BEYOND OUR WALLS

February 2003 Missions Bulletin of First Presbyterian Church, Las Cruces, N.M. Vol. 5, No. 2

You’ve heard it, haven’t you? Every so often a member is heard to say that we are a mission-minded church. But doesn’t that imply that some churches aren’t that way? Regrettably, it does, and, regrettably, churches can be found that have little interest in reaching out the way God, the first missionary, wants us to. Happily, First Presbyterian Church of Las Cruces is strongly oriented toward obeying Christ’s command to reach all nations.

We have to remember the obvious fact that, since churches are composed of people, no church can be mission-minded unless the members are mission-minded. Just a few weeks ago, we lost to heaven one of those people, namely Gordon Hoff. Maybe you know that Gordon was an agronomist at NMSU who had a reputation for going beyond the call of duty to help people with their crop problems. He was known across the State as one of outstanding interest and competence in providing such help, and such people come to be respected and loved.

But Gordon was not simply interested in people’s problems with their crops. As a follower of Christ, he was also interested in the spiritual welfare of people everywhere. His concern for others carried over into involvement in the worldwide outreach program of First Presbyterian Church, and one of the manifestations of this was his work with our Missions Committee. Gordon is one of the reasons this is a mission-minded church.

Sometimes members of our committees find themselves going beyond getting their necessary business done, when they can, within an hour. They fall into talking with one another about more fundamental issues than usual. So often, necessary business tends to take up so much of our time that we don’t get to underlying questions, questions important to making sound operating decisions. In one meeting, the last time Gordon served on the Missions Committee, he began to talk passionately about the level of commitment and sacrifice made by so many missionaries working in difficult places to minister to people of other societies. He made reference to someone he knew that fit what he was talking about and became choked-up and tearful as he continued. It was then that Committee members knew, if they didn’t already, of Gordon’s appreciation of the people involved in worldwide witness. Couple that with the faithfulness with which Gordon fulfilled his Committee responsibilities, and one finds reason to appreciate his "mission-mindedness." Yes, the departures of people like Charlie Stone and Gordon Hoff are a loss to this congregation. Gordon’s gain of being with his Savior is our loss.

Just as all of us could live better lives than we do, so any congregation, however mission-minded, can be more effective than it is in supporting and doing God’s work A few churches are exceptionally effective. At the Frontier 2000 Conference sponsored by the Worldwide Ministries Division of our denomination, a pastor described the characteristics of the mission program of the Central Presbyterian Church of Baltimore, Maryland. The Rev. Jerry Cooper, Associate Pastor of Missions and Discipleship in this church of 700 members, spoke on the subject, "How To Care for a Missionary: How Churches Can Really Support Their Missionaries Beyond Just Sending Financial Support And Writing Letters." One-third, $380,000, of Central Presbyterian’s budget goes to missions. But that wasn’t the point of Cooper’s talk. He conveyed to his listeners a moving description of what they try to do for their missionaries at Central and why. He reviewed how to get connected with missionaries, primarily through the Worldwide Ministries Division, the Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, and The Outreach Foundation of our denomination.

Cooper emphasized that the basic issue is not programs and techniques but caring for missionaries as ordinary people like you and me. [This is how Gordon Hoff thought of our missionaries, and this is why it is good for us to learn something of the personalities, commitments, and problems of the people we help support.] Cooper stressed that the missionaries are part of the church family, that they should not be put on pedestals, and that they are equal in importance to the rest of the church staff.

When the Rev. Cooper first began his work at Central, he discovered the church was faced with possible budget cuts. He informed the officers and leaders that, if it was necessary to reduce the support of the missionaries, he would take a reduction of his salary of the same percentage. Happily, the cuts were avoided. Following the same principle, Central, at that time, was giving all of their missionaries a five percent raise each year. If a radical currency fluctuation occurs in the country where the missionaries are working, Central tries to help fill the gap. They remind the congregation that missionaries have to live frugally and suggest members might want to consider whether or not they, too, should live a simpler lifestyle.

There is no reason to suggest that First Presbyterian should try to do everything Central does, partly because their situation differs from ours in some ways. For example, they are in a position to minister to missionaries on furlough. They help them re-enter our culture, and they go out of their way to honor them and minister to the entire family. They encourage congregational children to become friends with missionary kids and, when they go elsewhere, to keep in touch with them. In so far as possible, they see that they have transportation during furlough, that they have satisfactory places to live, give them help in dealing with the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies, and advise them about retirement questions. Central maintains a conference fund, a hospitality fund, and a general discretionary fund to take care of matters of this kind. [First Presbyterian is granted discretionary funds by the Session, primarily for missionary visits.] When their missionaries return to their fields, they commission them for their new term of ministry. They hold them accountable by asking them to state their goals and evaluate how they have been meeting them.

The Central Presbyterian congregation concentrates on praying for their missionaries and the people they are serving, including special prayer meetings for them and the people groups they serve. They emphasize becoming familiar with the missionary experience as a basis for prayer, communication and other forms of support. They encourage members to send letters, e-mail messages, audio-visual materials, care packages, news articles and newsletters, and prayer requests to the missionaries. Perhaps we forget that missionaries pray for us just as surely (and perhaps more surely?) as we pray for them.

Outreach in its various aspects should be central in the life of all congregations and deserves extensive thought, discussion, and prayer. What is God’s will for us in this church?

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Last update 2003-01-29 14:57:11