are a few suggestions that might jump-start your church’s participation:

1. Host an “Encourage the Nations” event – This can be as simple or elaborate as you want. Set a time before or after a worship service, at mid-week, or on a Saturday to feature praying for missionaries and mission projects around the world. Enlist station hosts to gather photos and décor items from different countries. Provide snacks from recipes of those nations. Station hosts should know facts about their country and share them as attendees visit each station. Provide prayer requests for missionaries in each area. This event is excellent for families and children, and it’s a great way to introduce your church to the scope of Southern Baptist missions.
2. Purses with a Purpose project – Ask the women in your church to come to a Purse Party and bring a purse they no longer want (a purse in good condition!). Ask them to also bring personal items such as lip balm, tissue packets, purse-size lotions, notepads, pens, pocket-sized New Testaments, etc. At the gathering stuff the purses with the items and include a personal note or Christian tract sharing the good news of Jesus. Close with a devotion about reaching out to strangers in the area and ministering to their needs. Serve light refreshments. You can show a missions video from www.imbconnecting.com or www.namb.net  Deliver the “stuffed” purses to a women’ shelter or center.
3. Make and deliver prayer baskets for children in times of distress. Fire stations and law enforcement agencies welcome the stuffed animals, quilts, and blankets to comfort little ones who are victims of fire, disaster or domestic abuse. You might establish an on-going group that meets on a regular basis to work on the blankets and quilts together for fellowship and encouragement. Pray over each basket before delivering it.

If your church is looking for a fresh, new way to minister during the coming holidays, there are resources to help you!

“33 Easy Ways to Do Missions in Indiana” – This resource leaflet was written specifically with Indiana in mind! You can obtain a copy by emailing Linda Clark at: lclark1213@hotmail.com  User-friendly ideas are only a couple of clicks away!

WorldCrafts  Party – How about hosting a party that will help women artisans around the world? You’re going to shop for gifts anyway, so why not buy fair trade hand-crafted items from artisan groups that exist to provide women with a sustainable income while introducing them to Jesus? Go to www.WorldCrafts.org to view the online catalog and order a party kit complete with invitations, games, recipes, and a sample of items.

“Across the Street and Around the World” by Diana Davis & Autumn Wall is a new source listing ministry ideas designed for the amount of time you have. What a great idea!

Consider a Christmas ministry to missionaries in the United States for their stateside assignments. How about ministering to a care-giver in your church? Is there anything you can do to be an advocate for children in your community? Contact Caleb Creel, SEIBA’s collegiate minister, about ways you could help him (call SEIBA’s office to contact him).

The Women on Mission group in an Ohio church wanted to do something for children in their community. They did some research and decided to purchase backpacks and fill them with items for children who are placed into emergency care due to family issues or natural disasters. The bought and packed 30 backpacks, each containing these items: small blanket, pencil box and pencil,  coloring book, crayons, toothpaste and toothbrush,  stuffed animal, pillow, winter hat, gloves and small toy. They delivered the packs to the local family services agency. As a result the group has been invited to participate in other events that minister to children.

Operation Interdependence in Grand Junction, Colorado is a nationwide organization that helps support many of our troops serving overseas. One church in Virginia collected 226 packets of instant oatmeal and 159 individual drink stick packs and sent them to Colorado for delivery to troops. For more information about how you and your church can get involved go online to operation interdependence. The website will give suggestions for needed items and the address for delivery. This is a great idea for children or youth groups!

Women in several churches in Mississippi make small stuffed bears for Operation Christmas Child boxes. The bears are used as fillers in boxes needing extra items. They began the sewing project in 2010 and have made 12,000 bears! As part of the ministry when they get together to sew, the women pray for missionaries having birthdays that day (see Missions Mosaic monthly magazine for monthly birthday lists) and for each child who will receive a bear. A great ministry idea!

As our thoughts turn to a new school year and fall activities at church, why not plan a missions event that will include the entire family? Schedule the event on the church calendar and chose a time that will attract the largest crowd. Sometimes an activity right after Sunday morning worship is successful. A special missions evening may work well for you. Maybe even a Saturday!

Keep in mind that your focus is families, so plan with them in mind. This will mean that activities should be all-age friendly. If the event is to educate, gear the projects to children so they will be interested in participating. Here is one idea you might consider using:

“Family Fall Festival of Missions”

1. Plan activities for a come-and-go event so families can stay as long as they like and then move on to errands or sports events on their schedule.
2. Enlist plenty of volunteers and provide them with supplies and instructions for each display, activity, or project at the event. Arrange the facility with tables, chairs, and other equipment needed.
3. Promote the event about 4 weeks ahead of time to maximize attendance. Keep your plans simple but interesting. Be sure your publicity is attractive.
4. Enlist someone to provide food (there always has to be food!). Again, remember children will be present so serve finger food that they will like.
5. Think about having some of these activities/projects:

• Our World – learn about Southern Baptist mission work around the world. Attach balloons with world facts on slips inside them to a large world map. Darts that don’t have sharp points will please parents! Free bookmarks can be ordered from the International Mission Board at www.imbconnecting.com to use as prizes.
• Our State – use the Indiana State Missions Offering age level ideas online to provide information about our state and its spiritual needs. Choose 1 or 2 ministries and enlist someone involved in them to tell mission stories about their experiences (i.e., a Disaster Relief volunteer or volunteer at the Rescue Mission).
• Our Association - learn about church planters in southeastern Indiana. Ask our association’s Mission Coordinator, Gary Yochum, for information on the location of church plants in our area. Distribute a list of ways families can help.

This event doesn’t have to be complicated or lengthy. The purpose is to educate and that can be done with creativity and attention to details!