Missions Conference

Our church just hosted our annual Missions Conference this past weekend. This is always such a time of encouragement and hope to see how God is working around the world. Our church supports over 50 missionaries, and each year about 20-25 of them attend our conference. It is amazing to hear their testimonies and stories of how God is working and how they are serving.

This year we heard from a family with three young children who are living Uganda. They are building a children's library, serving as a doctor at the medical clinic, running a support group for families with sickle cell anemia, and building lasting relationships in that village. (Check out their blog www.steadfastjoy.blogspot.com for more.) We heard from a computer engineer who works to translate the Bible into new languages and serve missionaries in the field. We heard from people planting churches in Costa Rica, India, Columbia SC, Belgium, and Turkey. We had veteran missionaries who have been serving for the past 20 years, and new missionaries who are still raising support so they can go to Africa. We had missionaries from Kazakhstan, Japan, Greenville, Puerto Rico, and more.  I love how it all makes the world feel both very big and very small.

We were also challenged about how to do missions right here. One of my passions for this is through our church's Orphan Care ministry. James 1:27 commands us all to care for the widow and the orphan. There are many ways to fulfill this mission. Think about the gifts and talents God has given you and how you can best serve.

• Can you help mentor a family through the new DSS program Family Friends? 
• Can you host children for 4 to 6 weeks through Safe Families during a time of crisis? 
• Are you willing to be foster parents? 
• Do you have a desire to adopt? 
• Can you spend a few Saturdays each year serving at Miracle Hill Children's Home?
•  Can you donate cleaning supplies and household goods to the Children's Home? 
• Can you donate clothes or furniture to families in need?
•  Can you make a financial donation to a missionary, Reece's Rainbow, Bethany Christian Service, Miracle Hill, the church's Faith missionary offering?
• Will you pray? Above all else, pray. 

Our God is faithful, loving, and compassionate to all He has made. He loved us enough to send us His Son, Jesus. He desires to be in a relationship with us and bring us into his kingdom. How can we not tell others this great news? What is God asking you to do?