What is a Mission-Minded Family?
In a mission-minded family, there’s a God-infused energy. There’s a focus on God’s worldwide purpose, and there’s a passion for the lost. There’s a spiritual depth and hunger that reaches beyond the maintenance mode of cultural Christianity.
A mission-minded family emphasizes leadership, calling, and destiny. There’s a prevailing attitude of self-sacrifice and an emphasis on total submission to God’s will. And there’s an unmistakable and contagious joy.
A mission-minded family . . .
- loves to make God smile!
- learns to be diligent, because there’s work to be done and many needs in this world
- brings a stack of well-worn Bibles to church!
- enjoys presents at Christmastime, but never forgets all the poor little children in Cambodia who have nothing.
- is focused on eternity.
- knows how to look up Afghanistan, Bolivia, Singapore, and Tibet, and imagines more than what they see on a map.
- eats rice!
- learns how to share the “gospel colors” and is excited about the miniature EvangeCube that can hook to a kid’s backpack.
- dreams of traveling around the world and makes sure each person has an updated passport–just in case!
- thinks about the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day–and all the people wearing green who don’t have a clue that Patrick was a missionary.
- lives in SUB-mission!
- shakes missionaries’ hands after church and invites their family over for dinner.
- knows that when the Lord guides, He also provides.
- keeps the lawn mowed, as a good Christian witness to the neighbors.
- is strategically aimed for God’s purpose.
- anticipates the excitement of the teenage years and looks forward to youth group mission trips.
- keeps active and healthy in order to be physically able to do whatever God requires.
- gives generously–even when it hurts!
- enjoys carryon luggage with wheels, final boarding calls, and airline peanuts.
- thinks beyond the box of what’s merely expected and hope to do something big (or something little) for God.
- lives for Jesus!
This article by Ann Dunagan, is an excerpt from her book, The Mission-Minded Family – Releasing Your Family to God’s Destiny (InterVarsity Press).
Our HMFI Vision (with a video testimony)
Harvest Ministry Fellowship International (HMFI) is a missions outreach of Harvest Ministry, to SERVE remote village churches and ministers.
Listen to a video testimony from a national pastor from Uganda, East Africa. Pastor Frank is a HMFI Zone Leader who helps oversee village pastors. He shares how the vision and fellowship of HMFI has been a blessing to him and to his congregation and community.
Harvest Ministry Fellowship International
H.M.F.I. is an international fellowship of Christian ministers and churches.
The vision of this non-denominational fellowship is to provide members with ministry accountability and identity, spiritual covering, fellowship with other ministers, and training for godly leadership. The purpose of H.M.F.I. is to unite ministers and churches to more effectively advance God’s Kingdom.
Next Generation Missionaries: to ASIA
Mission to INDIA:
Recently, four of our newlywed young adults, Josh & Anna Dunagan (along with their baby-in-the-womb) and Trae & Christi Childs, ministered in South Asia with Gospel Projects International.
Mission outreaches included visiting remote village churches, checking up on the “orphans-no-longer” at GPI’s Aasha Children’s Home, and ministering at the two Bible schools they pioneered.
We’re so proud of them. Be sure to head over to the GPI Website to see their mission video.
“My friend, will you go? Has God spoken to you? Have you heard His Call? Will you not answer, ‘Lord, here am I, send me’? And if you cannot go, will you not send a substitute? — Oswald J. Smith
Lately, the continent of Asia has been in our thoughts and in our prayers, especially the need to support remote national ministers and evangelists.
There are many spiritual needs in this vast region, and so many people who need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Here are some links to help you to focus your prayers:
Dr. Duff’s Appeal
An excerpt from A Challenge to Missions
By Oswald J. Smith
Dr. Alexander Duff, that great veteran missionary to India, returned to Scotland to die, and as he stood before the general assembly . . . he made his appeal, but there was no response.
In the midst of his appeal he fainted and was carried off the platform.
The doctor bent over him and examined his heart.
Presently he opened his eyes. “Where am I?” he cried. “Where am I?”
“Lie still,” said the doctor. “You have had a heart attack. Lie still.”
“But,” exclaimed Dr. Duff, “I haven’t finished my appeal. Take me back. Take me back. I must finish my appeal.”
“Lie still,” said the doctor again. “You will go back at the peril of you life.”
But, in spite of the protests of the physician, the old warrior struggled to his feet, and, with the doctor on one side and the moderator of the assembly of the other side, he again mounted the steps of the pulpit platform, and, as he did so, the entire assembly rose to do him honor. Then, when they were seated, he continued his appeal.
And this is what he said:
“When Queen Victoria calls for volunteers for India, hundreds of young men respond; but, when King Jesus calls, no one goes.”
Then he paused. There was silence.
Again he spoke: “Very well,” he concluded, “then, aged though I am, I’ll go back to India. I can lie down on the banks of the Ganges and I can die and thereby I can let the people of India know that there was one man in Scotland who loved them enough to give his life for them.”
In a moment, young men all over the assembly sprang to their feet, crying, “I’ll go! I’ll go!”
And after the old white-haired warrior had been laid to rest, these young men, having graduated, found their way to dark benighted India, there to labor as his substitutes for the Lord Jesus Christ.
My friend, will you go? Has God spoken to you? Have you heard His Call? Will you not answer, “Lord, here am I, send me”? And if you cannot go, will you not send a substitute?
It is for you to decide.
Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?
Mission-Minded Families: Articles & Links
Family Articles & Links
In response to several online requests, we’ve compiled some links to Ann’s online articles for Mission-Minded Families. Feel free to twitter, facebook, or to share with friends.
FEATURE ARTICLE on HomeGrownMom.com:
Teach Your Daughters Wailing, by Ann DunaganOur family doesn’t care for crying around the house — unless we have something to really cry about — like when someone is dying, or a kid is starving, or when we need to repent.
FEATURE INTERVIEWS on FamilyLife.com
Mission-Minded Family 3-part series, by Ann Dunagan#1 — Living a Life of Surrender. #2 — Leading Your Family in God’s Great Commission. #3 — Preparing for Missions.
Listen to this 3-part series on Family Life Today. Read more > > >
More articles . . .
Revive Our Hearts:
Unleashing Your Children’s Talents
I Was Naked, And You Clothed Me
Releasing Arrows Into the WorldVisionary Womanhood
Book Review: Mission-Minded Families . . . Raising Mission-Minded Children
An Important Christmas Focus about God’s HomeChristianity.com
Praying as a Family
Striking Balance as a Mission-Minded FamilyFamily Life Today:
(PDF Family Life Transcript 1) Living a Life of Surrender
(PDF Family Life Transcript 2) Leading Your Family in the Great Commission
(PDF Family Life Transcript 3) Preparing for MissionsPassionate Homemaking:
Daring Mothers & Daughters . . . & Dirty Feet
Finding PEACE in God’s PRESENCE (A Christmas article about prayer)
Hospitality Ideas for Holy Week
Living in SUB-Mission, as a Mom
Local Outreach as Mission-Minded Families
Mission-Minded Hospitality
MISSIONS in our KITCHENS
Picture-Perfect Families?
Teaching Our Girls to Cry
Q & A’s for Mission-Minded Families: HOMESCHOOLING
Q & A’s for Mission-Minded Families: IDENTITY
Q & A’s for Mission-Minded Families: MOTHERHOOD
Q & A’s for Mission-Minded Families: SIMPLICITY
Passports for Missions: Just for Fun & Just in Case!
Serving Thanksgiving – With Breakfast
Make a place in your life for PRAYER
An analogy . . .
Imagine if someone gave you a brand-new living room set. The pieces of furniture are so much better than you could have imagined, or dreamed. The set is absolutely perfect for your family. The colors. The style. The look. Wow. It’s so much better than that old worn-out set that should have gone years ago.
But imagine bringing that new living room set home . . . and leaving it outside.
You know it needs to come in. You want to bring it in.
But you just aren’t willing to take the time to rearrange your living room.You don’t want to “bother” with getting rid of the old set.
It’s such a job to get everything moved around.
A special gift . . .
As Christians, we have been given a tremendous gift. God has extended a special invitation for us to spend time with Him on a regular basis; but sometimes, we aren’t willing to take the time to “rearrange” our lives to fit this time with Him into our comfortable old routine.
A simple way to begin a new daily habit for time with the Lord is to find a “place” for it. And I’m specifically talking about creating a simple little prayer spot. A literal place where you can begin a new habit of spending time with Jesus.
A new lifestyle of daily prayer will require consistent desire and discipline, but it’s not fulfilled by self-effort. God will give us His strength and His help. As you rely on Him (even for this daily God-empowered discipline and self-control), your time with the Lord can eventually become a highlight of your day and a strength of your life.
In a spiritually-healthy family, a lifestyle of prayer includes praying with others at church, praying together as a family, and praying (or “interceding”) for the needs of others and for the world. Yet, nothing is more spiritually beneficial for families than a lifestyle of personal private prayer. Eternally effective families consist of people who consistently pray.
Do your kids “see” you spending time with God?
As Bible-believing families, we all know that prayer is important.
As Christians, we tell our kids that it’s good to pray (or our pastor mentions the fact often enough for our kids to get the message . . . and for many people to feel guilty). Perhaps we pray before mealtime (during those special yet unfortunately dwindling occasions when our far-too-busy family can actually gather our hands around a sit-down dinner). Perhaps we pray for our kids at night (during those special times when we remember to tuck our little ones in bed before they fall asleep).
Yet how many of us, as moms, are a bit lacking (or majorly deficient) in our own daily personal prayer lives? As each family member (beginning with ourselves) develops his or her own personal relationship with God through a regular quiet time with the Lord, the cooperate effect on the family is powerful.
Let’s make a special place for prayer!
Be a spiritual example to your kids . . . by having a regular time and place for prayer
As parents, one of the greatest ways to instill in your kids the foundation of life-impacting faith is for your kids to actually “see” you reading your Bible, (on a regular everyday basis, not just at church), and for your kids to “see” you taking time to pray by yourself.
Establish a special place for PRAYER
It’s helpful to establish a regular “PLACE” to meet with the Lord:
- perhaps a comfy chair in a spare bedroom
- perhaps in your home office
- perhaps on the couch in your living room
- perhaps on a trail outside your house or a quiet walk around your neighborhood
“Round-up” a few items to help establish a consistent time with God
If you decided to establish a new habit of physical exercise, such beginning to start jogging a bit each day, you would probably take a few minutes to “round up” some running shoes and perhaps dig through the back of your closets to find some sweats or shorts. If you wanted to add some meals to your cooking, you would need to “round up” some new menu ingredients, or search for some new recipe idea. The same idea holds true for establishing a new habit of spiritual discipline and daily prayer. If you haven’t been taking the time to consistently pray on a regular basis, it’s helpful to “round up” a few quiet-time accessories or “spiritual” items and to have them set aside and waiting for you in your designated new quiet-time place.
Here are a few suggestions for helpful “QUIET TIME” items:
- your own Bible (with a marker to remember where you are reading)
- a daily Bible-reading chart
- a journal or notebook, with a pen and a highlighter
- a devotional or “meaty” spiritual book (to challenge your walk with Christ)
- a world map, and missionary newsletters
- a CD with quiet worship music
- possibly even items for holy communion (with wafers, a cup, and grape juice) for a personal communion time (see I Corinthians 11) perhaps on a daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis, to remember the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice
Remember to be flexible . . . and walk with God throughout each day!
Along with consistency in prayer, it’s important to be flexible. In the life of every family, there will be different seasons and changing schedules. What works today may not work tomorrow; yet even so, we need to faithfully guard our time with God. If what you’re doing right now, concerning your personal daily prayer life, is working, by all means keep it up; but if it’s not working, please ask for God’s help and His grace (along with His unlimited creative ideas) to make a change!
Living a life of prayer is simply walking and talking with God. It’s vital to acknowledge God’s presence right beside you and with you all throughout each day.
As individuals, and as families, we can welcome the presence of God’s Spirit into every dimension of our lives. God cares about everything (whether little or big, silly or significant, everyday or eternal), and we can welcome His presence into every decision and every activity. In our families and in our daily communication with God, there should not be a barrier between what is “holy” and what is “common”; instead, God desires for every dimension of our lives (at home, at school, at church, at work, and even at play) to be lived in constant fellowship with Him.
We need to get that “special couch set” (our daily time with the Lord) into our main living room. Some of our old furniture might have to go. Some of our old decorations and clutter might not “match” with the quality of this new look. But the new pieces are so perfect; and we want that new couch set TO FIT!
“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray . . . Luke 11:1
