The LORD My Dad: Kingdom Concerns--This Week: The Mission Field In Our Own Backyard

As promised in last Monday's (March 28, 2005) post, we are featuring today some tips on how to serve the mission field right under our very noses. Again, this was from a broadcast of HomeWord, a youth and family ministry radio program hosted by Dr. Jim Burns, aired the week before the post.

Mission Experience Ideas
By Jim Burns and Mike DeVries

This list of mission experiences is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Rather, it is a list to get your mind thinking about the possibilities.

1. Mission to the elderly
· Rest home, convalescent hospital
· Rake leaves or shovel snow at the homes of senior citizens
· Shut-in ministry in your community, where the elderly may be confined to their homes
· “Meal on Wheels” program, delivering food to the elderly
· Being a shuttle service for the elderly
· Adopt a grandparent: Many “grandparents” are living away from their relatives and would welcome the company and attention

2. Mission to the sick
· Visit the “unvisited” in hospitals
· Visit a children’s hospital, even a children’s cancer ward
· Work with the hospital volunteer organization
· Send cards, flowers, gifts, or books to the sick from your church
· Run errands, fix food, clean house, catch up on chores, or baby-sit for those who are ill or hospitalized
· “Adopt a Sick Person”, whether through your church, or organized through a local hospital

3. Mission to prisons
· Visit juvenile halls
· Participate in worship services for juvenile halls
· Work with Prison Fellowship to sponsor “Project Angel Tree” in your church, bringing Christmas presents to families and children of inmates

4. Mission to the hungry
· Sponsor a child through a relief organization like World Vision or Compassion International
· Provide help at a local soup kitchen or rescue mission
· Hand out food and blankets in the inner city
· Pass out food and blankets in a locale known for homelessness in your area
· Start a “Food Cupboard” or a “Clothing Closet” in your church for the homeless and hungry

5. Mission to the neighborhood
· Participate in a summer Vacation Bible School or Day Camp through your church
· Locate a run-down apartment complex in your area and find ways to meet people’s needs
· Participate in a toy collection drive for underprivileged kids in your area
· Provide free baby-sitting for church members or others in your community
· Adopt a park or a street to clean up and maintain
· Work with a crisis hotline in your area or an organization reaching out to those in crisis
· Call your local police department to find out more about what the needs are in your particular community

6. Mission to the inner city
· Participate in helping with a recreational sports league in conjunction with an inner city church
· Participate in a summer Vacation Bible School in conjunction with an inner city church
· Participate in a monthly service at a rescue mission
· Work with the city on their graffiti removal program
· Link up with a big brother/big sister program
· Link up with groups ministering to unwed mothers in the inner city
· Evangelism in the inner city

7. Ministry and Mission Projects
· Indian reservations
· Construction of orphanage, camps, homes, churches
· Disaster and relief work
· Medical missionary efforts
· Work camps
· Sports camps
· Link up with Bible translators like Wycliffe Bible Translators
· Serve at a camp, whether a traditional camp, or a camp for underprivileged kids
· Inner city outreaches
· Work with groups like Habitat for Humanity

8. Short-term mission work
Connect with an established mission organization doing mission work in another country.

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To find more info on this project visit www.christianity.com/angeltree
To find more info on this project visit www.bbbsa.org
To find more info on this project visit www.wycliffe.net
To find more info on this project visit www.habitat.org