A whole month?!
Dear church,
Today kicks off one of my favorite times of year on the calendar for our church family. It is our annual One Great Month for Missions emphasis here at First Christian Church. We take the month of February and raise awareness for our missions program and dedicate the month to sharing the Gospel locally, nationally, and to the ends of the Earth.
A whole month?, you might ask. ABSOLUTELY!
A few years ago during the pandemic, we brainstormed what it might look like for us to continue a missions emphasis while being mindful of our missionary’s travel concerns. Up to that point, we dedicated a full weekend to raising awareness for our missions program. The decision was made to make a month-long emphasis to coordinate all of our missionary’s travel plans and we are so glad we made the change!
Through the course of the month, we’ll have four guest speakers:
Sunday, February 5th | Cory Lemke, Pastor of Shasta Way Christian Church & Former Missionary to Ukraine
Sunday, February 12th | Donna Stroop, Hippo Valley Christian Mission, Zimbabwe
Sunday, February 19th | Joe Hoover, Pioneer Bible Translators
Sunday, February 26th | Bob Wood, Oregon Christian Evangelistic Fellowship
In addition, we’ll have guests each week sharing various testimonies about their missions organizations. Some of them will be in person and some will be via video testimony. It really is exciting for us as a church family to hear about all the different ways our gifts had an impact locally, nationally, and to the ends of the earth.
To that end, our theme for this year’s One Great Month for Mission is ‘To the Ends of the Earth.’ As we partner with missionaries it is our prayer that our church family will be moved to support, give, and pray for our missionaries and their ministries. We’ve developed a One Great Month for Missions Prayer Guide this year. It is our prayer that you spend some time using each day during February. You’ll notice that the prayer guide is divided into 28 daily prayers. It’s designed to be used daily, not only through the month of February but monthly throughout the whole year (you can pick one up in the church lobby on Sunday or swing by the office Monday -Wednesday from 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM).
In the last few years, we’ve had so many new families begin to attend and be part of our church family,. We wanted to share exactly how our church raises money for missions.
First, 13% of all money received goes directly toward our missions efforts locally, nationally, and to the ends of the earth. In 2022, (from the 13% of all giving) our church was able to raise just over $35,000 for missions!
Second, about thirty-five families in our church family commit to giving above and beyond their regular giving for missions during our One Great Month for Missions event. These families give regularly (once a year, quarterly, monthly, or weekly) through the course of the year. In 2022, (from One Great Month commitments), our church was able to raise just over $21,000 for missions!
Third, from time to time, we have designated gifts given directly to missions. In total, between the 13%, One Great Month for Missions commitments, and designated gifts in 2022 we raised over $60,000 for our missions program!
Would you pray about being involved this year? If you’ve been involved in the past, pray about how God is moving you to renew and increase your commitment. If you’ve never been involved, pray about how God is calling you to be involved!
“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’”
~ 2 Corinthians 9:6-9 ESV
I’m truly looking forward to spending the next few weeks learning, being inspired, and being challenged about our missions program.
I love you, church.
Pastor Daniel
(In next week’s issue of ‘Dear church’ I’ll be sharing information about my upcoming missions trip to Guatemala)
