Making Every Nation a Sending Nation

Essential Mission Components Training

Essential Mission Components training last week at ABWE headquarters in PA was a wonderful time of learning with fellow pre-field missionaries and veteran missionaries who poured into our lives every day.  We had a missionary couple from Spain who serve as church planters there who learned a lot about Mexico and helped us understand the basic concepts of church planting.  A few concepts that stuck out to us were:

• Pray: before, during, after, always.  Pray. "Prayer is as essential to our life as breathing."
• Learn: we cannot replicate what we know, but we must learn and adapt to the culture to which God sends us.
• Disciple:  disciple others to disciples others, to reproduce reproducers. 
• Send: the mission from the beginning is to send others out to reach their world for Christ. It is not just about planting a church, but sending missionaries from every nation to reach every nation.

STAMP (Students in Training and Missionary Preparation)
ABWE also helps prepare the children in cross cultural training.  Emily was in the nursery, but Ethan had a day camp in which the children learned daily concepts related to new cultures.    Ethan met other MKs from all over the world, some who have already been on the field with their parents and others who are just starting out like us.  Throughout the fun activities and lessons, one essential concept was stressed:  Although everything in their life may be changing, two things will remain constant--Jesus and their family.  The children were also challenged with the concept that they weren't Missionary Kids (MKs), but to think of themselves instead as Kid Missionaries (KMs).  They had just as much a part of missions as their parents.  We are so thankful for the heart Pastor Jim and ABWE has to minister to our children.

EMC Charge:
At the end of the week, we were challenged to make every nation a sending nation.  As we go to the field, we must connect with people, show them the love of Christ, challenge them to follow Him, then disciple them to reach others.  Every nation can reach every nation with the gospel of Christ.  We were presented with a baton to pass on to someone on the field God brings into our lives who "catches the vision" to reach nations.  May we actively "live out" the Gospel:  "Evangelism is our life, not our job."  Ethan was also presented with a certificate of completing cross-cultural training as an Kid Ambassador of Jesus Christ, and gave us a gift for our family--a bundle of sticks representing the fact that we will be stronger together as we minister together as a family.  We look forward to the next leg of this journey, patiently wait on God's timing to get us to the field, and press on to serve Him in the waiting.