This last Sunday a young woman in our church, Elizabeth Blakeley, shared the opportunity to serve on a mission trip to France in the summer of 2015. Mission trips are an important part of our faith. They grow us whether we are the ones who are going or the ones who are supporting the ones who go. We are excited to send a team to France next summer. We are also excited to be supporting career missionaries in France.
Last summer, I met with two people who asked if our church would support them as they became career missionaries in France. We prayed together, heard their vision, and found ways that our church could not only support them financially but also connect with their ministry in France. We want to support our missionaries in multiple ways: prayer, finances, connection, and serving together. I brought their request to the Leadership Council, and we officially added them as missionaries. At that meeting, Elizabeth saw God answering a bigger prayer in her heart – to serve in France, especially fighting human trafficking. She had asked God to answer that prayer for years, but doors had kept closing. Now the door is open, and she is leading a team to France in the summer of 2015.
As we send this team, we need to remember that a team is just one part of our whole church joining in God’s work in France. We are not just sending a team but supporting long-term missionaries. The Spirit is already working in France – through missionaries, pastors, artists, businessmen and women, youth, and others. We are not there to give the answers, but to join in the work, encourage and be encouraged, and follow Jesus. We are also there to learn more – to come back to our local mission field and apply the lessons we have learned. We need to continue to reach out to those who do not have a church home in our area. We will continue to pray for the Bakers and God’s work in France. We are sending a team in 2015 – and we can’t wait to see how God will challenge our church more and more as we follow Him.
To contact Elizabeth, email her at elizabethrblakeley@yahoo.com
