Your local church’s celebration of involvement in missions can take many forms. While we strongly recommend a featured annual missions emphasis event which, typically, it eclipses all other church programs or augments those programs to emphasize and celebrate missions during that emphasis time period.
Here are some ideas to stimulate your imagination and creativity:
Here are some ideas to stimulate your imagination and creativity:
- special missions teaching for the children's Sunday school or kids clubs
- historic missionary biographies through dramatic reeanactment or role-play
- physical passport-like documents which guides the users through some simulated missionary experience or global cultural exposure (from room to room)
- lots of interesting ethnic food
- international dress-up dinners
- breakfast meeting with Q&A with featured missionary guests
- funding pledge drive
- missions movie night with popcorn and soda
- video or Skype interview with missionaries from their field allocation
- event launching missions banquet
- missionary reports with plenty of audiovisuals
- display tables with information and artifacts from the field
- special speaker/speakers
- plenty of colorful decorations and international flags
- a catchy, biblically motivated slogan or theme
- special seminars or workshops for missions education or training in specific missions involvement
- announcement and launching of short-term missions trips or projects for the coming year
- orientation and training for missions advocates from Sunday school classes, Bible study groups, or home groups
- opportunities for people to sign up for specific funding or prayer support of specific missionaries and ministries approved by the church
- opportunities for contributions, both in cash and in-kind, for local mercy ministries or local outreach
- recruitment and orientation of new missions team members
- public recounting and giving God glory for specific missions achievements over the past year
- public recognition and prayer of commissioning or dedication of missionaries present, short-term missions participants, and missions team members
- reports from pastors, staff, or congregants who have visited missionaries on the field
- special times/times or spaces/rooms dedicated during the missions event to special prayer for your missionaries and ministries
- missionaries meeting with home groups or Sunday school classes
- offsite meetings or meals at restaurants, public parks, private swimming pools or bonfire areas featuring missionaries or world missions ministries
- special music during services with a clear missions message or outreach emphasis
- guests musicians, choral groups, ethnic music presentations, etc.
- short, high impact skits driving home a point of missions information or application