The Mission Stream: The Flow

The headwaters of The Mission Stream are generated by these five truths that are discovered and understood by seeing the bigger picture unveiled in God’s word.

–The God of the bible is The Missionary God

–He created the languages and ethnicities that exist

–He will receive worship from representatives of each and every one of them

–He created the church to accomplish His end-game plan for humanity

–He calls some to go and everyone else to send and care

Perceiving these truths will provoke an individual or the leaders of a local church to no longer be content with standing on the banks of The Mission Stream, aware of its existence but unconcerned with entering in.

Instead, they will be provoked to wade in to its flow, which will move them to:

1–A RE-IGNITED HUNGER FOR HIS WORD

They will eagerly begin to re-read both familiar and unfamiliar sections of the bible with their eyes, minds, and hearts on the alert for God’s interaction with both Israel and the church–and His commands for them to reach out and interact with people from all ethnic groups in a way that honors and glorifies Him, inviting them to submit themselves to Him.

2–DISCOVER WHERE THINGS ARE AT RIGHT NOW

They will do the research necessary to learn as much as possible about the current status of God’s end-game plan–how much progress has been made in fulfilling it–and also become familiar with the terminology that is used to describe and define it.

The two key websites that provide this information are:

Peoplegroups.org click here

The Joshua Project, click here

3–KNOW WHAT THEIR LOCAL CHURCH IS CURRENTLY DOING

They will learn as much as possible about the missionaries their church already supports and the ongoing various global missions endeavors of the church.

4–UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN LOCAL COMMUNITY

They will take the time to discover the ethnic make-up of their local community, the language each ethnic group speaks, and the country of origin of the immigrants, international students, and refugees that now live among them.

5–READ ABOUT THOSE THAT HAVE ACCEPTED THE CALL TO GO

They will begin reading the biographies of different missionaries and be inspired in a number of ways, along with learning that God calls common people from all walks of life to be missionaries and that He empowers the self-sacrifice needed by those that obey His call.

6–ENGAGE THROUGH PRAYER

They will recognize that prayer is essential for accomplishing the task and start to personally and regularly pray for the missionaries they know, those their church supports, at least one unengaged/unreached people group, and the missionaries and organizations that are attempting to reach them with the Gospel.

Wading in to The Mission Stream and being moved by its flow in these six ways is exhilarating, fulfilling, humbling, and life-changing, for those who have entered and for many others.