What is missions? What does it look like? How do we define it?
When my family served in West Africa, we served as a family unit, each member actively participating in the work. When I became Rosedale International (RI)’s Director of Partner Development, one of my goals was to connect and mobilize our Rosedale Network family in a similar way.
At RI, we focus on training and equipping the church to go overseas, specifically to the 10/40 Window. God asks many of His followers to go to these unreached places, but the reality is that most of us will not receive that call. Yet each of us is asked to join in building the Kingdom. This reality got me thinking—what can we, as a Rosedale Network family, do here, today? The answer was Missions 101.
RI’s heart for Missions 101 is to cultivate mission vision within our churches, raise money to support RI’s workers on the field, and provide tools that allow each person to participate at whatever level they can. After all, we are a Body with different parts, but we function so much better when we work together. No person is insignificant; Paul tells us that we are each created for good works prepared by God, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
This month, each Rosedale Network church will receive a Missions 101 toolkit. This kit includes four videos with stories from RI’s workers on the field, a Mediterranean recipe for families, small groups, or entire congregations to share, and 101 envelopes. These envelopes are numbered 1 through 100, with each number indicating a donation amount. This system invites everyone in the Body, from young children to families to successful business people, to join in.
As you think about this, I invite you to look at your church family and take ownership of Missions 101. RI has provided the toolkit, but our hope is that each Rosedale Network church will take our tools and make them your own. In essence, do what you are good at! Be your body part! Walk in your good work. This might look like using the videos to find new ways to pray for RI’s workers, or creating a prayer wall that reminds you to lift up workers, regions, and specific people groups. It might look like being willing to tap the shoulder of someone who may be called overseas, and encourage them to go.
It might look like bringing your church together to fill the 101st envelope (meant for a donation of any size over 100 dollars). I encourage you to consider what your church does well—a hog roast, a 5k race, corn hole tournaments or pie eating contests, an auction—and use that to build community and raise money for those called to the unreached of the world.
If all 113 Rosedale Network churches participate as a whole family, over 11,000 people will actively engage in missions through prayer, games, sharing food, and raising support for overseas work. I encourage you to take this opportunity to actively participate in building the Kingdom!
If you have not yet heard about Missions 101, please ask your pastor or missions director what it’s all about. You can also email me at mike@rosedaleinternational.org, and I will send you the Missions 101 toolkit, whether or not you are involved in a Rosedale Network church. I invite you to participate in missions, and can send you all the information you need to get started. We are in this together, and better together.
