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Discipling Families to be On Mission During a Crisis

April 23, 2020
Discipling Families to be On Mission During a Crisis

This article is part 5 of a complete guide for missions during COVID-19.

Find the rest of the guide here

 

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents have been asking for resources to help disciple their children. Discipling families to be on mission requires that the church invest in parents and children. Here are some ideas for equipping parents and investing in the next generation.

 

  • Preach/teach a series on being missional at home.

 

This could be a series of sermons, devotional thoughts, or video posts with practical suggestions for how to be the hands and feet of Jesus in your neighborhood. See “Practical Ways of Being On Mission During a Crisis” for ideas to share. 

 

  • Plan an online Commissioning Service for families.

 

Many churches plan a Commissioning Service prior to sending teams on a mission trip.  During a crisis, emphasis can be placed on each family being missionaries in the neighborhood.  Why not offer an online Commissioning Service for families! This could be a one-time experience for the entire church or several experiences for groups of families or even individual families.  Make this special for the entire family!

 

  • Provide missions resource packets for children.

 

Some helpful resources are included in this downloadable list.

 

  • Encourage families to adopt a people group from Arkansas.

 

Parents can help their children research the people group, their origin, homeland, culture, and language.  Pray for the people groups of Arkansas.

 

  • Incorporate missions education in your child’s online instruction.

 

Many parents are more actively involved in their child’s education since learning is being done from the home during this crisis.  Provide parents with resources they can use to incorporate missions into their child’s online instruction.  For geography, parents can help children research the people groups of a particular nation or region of the world.  They can learn about the dominant religion of that region and compare/contrast with Christianity.  They can use math skills to determine the percentages of each people group or adherents to a particular religion.  Parents can lead their children to pray that the gospel will be heard among those people groups and people will come to faith in Jesus. See: http://imb.org, http://joshuaproject.net, http://peoplegroups.info, http://peoplegroups.org, http://weavefamily.org, http://world-view.com, http://prayercast.com, http://pray30days.org (kid version)

 

  • Provide a Virtual Mission Trip

 

For more information, see this article on Virtual Mission Trips

 

  • Plan a Day Camp

 

Many summer camp experiences for children and youth have already been cancelled due to COVID-19.  A summer or fall Day Camp could possibly be a great opportunity for providing missions education to children in the church as well as an evangelism opportunity for children in the community.  When social distancing is lifted, parents may not be at ease in sending their children to an overnight camp experience, but they may be excited if that experience occurred locally over several days or even on Saturdays.  Include biblical teaching, activities, and mission education/projects.

 

 

Being On Mission Beyond the Crisis

 

No doubt much will change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Here are two missional opportunities that reach beyond the current crisis.

 

  • Missions Giving

 

Teach missions giving as an important way to be missional.  Promote SBC special missions offerings by incorporating videos into the church’s worship services and social media presence (http://imb.org, http://namb.net, http://anniearmstrong.net).  Promote Arkansas missions giving through the Dixie Jackson Arkansas Missions Offering (http://absc.org).

 

  • Arkansas Disaster Relief

 

Provide Disaster Relief training to the local church and/or association.  Form a Disaster Relief team in the local church and/or association.  Give directly to Arkansas Disaster Relief (http://abscdisasterrelief.org, http://absc.org).

 

 

Continue to Part 6 >>