I have the privilege of writing this first post on our new blog, “Kentucky and Beyond”. I’m not exactly sure where it will go, but I’m hoping that the writings of our team will serve as a tool for missions mobilization in Kentucky, North America and around the world. Let me first clarify missions mobilization as simply a way of referring to work that helps people understand, embrace, and get involved in the Great Commission.
Some people mobilize without noticing they are doing it. A person may tell a friend about the community ministry he’s involved in or invite someone out for coffee with a church planter who is sharing about the new work. Others consciously work to involve believers in mission trips or local ministry opportunities.
There are two primary stages to the missions mobilization process and both are necessary because they depend upon each other as the process continually repeats itself. The first stage raises awareness, educates and inspires vision and passion for missions. A person is likely introduced to this stage of mobilization when he hears a mission conference speaker. Hopefully he comes away reminded about God’s love and concern for the whole world and senses personal responsibility to join in the task. But he also probably senses a need for more practical training about how to apply what he has heard to his life.
The second stage of missions mobilization provides the practical information and guidance people need to transform their mission desire into meaningful involvement. An example of this would be www.kybaptist.org/GO which helps people actively serve by providing details on mission and ministry opportunities; or www.kybaptist.org/DR which tells how to be trained and equipped for responding to disasters in Kentucky and beyond; or www.namb.net/mobilize-me1 which provides guidance to people exploring a missions career.
Both stages are equally important to the success of passing missions onto the next generation of believers and getting people meaningfully involved in God’s plan to reach the lost of this world, beginning right here in Kentucky.
Each believer may find himself at a different place in the process, but ALL Christ followers should be in involved in missions (Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:19-20). In what stage of the missions mobilization process do you find yourself at this time? I’d love to hear from you concerning your missions involvement and learn how we can help you tell His story in Kentucky and beyond.
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