Grow & Go - August 2024
HELP THEM STAY
Just recently, we witnessed another couple of our beloved church family answer the call of God to go with the gospel to the nations. Oakhill now has two families that we support as their sending church. Nick, Melissa, Eliana, and Warrick Scott are already on the field, and soon-to-be Todd and Michele Linn. These families are classified as long-term, overseas, foreign missionaries. In this article, I hope to help us recognize the importance of our roles, to remind me as a pastor, whether we are lay leaders or
supporting members, that we are to provide care for those we have “sent out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matt 10:16).
Aaron Menikoff reminds us as the sending church, we are not to sit idly by and do nothing, we must remain faithful to the gospel ourselves as a “Staying Church.” Menikoff stated, “It’s not enough to be a sending church. You need to be a staying church. A staying church doesn’t let the rope fray or the bond loosen. As inconvenient as the relationship may be, the staying church remains involved by praying faithfully, communicating regularly, visiting occasionally, and always looking for new and creative ways to help. This is how we hold the rope, and we mustn’t let go”. (1)
On Sunday afternoon during the sending celebration of Todd and Michele Linn, there was a time of prayer for them. Prayer is one of the greatest ways to offer member care as we partner in the gospel with missionaries the Church has sent out. The best way to pray for the missionaries the Lord has sent out from our church is to pray the Word over them. For example, we can pray for their health, safety, longevity, and finances – “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men” (2 Thess 3:1-2). We can also pray for their joy in the Lord, peace, and
comfort – “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thess 2:16-17).
As the sending church, and having a responsibility to hold the rope, we must also see our need to support our missionaries financially. The Church is given a charge from the apostle Paul to support this when he said “Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing” (Tit 3:13). There are a lot of expenses for missionaries to remain on the field from the logistics to get there, finding housing – it being affordable and sustainable, food, travel (vehicles), and the cost of simply doing ministry. It is the church’s responsibility to see that when our missionaries have needs, that those needs are provided for so that gospel advancement is not hindered in any way.
We have heard about praying and giving, but now, each of us must discern the question; If given the opportunity, will we give up our own time, to go there where our missionaries are and offer support? I say this often, that we go expecting to change things on a mission trip but, what usually happens is that God changes us. However, when we go and support our missionaries on the field, we must intentionally be focused that our time there is not about us. It is to support our mission families well in whatever that might be. Our time there is to help and encourage them, not impose, but assist them with whatever needs they have.
Whether we are praying, giving, or going to support our missionaries on the field sent out from Oakhill, each of us has a vital role in holding the rope. Church, we must also remain faithful to the gospel advancing here, if we are to support them well over there. If you are a prayer warrior – please hold the rope by extending an encouraging word and prayer to our overseas partners in the gospel. If God has blessed you with an abundance – give cheerfully and sacrificially to Lottie Moon so that our missionaries can remain on the field “lack nothing” (Tit 3:13). And Lord willing if you have answered the call to go on a short-term mission trip to support – hopefully we can do just that. With the Lord’s Help, we will go with intentionality to deny ourselves and everything we want out of a trip and go instead to help make the greatest impact with our time there so our missionaries can remain on the field.
(1) Aaron Menikoff, “Don’t Just Be a Sending Church, Be a Staying Church,” Reaching & Teaching Blog, 24 November 2020, https://rtim.org/dont-just-be-a-sending-church-be-a-staying-church/.