God’s Global Family
date posted: Jan 24, 2008
We are setting aside the entire month of February to focus together on World Missions. SAFMC has had a long and rich heritage of involvement in the world Kingdom movement. We have seen many men, women and young people go to serve in various parts of the world. We have seen dozens of teams go on short-term mission trips. We have been blessed by having several career missionaries make Spring Arbor their retirement home. Every other week, it seems, we are either sending missionaries off or welcoming someone back from a short-term mission. Our Peru team is midway through their 11-day project in Yanamayo, Peru. They are building a church and hosting a children’s Bible School. Dr. Al and Louise Snyder, retired missionaries to Rwanda, accompanied by our organist, Ruth Rupert, are traveling next week to Kenya and Rwanda. Melissa Hayward leaves February 5 for south Asia for a year internship with International Justice Mission, a 10-year-old organization that fights the international sex slave trade. Wayne and Barb Vibbert return home this week from a 6-month teaching mission at Hope Africa University in Burundi.
The 14th and last Key in our Grow Series is that every man, woman and young person be informed, interested and involved in world Missions. Our desire is that every able-bodied person in our congregation would have at least one third-world short-term mission experience. We have had several hundred of our people participate in a VISA (Volunteers in Service Abroad) trip. In 2008, we still have trips slated for Haiti (spring), Thailand (summer with young adults), and Bulgaria (summer with senior teens and others). All the trips have openings.
What a blessing to be able to hear the world news and know the places that are being talked about, to be able to pray for situations and leaders around the world that we know personally, to be able to give out of our abundance and receive the greater blessing of being linked to what God is doing around the world.
Come this February. Our 2008 investment goal for Global Outreach is $386,870. $305,620 of that is for World Missions. $81,250 is for Community Outreach. Our goal for the month of February is to raise $50,000 toward our World Missions goal for 2008.
Engage your entire household in the greatest movement in human history!