what a message to my kids about joining God on His global mission

My children have just four relatives that live locally--one set of grandparents and an uncle and aunt. But get this--in 2010, my kids have seen those grandparents and uncle and aunt go on international mission trips. They have seen me off on an international mission trip this year. Yesterday, they saw mom off on one. And the kids are noticing--this morning over breakfast the talk was all about mommy and Aunt Jess' mission trip and Colton told Campbell and Cassidy, "in our family we do missionary stuff in far away places." Yes! Thank you, Lord!

We so much want our kids to grow up and join God in his global mission. Every member of humanity deserves a chance to hear the gospel one time in their life. We serve a missionary God, we have to be a missionary people. Every Christ-follower has been commissioned by Jesus Christ as a missionary. We have already been sent. Thus, we want our kids to grow up and live on mission with a global agenda.

How do we try to put Acts 1:8 in our kids' DNA? 1. We talk about missions a lot--that the Good News we have is the only chance people have of knowing Christ and what would we want other people to do if they knew Jesus and we didn't? 2. We talk about other countries a lot--maps, natural disaters around the world, places daddy and mommy have been, etc. 3. We do everything we can to put our kids around missionaries in general and a few special ones in particular like the Thompsons, Bunnells, Sauters, etc. 4. Nicole and I model missions to them by going ourselves. It's especially important for the girls to see mommy on mission. 5. We pray a lot for the kids to have a heart for God's global agenda--and He is faithful to answer those prayers by doing things like giving us adult family and friends that live locally, but have joined God's global agenda.

This morning, I'm giving thanks to the Lord for surrounding my kids with people who live and think globally and God's agenda. My kids are growing up thinking it's normal and for that I'm very grateful to God.

(And by the way, for those who can't participate in international missions b/c of health reasons or you are a lady whose husband won't let you, etc, you can still be part of the global mission agenda. Here are some ideas: Get a world map and pray country by country through each continent for the nations to come to faith in Christ. Contribute money to those who can go on trips and are in need of funding. Begin regular communication with a missionary family on the field--today many of them have blogs or e-newsletters and it is very easy to get info on their ministry--and become that family's prayer warrior. Pay attention in the news to what is going on around the world--most major newspapers are on-line--I regularly browse the major newspaper in London, Jerusalem, and Johannesburg. Share the gospel with internationals who are visiting/living in your community--when they come to faith in Christ they can lead their family overseas to faith in Christ.)
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