Nine Ideas for Global Mission
To get people in our Sabbath School classes involved in the church around the world, we must stir them to think about global realities, cross-cultural relationships, and a world much bigger than our own.
In the Sabbath School class:
- Turn down the back collars of shirts, blouses, and sweaters, and pray for the countries represented by the labels in your clothes.
- Identify and pray for neighbors and coworkers who are internationals. If no one in your group knows such people, look up foreign-sounding names in the community phone book, and pray for these people by name.
- Identify and pray for neighbors and coworkers who are members of other world religions: Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.
- Listen to a short-wave radio broadcasting the gospel through Trans World Radio, HCJB (Ecuador), or other global transmission ministries.
- Get an up-to-date map, choose a country per meeting, and pray for Christians living in those countries.
Outside the Sabbath School class
- Take a group field trip to a local mosque, Hindu temple, or synagogue, and try to interview the religious leader. Don’t make this an evangelistic effort, but simply learn about the beliefs of others.
- Go to an ethnic restaurant, and seek out the owners or hosts with the goal of interviewing them about their culture, religious beliefs, and -- if they are immigrants -- their experiences in and impressions of your country.
- Assign class members specific countries or nationalities to be researched on the Internet, asking the members to present a five-minute summary to the rest of the group.
- Go together to a Christian worship service that is different from yours either culturally or ethnically. Use this opportunity to remind yourselves that God’s people constitute a broad range of races and ethnicities. Reflect on Revelation 7:9.
Paul Borthwick
© 2006 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists