Our family has the wonderful privilege of welcoming missionaries into our home throughout the year. Many of the people who pass through are ACCI workers and some are long-time friends with whom we visit when they are on furlough. We love to hear the stories they share and gain insight on what God is doing around the world, and we love to have our children hear those stories. When my brother Sky and his family were passing through this summer they asked if we knew of any churches that might be interested in providing a platform for them to speak on the Kingdom work they are doing in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Sky and Angie have a downtown drop-in center for the homeless and poor, with a particular emphasis in investing with the First Nation community. When he asked me this question I thought, “I don’t know of any churches who would welcome a missionary to come and speak on a Sunday morning without a lot of warning or without a special mission emphasis week.” This isn’t a criticism. This is just the reality of limited time, limited resources, and many good ministries competing for that time. Yet, John and I believe that is important to promote missions in our community and to encourage missionaries through giving them a platform to share their stories.
When a church was not available, we decided to host a mission emphasis night in our home and called it, “A Night with a Mission”. Along with Sky and Angie, we invited our good friend and neighbor, Dan, to share about his recent trip to Asia where he and his daughter brought God’s love to orphans through Bring Me Hope. It was an encouraging time of sharing and listening and we were excited to see that many people came out for this event (about 50 people attended). We hope to host more of these in the future if there continues to be interest.
I came across a verse the other day that I think highlights the importance of loving missionaries as they pass through: “Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.” 3 Jn 5
Amen.
- Making room for 50 missions enthusiasts
- My brother Sky wearing his ribbon shirt (ACCI missionary to Canada)
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