Posts by Jon Trotter
The Beauty of the Body of Christ
Churches across denominational lines have come together to support reaching the local Arabic-speaking community in Harrisonburg, Va. “What has blessed and stretched my faith has been the “unity amidst diversity” that I have seen expressed in [VMMissions worker] Yacoub’s team,” Pastor Blake Wood writes.
Read MoreGreat Community Give Fundraiser Raises $11,000+
VMMissions joined over 100 other local organizations in the Great Community Give, a special online day of giving on April 19. The event raised a total of $11,380. VMMissions hosted a lunchtime open house cookout and welcomed around 50 people to enjoy food and fellowship.
Read MoreWorker Profile: Jhustin Thompson
Jhustin serves in a college ministry assignment with Every Nation Campus and VMMissions. “My work and goal is to show the love of God and be a light to campus. I want to see lives changed by the good news and do the work of God,” he writes.
Read MoreCall to Prayer: Joining God’s Heart for Mission
Prayer is a fundamental underpinning of how we partner with God to engage in our small part of the great gospel task. As followers of Jesus pray together, the Holy Spirit enables us to see the grand reality of God’s plan for the restoration for humanity, and to see the immediate needs of the people right in front of us.
Read MoreGod Helps Us Speak the Message
Receiving the call to go to another place implies many changes and a lot of learning in unfamiliar areas, such as language, culture, and food. All of this can become overwhelming,” David and Marta write. “But we can be filled with encouragement and hope knowing that the Lord will be with us.”
Read MoreGod’s Mission Is Bigger Than Mine
“God’s mission is bigger than mine,” church planter Juan José Lagos writes. “That allows me to join his story and his mission rather than carrying the burden of accomplishing it all on my own strength. This is how we must see ourselves as we follow the call of God our Father who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ.”
Read MoreGod’s Heart Is for Reconciliation
God leading this mission helps me acknowledge that he doesn’t need us to accomplish his plans, but rather, God invites us to partner with him. Personally, this demolishes any ounce of pride in my heart that tries to make disciples without Christ’s partnership. This also allows me to rest in the fact that I don’t have to be in control.
Read MoreWhose Voice Are We Listening To?
Anita (name changed), serving in a slum in Indonesia, writes, “It is lovely when we have attainable rhythms and goals to keep us healthy and measure “success” clearly. But on the mission field, so often this seems impossible. Much of our energy is spent just surviving in a different culture, language, and religious context. And it can feel impossible to measure.”
Read MoreSuccess Requires Transformation
“In my four years on the VMMissions Board of Directors, I have found that our vision statement serves as a beautiful and life-giving objective,” Paul Yoder, board chair, writes. “The verb “envisions” speaks to the “picture” that we are painting. Three scriptures have recently been helping me more fully “envision” success in God’s kingdom.
Read MoreSuccess Can Rise Out of Failure
Anne (name changed) shares an experience that illustrates her struggle with success. “How could people in our own faith community act so vengefully and with so little consideration for their children’s faith?” she writes. “Just when I rejoice at how much fruit is resulting from my ministry, things fall apart. I could easily name ten other situations like this.”
Read MoreSuccess Is Doing What Pleases the Lord
“My own definition of success has to run deeper than just a sense of accomplishment, or I’m not going to make it very far,” Nathan Carr writes. “Early in my ministry I fell into that trap of thinking I was the one who had to make things happen. I put everything on my own shoulders, and it wore me out. I was forced to face the reality that I could only give them so much.”
Read MoreSuccess Is the Outflow of Abiding
Joyel writes, “We can see there’s something so special about creation being with our creator. The outflow of abiding and being with God is the fruit that we bear that not only benefits us, but those around us. We’re constantly approached with opportunities to remain distracted, in bondage, and lost. But even then, God is faithful to redirect us back to him.”
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