An many of our missionaries point out each year during the missions conference, without faithful prayer support from their sending churches, much of their labor is in vain. Prayer fuels the fires of the Gospel as it goes forth into the nations.

Yet, you may ask, “How do I pray for missionaries?  What are their needs?  How do I pray for someone so far away whom I do not know and perhaps may never see?”  Below are some helpful suggestions for how you can generally pray for our missionaries.

WAYS YOU CAN PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONARY FAMILY:

1.    Pray for the missionaries’ personal relationship with God.

2.    Pray for the missionaries’ physical and emotional needs.  Pray against discouragement, depression, loneliness and homesickness.

3.    Pray the missionaries can make the necessary adjustments to living on their fields of labor.

4.    Pray that God will open doors of ministry, blessing partnerships and friendships and that those who serve will be led by the Holy Spirit and recognize open-door opportunities.

5.    Pray for revival in each nation and region of the world.

6.    Pray that the Spirit will provide them with words that commuicate effectively in other cultures and languages.

7.    Pray that the missionaries would find favor in the eyes of those in high places that can help to further the kingdom.

8.    Pray that the missionaries will have the boldness to overcome the fear of embarassment or failure.

9.    Pray for the freedom to preach the gospel and that the people will be responsive

10.  Pray for strength and stamina as missionaries encounter antagonistic spiritual forces.

11.  Pray that God’s Word will indeed spread rapidly and be honored.

12.  Pray that God will change the hearts of those who are resistant to His Word.

13.  Pray that God will keep Christian workers safe from those who seek to hurt them.

14.  Pray that the missionary’s ministry and attitude will be worthy of acceptance.

15.  Pray for good relationships among co-workers and the national workers.

16.  Pray that the Lord will help the missionaries develop good national leaders that will multiply their efforts.

17.  Pray for clear guidance from God regarding travel decisions.

18.  Pray for protection and provision during their travels and for necessary permissions to travel.

19.  Pray that God will provide opportunities for missionaries in lonely areas to spend time with other believers.

20.  Pray that God will provide times of peace and relaxation to refresh His workers.

EMAIL PRAYER CHAIN: If you are interested in receiving periodic e-mail prayer requests from missionaries and those within our local congregation, send an email to prayerchainatrbc@gmail.com and put the word “Join” in the subject line. You will then be added to our email distribution list to received regular updates of prayer requests.

MISSIONARY PRAYER GUIDE: You can also stop by the Welcome Desk during weekend services and pick up a Missionary Prayer Guide. The Missionary Prayer Guide is an excellent resource that has a comprehensive list of our missionaries, including photos and personal prayer requests.

Katie Gates shares how an experience in the Amazon opened her heart to sin and the fullness of the Gospel of Christ and how that is leading her to minister to the poor and oppressed.

This at times can be almost paralyzing as we watch these titans of the faith do battle over the meaning of words and doctrines while the rest of us stand on the sidelines waiting for the dust to settle, which it never does. Then we observe people who have little or no theological training who love the Lord supremely, obey Him consistently, draw deeply from His word, sacrifice joyfully, witness boldly, pray fervently and worship passionately. How can this be? I recently returned from a trip to the Amazon where I had the great privilege to meet with a tribe that had just been reached with the gospel. There we were, standing in the midst of the great Brazilian jungle witnessing what I like to call THE ORGANIC GOSPEL, with no doctrinal preservatives added.

These people had known the Lord for just four months. They had no bibles, no theological system they were following, no knowledge of doctrine, yet seemed to have a great grasp of the basic fundamentals of the Christian life. I was a bit skeptical until I heard some of their testimonies. This was a very small tribe, but their hope in the Lord dwarfed what I see in our western culture. One woman stepped forward and said she used to be angry and hard to get along with but now that she has been forgiven of her sins by Jesus, her anger no longer has a grip on her. Another stepped up and said, “I used to curse my children but now I bless them.” While yet another said she knew in her heart that something was not right when she heard that Jesus had come to set her free from her sin. She is now at peace, even though life is very hard.

So here are five things I learned from this tribe that I never knew about the gospel.

1. The simple gospel taught them how to pray. Since God is a personal God then praying to Him seems only normal now that they are believers. They prayed for us before we left. It was beautiful and full of hope.
2. The simple gospel taught them how to walk by faith. They were trusting God for their daily provisions, and if you could see the conditions these people live in, you would understand how faith was essential to their daily walk.
3. The simple gospel taught them how to worship. They asked if we would teach them some songs so they could praise God in greater ways. We sang together under the shade of heavy vines draped over the limbs of giant trees drawing up water from a nearby swamp.
4. The simple gospel taught them how to witness. They had a desire to reach other tribes with this message.
5. The simple gospel taught them to seek forgiveness from one another. This was the clincher for me. One woman said, “Since Jesus forgave us we have decided as a tribe that if we ever offend one another in word or deed, we will go to that person and ask forgiveness.” I taught on this for years. Most of us in the west tell those we have offended, “I’m sorry,” or “I apologize,” but few will look the offended party in the eye and say, “Will you forgive me for what I have done?” That is what these people practice.

Some of you might be saying to yourself, “I have always known that the gospel alone could do this.” Let me challenge you on that thought. Why is it that the western church has to have endless books on how to worship, how to witness, how to pray, how to walk by faith, or how to forgive? Why do we have countless seminars on these subjects? But let’s ask an even harder question. Are we living these out with all of our theological knowledge? Perhaps this is getting a little uncomfortable. As I looked at these people I couldn’t help but think, “This is not a tribe, but a church – and a pretty mature one at that.” Do you know of a church in the U.S. that practices these disciplines? These people had no pastor, no creeds, no statement of faith, no theological system, no eschatological date for our Lord’s return, no worship center, and no prayer room. All they had was the ORGANIC GOSPEL.

Now before you write me off as one of those pastors that says, “Let’s get rid of doctrine and just love Jesus,” hear me out. I love good doctrine and have taught it for many years. After all, I pastor a Bible church. The purpose of good doctrine is to protect the gospel from cults, new age philosophies, and health & wealth theology (which, in fact, is no theology). Doctrine is highlighted when the gospel is attacked. Great theologians rise up as they should. Creeds and confessions are written. Books on systematic theology spring up. All this can be good, but it can also bury the ORGANIC GOSPEL. When theology is worshiped in place of the One it directs us to, then we are in serious trouble. The résumé of a person is not the person. It simply describes the person, albeit in a very limited way. No matter how much doctrine we compile, God will never be adequately explained by any group of people or any system of theology. So let’s remove our pride and learn from the tribe.

You can watch or listen to Pastor Mike’s account of this trip to the Amazon here.

When you think of “street evangelism” what is the first thing that comes to mind? Iʼm guessing that it isnʼt something immediately speaks to you as being thrilling, easy, or fun, even. But, nonetheless, it is really what SEMP is all about. It stands for “Students Equipped to Minister to Peers” and thatʼs exactly what we got ourselves into. Half of the equipping involves classes about theology, apologetics, and evangelism, and the other half requires you to step out of your comfort zone and onto the streets of Chicago and share your faith with complete strangers.

Being my second year to co-lead a group of teens on this mission trip to Chicago, I canʼt say I was exactly looking forward to a repeat of lessons, experiences, and faith-stretching from last year. Fortunately, the Lord always has plans of His own, and this year He made sure that the experience for everyone, including me, was one that weʼd remember for a long time.

The team took off on Sunday morning, bright and early, from the airport without me, as I was home with a stomach illness that kept me from eating or drinking anything for over twenty-four hours. Just as I was wondering if Iʼd ever make it there to meet them, the Lord redeemed me from my suffering and healed my body enough for me to make a flight on Monday morning. Once I arrived in Chicago and met the teens at Moody Bible Institute, I had a new, gracious, and humbled look at this yearʼs SEMP trip. And although I was still feeling very weak and somewhat ill for the rest of our time in Chicago, the Lord allowed me to see the full meaning behind His words in 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

The Lord used such a horrible couple days to humble me in a way that I am extremely grateful for. He allowed me to see every circumstance during the trip through new eyes, that were focused and poised on Him alone. Thereʼs definitely an immense amount of joy that one feels when they can tangibly watch the Lord moving in someoneʼs life that theyʼve been praying for. I canʼt explain it, but seeing a student bear fruit in a way that Iʼve hoped and prayed for years would happen, is a priceless experience. He showed me many things that Heʼs doing that have excited me and refueled my passion for youth ministry and for pouring into these young girlsʼ lives.

Throughout the week I was blessed to watch introverted students step out of their comfort zones and lead conversations with strangers on the street. One student in particular was able to experience the love of God in a way that she never had before. She praised Him in a moment of vulnerability that the team will never forget. Another student decided she was ready to break free of the chains of a temptation that had been holding her down for months. She finally gave up fighting God, and gave in to following Him and trusting in Him to get her through this trial. Other students had break throughs in their own relationships with God and were encouraged by Him to reach out to their friends in the upcoming school year.

On the last day of SEMP students and leaders alike were instructed to write letters to four people in their lives that may not have a relationship with Christ. I watched as both leaders and students prayerfully thought through their words and committed to reaching their friends and family for Christ. Even I struggled as we poured out our hearts into the letters. It takes an immense amount of faith and strength to write such an honest and loving note to someone who has rejected the Lord for years, but there we were, face to face with such a position. I was extremely touched that many of the students took a chance and wrote such a personal letter; it even inspired me! Now that most of the letters have been delivered, the only thing we can do is sit back and pray. Pray that they are received well, pray that conversations are evoked from their contents, and pray that the Lord would continue to work as He always has been doing.

I just want to thank you all for your prayers for the SEMP team. Seeds have been planted in Chicago, comfort zones have been recklessly abandoned for Christ, and lives have been changed through every experience.

After some great Bible time, all the while waiting to see what the rain would do, a plan B was created. The weather lightened up enough to be outside but was still too damp to do the painting we had originally hoped to do, thus we went into Sangre Grande with gospel-oriented surveys and spent most of the afternoon sharing with locals about the life-altering love of Christ. It is difficult to sum up an afternoon like that, because every individual had such a different experience, but I can tell you that despite the differences between our conversations, Christ was a clear part of every one of them. It does not cease to amaze me the way that the culture here allows us to openly evangelize in a way that would never be so well-accepted back in the states.

After lunch and more surveys the team got ready for an evening of hard-core evangelism. A friend of the Heerah’s graciously allowed our team to put on a program in front of their store in Sangre Grande so that we could share the gospel to the streets of Trinidad. Crowds gathered from across the street in front of stores, in front of our space on the side walk, and packed around the area that we performed, all curious to see what the crazy Americans in matching yellow shirts were going to do.

The crowds were not massive, but they were consistent and we considered ourselves blessed to have any listening ears at all. For the first segment of our program the team sang two worships songs together, Hope Ruffner shared her testimony, and the skit “Decision Time” was performed.

After about a half hour of talking to the listeners on the street, getting responses, and handing out tracts, we started all over again. This time the team sang two different worships songs; John Shull shared his testimony (beautifully, I may add), and the skit “King of Hearts” was performed. An eloquent, but ultimately welcoming and clear presentation of the gospel by Ronnie Heerah followed both segments.

Naturally, we did hit some bumps in the road, but every one of them was extraordinarily handled. For example, when drunk and mentally unwell men showed up hoping to become best buds with some of us, the men on our team (leaders and students) swung into super-protection mode making sure that every person felt completely safe the entire evening. One drunken man yelled that he was “vexed” at one of our college leaders because he would not allow the man to marry one of our team members. It was honestly hilarious and handled in a way that allowed us to laugh rather than feel uncomfortable or unsafe. I could not, and I think I speak well for all of the girls here, ask for a better group of guys to protect us and work beside us.

Our time on the streets today was really incredible. We saw a huge interest and spoke some real truth to many people we had never met and may never see again. God was in every detail, every word, and every moment calming and guiding hearts. We left Sangre Grande with joy in our hearts and a thirst to seek more opportunities to share in the same way that we had this evening. We have tasted and we have seen that God is good.

click to watch a video- Sharing the gospel with the kids at Guaico Elementary School

DAY 3: We started off the day as a team walking through the streets of Sangre Grande exploring the culture, the stores, and the over all feel of the town in which we soon hoped to connect with. In our groups we attempted to speak to the people we saw, understand the things around us, and connect with each other.

It is always a blessing to be able to multi task the way that we do here by, at it simplest, fellowshipping and worshipping while we complete the tasks at hand. Our pale skin has been a major give away these few days. Everywhere we go we get looks but of course we have loved it and have taken that attention as an opportunity to connect with and relate to the locals.

After our prayer walk we ate a delicious home cooked meal at the Heerahs house and soon changed into our swimwear. We spent a few hours on a local beach and had a grand old time. I have been personally so encouraged by the way that in whatever we do, we do it as a team. We played Marco-Polo the majority of our time there and I so appreciated the participation of the entire team as well as some new friends we made that day.

After some major fun and fellowship we began an evening of sharing in the community. Our American team split up into groups of three or four including some extraordinary Trinidadian help. We went our separate ways within nearby neighborhoods and went house to house asking locals questions from a survey with the intention of not only having a greater understanding of the needs around us, but also to interest people in Hope Community Church and ultimately the gospel. These kinds of surveys were very different from what most of us were used to simply because the Trinidadians here typically enjoy sharing with us and getting to know us, whereas in the states most of us are used to being brushed off.

Talking to strangers with thick accents and strong opinions was certainly enough to stretch most of us, but at the end of the day we all took joy in what God had done in us and through us. God gave us the chance to be bold and to lead for the sake of the gospel, for which we praise Him. We ended our day sharing about our experiences sharing at a local Chinese restaurant after which we ended our night exhausted and ready for some sleep.

Please pray for the families we talked to: that our conversations would encourage them to seek out the one true God. Ronnie was so encouraged to see us talking to the neighbors of the church. We really are hoping to be an encouragement to the church and the community.

DAY 4: Tuesday morning we woke up earlier than days past, frantically getting ready for the busy day ahead of us. Skits were being practiced, things were getting packed, and much prayer was taking place as we headed off for Guaicu Presbyterian Elementary School, where we were given the opportunity to put on a program for the children attending there.

Ryan Swisher passionately led some worship for the kids, followed by Ronnie to sang children’s songs including Jesus is a Winner, Man, a personal favorite of mine. We performed King of Hearts and maybe it was just me, but I believe that we all felt the spirit of God strongly in that room as every character and idea was depicted. The children laugh, gasped, and erupted in applause (most graciously, I may add) as we performed and later explained what the skit meant and how God had reached us personally just as he reached the characters in the skit.

Considering the room was enormous and packed tight with various aged children, the attention overall was focused in on us and our message for them. After performing the team was given some time to get to know the kids and simply show them the love Jesus would have us show. Many kids begged for autographs, compared us to Disney characters, and asked if our eyes were real. We could not help but laugh at the silly things they said to us but when we left something in our hearts stirred. We barely knew these kids, but each of us was sincerely sad to go.

After our time at the school we headed out to a work project where a house was being built for a single mother who Ronnie was connected with. I doubt any one of us had ever sweat that much in our entire lives. Every team member worked like crazy digging trenches and priming walls in the heat. It was encouraging to see the progress of our labor as time went on. Our work there is not yet finished, but we plan to return tomorrow to finish painting what was primed today and help assemble the roof for the house. After eating some traditional Trinidadian roti for lunch, we hoped to work even longer on the house, but frequent rain showers prevented us from being able to do any real work, so we took that as God calling us elsewhere. We had some team time back at the house followed by individual and group Quiet Times. Although it rained off and on all evening, nothing could stop us from doing more surveys! Because it was our second time around, conversations seem to run smoothly and go further than they had the day before, and for that we are thankful.

We ended the day with perhaps the most fun activities in the world: eating food and singing karaoke! The restaurant we ate at is called Sound Bites Caf and is owned by a Christian family, who we thoroughly enjoyed spending the evening with. The food was delicious and the company could not have been better. We were encouraged to sit by team members we knew the least and from that grew some real friendships, or rather deepened the friendships that we have already formed. Karaoke also brought us closer together. Anyone willing to put themselves out there for the sake of bonding and fun is worthy of respect. The evening could not have gone better. We rode back to our living areas singing songs with contentment in our hearts; ready for whatever God will have for us tomorrow.

Please pray for our Street meeting tonight! We will be sharing our package and witnessing to those passing on the street from a small parking lot. Pray that Gods message is communicated clearly and that He will be working on hearts to the benefit of His kingdom.

day 1_ marvelous light

day2_ swisher steel drum

DAY ONE:
Our day of travel was indeed a long one! The team piled into Dulles Airport around 4am half-asleep, but one hundred percent eager to begin our adventure ahead of us. We praise God for a day of nothing but safe travels and blessings. Not a single piece of luggage was lost as we flew from Dulles to Miami and then to Trinidad.

How incredible is it that we serve a God who not only got us where we needed to go, but He got us their quickly, safely, and with everything we could hope to bring. I must say it has been neat to see God’s fingerprints so clearly marked over every individual that makes this team a team. It is so obvious to us all that God chose this team (every member included) for His great purpose and we have been able to accurately rejoice in that as we have begun to work alongside each other and get to know each other. Every plane ride was taken as an opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level as well as sharing with other passengers about our mission ahead and our great desire to see God work in us.

We landed in Trinidad around 1:30pm and were soon greeted by a joyful and welcoming Ronnie Heerah. We spent the remainder of the evening moving in to our living spaces for the next two weeks. While the guys brought their things to Hope Community Church (an excellent name for a church, by the way) the girls moved into the home of the gracious and hospitable Heerah’s. (The family includes two boys and a girl under 14.)

The team then joined up for a get-together at Hope Community Church to meet some of the people we will be walking alongside this trip as well as eat some fantastic Trini food for dinner. It has been an honor spending time with everyone we have met thus far. Hope Community Church is not flashy or edgy, but its members are filled with more love, life, and joy than I can even describe to you accurately with mere words. Their love has overwhelmed the hearts of this team and not a single member left the church last night without excitement in their souls.

One incident in particular reminded us of God’s provision: After the Maxi Taxi (our daily transportation in a bus/van) dropped everyone off at their locations, we realized that there was some key items left behind in the vehicle. In the process of retrieving it, we got to meet the closest neighbor to the church and show an interest in her family’s lives (her daughter is miraculous alive after having spinal bifida for years. The doctors say she should have died when she was 5… she is now 14!) The family is not connected to the church but we are hoping this interaction, along with others will show her God’s love and the love of the church she lives next to.

DAY TWO:
The team started its day off today heading back to Hope Community Church for a bit of “Trini Culture Training.” As a group we listened to a well-put together presentation by about the history and culture of Trinidad so that we may be able to reach out to the community in a relevant way. Ronnie spoke to us briefly about the missions statement of the church and spoke profound truth into the meaning of God’s hope, leaving us encouraged and excited about beginning God’s good work here. We went over, in detail, our plan for the next two weeks so as to be prepared for everything that is coming our way. We are learning to be flexible and roll with the punches, because the Trinidad culture is not a rushed or planned one in the way ours is in the states.

Our new favorite phrase is “Trini Time.” For example “you can have a five minute break…Trini Time,” which meant that fifteen minutes later our break ended. After discussing our game plan, the team set up the church for a discipleship time and regular church service that happen Sunday evenings. We ate lunch together as a body of Christ and continued to use our time wisely by practicing skits, worship songs, and taking the time to encourage and exhort one another whenever there is down time. Finally we ended our time at the church today by having a quiet time together as a team and fellowshipping in all that God shared with us.  After a nice refreshing couple hours back in our respective “homes” we arrived at the church for the services. We did one of our skits and sang a couple of our songs. Allison shared her testimony and Bob gave a message.  Eight of us had chances to help with childcare. The guys also got to build friendships with some younger guys that have been checking out the church.  We had a great dinner and fellowship “liming” with the Trinis from HCC.

Another area we hope to see God working is in our driver’s dad’s life. His dad once said he would never step foot inside a church. God has definitely been softening his heart. He is going to take on the transportation of us with his son and has been in the church since we got here! Pray that he continues to be receptive to God’s work.

(by Hope and Ashley)

We made it to Trinidad safe and sound and all of our luggage made it too!!  Thank you for your prayers…we really appreciate them!!  We are exhausted after a long day of travel but will hopefully post more fully tomorrow morning.  We are definitely not in Kansas anymore but we are excited for what God has planned for us during these next two weeks!

-Allison Turchan

(click here for part one)

(click here for part two)

(click here for part three)

(click here for part four)

WHAT IS A SHORT TERM MISSION TEAM?
Short Term Mission Teams used to be called Summer Mission Teams because they almost always occurred in the summer months. Now these type teams occur year-round. The purpose of RBC Short Term Mission Teams is 3-fold:
1. To assist and bless a missionary that RBC supports currently.
2. To introduce RBC attendees to mission work first hand.
3. To educate the RBC congregation about missions.

HOW ARE SHORT TERM MISSION TEAMS FUNDED?
Short Term Mission Teams are primarily funded by the individuals who make up the team. If there are individuals who cannot fund their portion of the team cost, the Missions committee will consider their shortage. The Missions Committee also considers material costs the team may have in areas such as printed materials, construction materials etc.

HOW ARE SHORT TERM MISSION TEAMS FORMED?
Most teams are developed out of a desire of a someone in the congregation to meet a need they see in a particular ministry or from a gift that person may have such as evangelism or working with children etc. All team proposals must first go through the Missions Committee for approval and if the Missions Committee approves the team then it goes to the Council of Elders for final approval. All teams have a team leader who is responsible for the team’s organization, administration and oversight. RBC has a policy that you must be 16 years old to be on a team unless you have a parent on the team with you and the team leader approves of the youth (Youth ministry teams are the exception to this rule).

(click here for part one)

(click here for part two)

(click here for part three)

WHAT IS THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA MISSIONS CONSORTIUM?
The NOVA Missions Consortium is a consortium of five local churches – Reston Bible Church, Chantilly Bible Church, Immanuel Bible Church, Cherrydale Baptist Church and Grace Bible Church – whose goal is to cooperatively help missionaries from these five churches get to the field more quickly.  Each year, one of the five churches is allowed to put a missionary from their congregation before the consortium for potential support.  This rotates each year so each church has the opportunity to put a missionary before the consortium once every five years.  If a church’s turn to put a missionary before the consortium arrives and that church does not have a missionary in the pipeline, they are simply skipped over and the next church in line gets the opportunity.

WHY A CONSORTIUM?
The goal of the consortium is to have these five local churches get to know the consortium missionaries very well and be able to support them at at least 75% of their need.  This accomplishes several goals:  First, when a consortium missionary is home on furlough they will not have to travel around the country visiting their supporters as most of their support is coming from these five local churches – they can stay locally and get more involved at each church during their furlough versus just visiting for a weekend or a conference,  Secondly, it allows the missionary to focus less on support raising and more on preparing themselves to get to the field.

Currently there are 10 consortium missionaries. Three of these ten consortium missionaries are “home grown” RBCers. $25,900.00 is collectively given in monthly support by the consortium churches to these ten missionaries. 2011 is RBC’s turn to present a missionary.

(click here for part one)

(click here for part two)

HOW DOES THE COMMITTEE OPERATE?
The Missions Committee meets monthly and operates mostly by consensus and discussion.  The committee does not use the Roberts Rules of Order (a widely-used set of procedures for deliberative assemblies).  The Missions Director develops the agenda and the Financial Secretary, Ray Baldwin, presents the financial report at each meeting.  Typically, we have at least one and as many as four missionaries attend each meeting to give a report on their ministry. Only those missionaries who happen to be in our area when a meeting is scheduled attends the meeting to give a report. We typically do not bring in a missionary just to attend a meeting.   Periodically, we have an actual vote on an issue.  There are three issues that must be decided by an unanimous vote; taking on a new missionary, stopping the support of a missionary and making a change to the Missions Policy. These three decisions must go to the RBC Council of Elders for final approval.

WHAT IS THE RBC MISSIONS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM?
RBC has had the privilege of sending out numerous people from our congregation over the years to be full-time missionaries.  In order for RBC to be the “sending church” for a missionary, that family or individual must attend RBC and go through the RBC Internship Program.  This program is designed to help one get from a desire to be a full time missionary to actually getting on the foreign mission field.  It is customized to tailor each applicant’s individual place in their walk with the Lord and their desired type of service, such as church planting or support work.  The Missions Committee and the Council of Elders must approve all those who enter the Internship Program.  Entering the program does not bind the person or the committee to any final decision and it does not guarantee future financial support.  Upon successful completion of the Internship Program, the Council of Elders must give their final approval on the person becoming a full-time missionary.  Each intern is assigned a personal counselor that walks through the program with them individually, makes periodic reports to the Missions Committee and holds the intern accountable for completion.

(click here for part one)

HOW DOES THE COMMITTEE TAKE ON NEW MISSIONARIES?
This is by far the most difficult decision that the Missions Committee makes.  When finances are available to take on new missionaries, the Missions Committee reviews a list of missionaries who have expressed interest in being considered for support by RBC.  The list is prayerfully reviewed, and the Committee prayerfully picks from the list a family or two (or however many is possible to come for an in person interview with the committee.) Prior to the interview, the missionary must complete RBC’s Service Application.  This application is reviewed by all the Committee members prior to the interview.  After the in-person interview, the Committee prays for one month to decide whether to support the missionary.  Once the committee makes their decision, and if it is a positive one, the Committee’s recommendation for support goes to the Council of Elders for final approval.

DOES THE COMMITTEE TARGET CERTAIN PARTS OF THE WORLD OR CERTAIN TYPES OF MINISTRY?
Although church planting has always been our highest priority, the answer to the question is no.  We trust the Lord to lead us to the ministries and parts of the world He desires RBC to become involved with.  Our desire is to “Know Christ and Make Him Known” but after much discussion and experimenting, that is as tight as a box we desire to put ourselves in.

WITH THAT AS YOUR STRATEGY, WHERE DO YOU SUPPORT MISSIONARIES AND WHAT TYPE OF MINISTRIES?
We support people in every region of the world.  The ministries we support include:  church planters, evangelists, Bible teachers, missionary children teachers, home and field office administration, computer operators, language translators, tribal workers, pilots, mechanics, member care providers and orphan ministry.

Reston Bible Church desires to see solid, biblical, growing churches planted around the world. We define “missions” as a ministry outside the continental United States or a state-side ministry which supports ministries outside the continental United States. We support approximately 220 cross-cultural and national missionaries, many of whom have been raised at RBC. In this short series, Bill Hurley, Director of Missions at RBC, answers frequently-asked questions regarding our missions program.

HOW IS THE RBC MISSIONS PROGRAM FUNDED?

The Council of Elders at RBC have made Global Missions a budget line item to which they give $128,000.00 per month.  Most all of this is committed and given to missionaries in monthly support.  RBC currently supports 220 families around the globe.   In addition to that budget figure, the program receives all monies designated to specific missionaries and all monies designated to missions in general.  The designated gifts are given to the specific designated ministry.  The monies given to missions in general are used by the Missions Committee to give to one-time needs of the missionaries RBC support. In the fiscal year August 1, 2009 to August 31, 2010, the Missions Committee was able to give out $50,194.00 in one-time gifts to meet specific needs of our missionaries.

The Local Missions budget is also a line item in the budget and most of the budget ($6750.00 per month) is given out each month in monthly support to the 15 various local ministries RBC supports.

WHAT IS THE MISSIONS COMMITTEE?

RBC has two separate missions committees, the Local Missions committee and the Global Missions committee.  The Local Missions Committee oversees those we support who have a ministry within the 48 continental States.  These include campus ministries, YoungLife, Sanctity of Life, prison ministry, etc.  This committee consists of four people.

The Global Missions Committee administers those we support outside the 48 continental States.  Some of the people we support are located within the 48 states, but their ministry is global.  This committee consists of 15 people currently.

I do not recruit committee members.  In order to serve in this ministry, the person needs to be led by the Lord.  The process to join is simple – they let me know they are interested, I meet with them and I make a recommendation to the Elders and they make the final decision.  Both committees, for the most part, operate by a simple majority.  On a few very important issues, such as taking on a new missionary, the decision must be unanimous.  I chair both committees.

God was incredibly gracious to us, and we thank you for partnering with us for the advancement of God’s kingdom. Thank you for your prayers.  If you have any questions about the trip, please contact me at aaronosborne@restonbible.org.