Church with a Mission

Ps Ng Ping Kin                                                                                    

Senior Pastor, U Chau Estate Baptist Church.

Can a church with 100+ people participate in mission or is it only for churches with a large membership?

Medium-small size churches normally lack human and financial resources. The Pastors are over-whelmed with the pastoral work of their church and have no time for mission.  If they ever do anything, it would only be symbolic.  I am serving in such a medium-small size church, with a determination that we WILL do missions!  Missions is the core of the Great Commission.  Jesus commanded that we should make “disciples” of all men.

Mt 28:19-20:“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and the son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”

This is a call for all Christians! 

For a medium-small size church to do mission, I have learnt to hold firmly to three important areas:

1.           Vision: First and foremost, the pastor has to have the vision for mission so he can motivate the church. There are always countless needs in the church, and there are never-ending urgent tasks to be done but to have a vision for missions is equally important. Vision comes from passion.  I have gone to the mission fields with Asian Outreach Hong Kong teams to visit Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County in Guangxi, China.  I was moved by their enormous needs and brought them to my church.  Our congregation visited the Dong tribe several times. We contributed to their church building project.  Our leaders made several trips to share and train them as well.

2.  Teach: I have heard that some congregations complain that their pastors are doing too  

     much mission work.  In reality, they are saying that they want more care from the pastor.    

     When a pastor promotes missions in his church, he needs wisdom to motivate and

     encourage his congregation also to be involved in missions so they will not feel neglected.

     He needs courage to teach his people that “It is better to give than to receive.”  A

     congregation with a selfish attitude, only seeking to receive pastoral care for themselves

    does not have the signs of a blessed church.

3. Give and take: No pastor can oversee the running of the church by himself and he has to learn to delegate and get his church members involved in the daily running and administration of the church. Sharing the load helps the Pastor to then focus on what is important for the church and missions is important for every church. As everything is important, I often pray to God for wisdom to give and take: Which ministry can I give to other pastoral team members or deacons?  Which ministry do I need to take on personally?  For me, I would like to put more time and effort on mission and evangelism. With wisdom to give and take, share and delegate your ministry load, is the only way to avoid being burn-out.

As the Great Commission is the core of all ministries, Missions has to be the most important ministry in all churches. May the Lord grant us vision and wisdom to participate in mission together so we can populate His Kingdom. The GREAT COMMISSION needs all of us. Will you answer His call?