This statement of the all peoples imperative appears in each issue of Beyond Our Walls. It is for those new to First Presbyterian Church and for those who find it helpful to review the scriptural foundation for our church’s worldwide outreach. You may want to use it from time to time as a devotional exercise.

Outreach is foundational to the life of our church. It is the backbone of the Old and New Testaments. It begins with God’s promise to bless all peoples of the earth through Abraham and his descendants. It is not an agreement to be carried out only if humans respond favorably. It is God’s unconditional declaration of what he will do through his followers.

We invite you to read and meditate on the following instances of God’s promise. The promise to Abraham: Genesis 12: 1-3; Genesis 18:16-18; Genesis 22:15-18. The promise to Isaac: Genesis 26:2-4. The promise to Jacob: Genesis 28:10-14. David’s recognition of the promise: Psalm 22:27-28. Isaiah’s recognition of the promise: Isaiah 44:22; Isaiah 49:1, 5-6; Simeon’s awareness of the promise: Luke 2:30-32. Jesus’ proclamation of the promise: Matthew 28:19; Mark 13:10; Luke 24:44-47; Acts 1:7-8. Paul’s recognition of the promise: Galatians 3:6-9; The promise in John’s Revelation: Revelation 5:8-9; Revelation 7:9-10.

The Bible contains many examples of descendants of Abraham, including Jesus himself, being a blessing to non-Jewish peoples. Any church that is functioning as God desires consists of Christians who are communicating Christ’s salvation and love through their words and lives to their spouses and children, relatives, friends, and acquaintances and, also, who are helping to send and support dedicated messengers of Christ’s salvation and love to people groups around the world.

Maybe what comes to mind most easily when we think of missions is either converting people or helping them materially and socially. If we take the Bible seriously, we have to include both. Jesus’ own ministry clearly exemplifies this. Yes, he asked people to commit themselves to him for eternity, but he also healed them and taught them how to live better lives. One of the most striking examples is his forgiveness of the paralyzed man, as recorded in Matthew 9, followed immediately by the man’s healing. So it comes as no surprise that the Haspels in Ethiopia and the Prasads in India are inviting people to accept Christ into their lives, bringing them relief from disease and other troubles, while helping them improve their lives materially and socially.

Missionaries, many have learned, are as gifted, as skilled, and as accomplished a professional group as you can find. Some their specialties are organizing churches; pastoring and preaching in churches; analyzing and translating languages; literacy programming; musicology; literature publication and distribution; audio, film and video production and distribution; radio and TV broadcasting; evangelistic preaching; personal evangelism; discipling new Christians; medical ministry; teaching in Christian schools; agricultural teaching and demonstration; relief and rehabilitation; and maintenance and operation of transportation services. Mission specialists are often more skilled than their secular counterparts. Combining this with high moral and ethical commitments often yields unusual excellence.

Some of the missionaries we help support specialize in one or two areas, while others are involved in several. The volunteers with St. Luke’s Health Care Mission here in Las Cruces specialize in medical service, but medicine is only one aspect of the ministry of John and Gwen Haspels to the Suri, the work of Philip Prasad among the Dalits, and the border ministry of Bill and Susan Soldwisch in Tijuana, Mexico. These three work in several other specialties.

Ricardo and Renya Green, one of the new Presbyterian missionary families we have begun supporting in 1999, serve in Brazil. Ricardo teaches at Fortaleza Theological Seminary and works on planting new churches. Do you know how to organize new churches?

For years Bob Waguespack has been teaching Mexican Christians how to establish new churches. He also teaches at a seminary in Mexico City.

Tom and Judy Harvey are also new to us for support this year. Tom is a theology professor at Trinity Theological College, a Presbyterian seminary in Singapore. He also preaches in churches and develops leadership training programs. Don  directs Kunming International Academy in China, and Kim  ministers through the performance and recording of Christian music. The Priscilla Bible School in Mérida, Yucatan, trains young women for Christian service. Christian training is also provided at the Christian Day Care Nursery here in Las Cruces. Witnessing Ministries for Christ is establishing schools for Dalit children in India, and there are educational components to several other mission enterprises we help support.

Doug Barron is responsible for distribution of the Jesus Film in Latin America for Campus Crusade for Christ. A few years ago First Presbyterian helped Ron and Donna Pontier, then ministering in the Central African Republic, to purchase the Jesus Film for evangelistic use in that part of Africa. You may remember that Ron’s main job is providing air transportation.

Donna Evans is a linguist with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Her translation of the New Testament for a minority group in Southeast Asia is about to be published. Joel and Barbara Trudell are involved in literacy work, supervising the literacy program for Africa with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

John and Marnie Pickering in Mongolia and Lu Stephens in Oregon are specialists in one-on-one evangelism, and John and Tracy Patton evangelize and disciple on the University of Arizona campus. Presbyterian Campus Ministry students also get involved in personal evangelism, and discipling is one of the aspects of that ministry.

The Gospel Rescue Mission here in town specializes in relief and rehabilitation of individuals whose lives have fallen apart materially and otherwise, along with others we support. The Mission also evangelizes. The Charles Diebold Mission in northern Mexico combines evangelism and church ministry with agricultural, livestock, water, and other technological improvements.

The world of Christian missions is a wondrous world where flawed but dedicated and highly accomplished servants of God are using money Christians have given to do the Lord’s work. We need to know this world. It deserves our pride, our understanding, and our daily prayer.