Missions Month is HERE! I can’t believe it. I’ve been planning, dreaming, and praying about this month since our last Missions Month one was over! It is truly one of my favorite seasons in our church. I always leave missions month inspired, united with our church, and excited for what God has done and will do in the future.
Missions is simply the spread of the gospel to the world. It is what the gospel was made to do! During missions month, we come together as a church to pray and focus on missions. Here are a few ways to engage:
Be Inspired.
Every Sunday we will tell stories of what God has done through our church. We will also have some very special guest speakers. You can also utilize our prayer garden (look for the stepping stones!) and the interactive prayer mural on the courtyard windows. Listen to our podcast episodes focused on missions and join us to hear a really amazing panel at our Midweek Services on October 26th - The Forum: Racial Bias and the Church.
Spice up your dinner with one of two opportunities to join a Missions Dinner for 8 group. You will learn about and pray for one of our mission partners around the comfort of a dinner table! You can sign-up HERE.
On Sunday, October 21st, Compassion International will be here with the Compassion Experience. Stay for lunch that day at some of our favorite food trucks (healthy options available!) and make your way through the stories of hope. Each story takes about 15 minutes to complete. We also need volunteers for this event, so grab your family or a few friends and contact me to sign-up for a slot!
Be United.
The Missions Ingathering goal this year is $110,000. It is always incredible to watch the missions account grow and see how much our church can give when we give together. There are some weeks when I have only been able to give $5, but that $5 adds up when 800 other people are giving too!
I encourage you to join us in reaching our Ingathering goal, whatever that may look like for you. Maybe you can get creative like some of our women did last year with baking and selling amazing cookies, putting together a group-wide garage sale, or running a “missions special” with your business. 100% of this offering goes to missions! It supports incredible organizations like Global Action, the IMB, Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children as well as CRBC specific trips, projects, and partners like Make Your Mark Ministries in Ethiopia. You can designate your gifts (my favorite is through the text-to-give option!) by writing “missions.”
Be Excited.
There are a LOT of reasons to be excited about missions month, but one of the top reasons is that it launches the Missions Market as a permanent fixture in our foyer! YES, that’s right. I said PERMANENT. And unlike the perm I got in 7th grade that fell out the next day, this market is here to stay. We will have products available year-round for you to pick up that perfect teacher gift or birthday present. Our 4 current vendors are Harvest Ethiopia, Arise Creations, Beads of Good (the founders are speaking to our CRBC kids on Wednesday, October 10th!), and Connect Roasters. ALL are connected to ministry or missions, so not only are you purchasing something super cute, your dollar is stretching to support the gospel being made known.
I sincerely hope you join us and I pray God does a great work in ALL our hearts this season!
Meet the Author!
Makenzie graduated from Wheaton College where she majored in Christian Ministry, Urban Studies, and Photography and somehow managed to apply all of her degrees to work in the real world! She has a passion for community development after years working in urban ministry in Chicago, non-profits in Austin, and part-time roles at CRBC the past 4&1/2 years. She loves being able to equip and serve the church and recently stepped into the full-time role as Minister of Missions at CRBC which includes both local and global partnerships. Despite being the missions minister, she is quite the homebody. She is an avid Harry Potter fan, loves Oklahoma City, and loves to be with her friends, family, and ADORABLE weenie dog, May.