Think of an overseas missionary you know. Actually, time out. Don’t just think of them; take a moment and pray for them (Philippians 1:3-5). Hey, thanks for praying! Time in! Back to that specific missionary… How did they end up serving overseas? While it may have seemed like a spur-of-the-moment decision to you and the outside world, more likely than not, it was simply the next step for them in a life of humble, faithful obedience to Christ.
There can be a lot of mystery around how someone becomes a cross-cultural missionary. And there can be just as much mystery about who should be involved in global missions. There’s the misconception that only those select few “super Christians” become missionaries and only those same “super Christians” engage with the nations. This view places current and future missionaries on an unhelpful pedestal; it also closes the door on your own engagement! While not every follower of Christ is called to move overseas for missions, you are called to be a disciple-maker and to engage in God’s global purposes: that he would be praised by people from every tribe, tongue, and nation for all eternity (Revelation 7:9). By God’s good grace, there is a way for every believer to engage right where he has them! By walking through the global sending roadmap at Veritas Church, you’ll be equipped to see your next steps on this journey as an everyday missionary.
New to Missions
Whether you know it or not, if you’re attending Veritas Church, you’re already on the road! Veritas is a church where we preach God’s glory and make it clear that he has eternal, global purposes. You’ll also hear announcements from stage about short-term mission trips, see visiting missionaries giving snapshots of what God is doing overseas, notice prayer cards for missionaries by the entry to the auditorium, and find books on missions in the Veritas Bookstore. You may even stumble across the occasional missions-themed article! If you pay attention long enough, you’ll start to catch on that we care about God’s glory filling the whole earth as the waters cover the seas (Habakkuk 2:14)!
Globally Aware Christian
Once you’ve begun noticing God’s global purposes, you may be looking for more active ways to participate. A great first step would be to check out Global Prayer on the third Sunday of every month at 11 am. We give updates on missionaries serving overseas and spend time praying for them, their team, their witness, their city, and their nation all through the lens of God’s glory. You might even consider stopping by to hear from them directly when they are on stateside assignment; we host several Global Lunch & Learns or Nations Nights each year. If you want to play a more direct role in engaging the unreached yourself, consider volunteering with an organization in town that connects people to the nations, such as Catherine McAuley Center’s English tutoring program or Kirkwood’s international student mentor program. Putting yourself in environments like these is a great place to fall more in love with what God loves!
Globally Engaged Christian
At this point in the journey, you get the vision, and you get that you’re invited to participate in God’s global mission. You’re probably already reaching out to the missionaries you do know to understand how you can be more intentional in caring for them! This is a great time to deepen your learning on missions through taking a class like Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, participating in an exposure trip like Engage Global, or joining a Salt Summer Team if you’re a college student. Having deepened your understanding of God’s heart for the nations, you might even be looking for more hands-on ways to further the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)!
As a contributing member of Veritas Church with a growing heart for the nations, reach out to learn more about serving as a Family Group Leader. Family Groups meet weekly in Christ-followers’ homes with the primary aim of welcoming international unbelievers well. Family Group creates an environment for people from many cultures to worship together and study the Word in a context where they can understand who Jesus is with fewer barriers. Our prayer is that our Family Groups will help us flourish personally as maturing disciples of Jesus, provide opportunities to live out being an everyday missionary, and make a “nations” impact here in this city for God’s glory.
I want to be crystal clear: taking an “off-ramp” here and being a globally engaged Christian is a great destination for a Christian to live faithfully for the rest of their life! There is not an expectation that everyone will move overseas. If so, we would have no church left in this city and no one to send and support those who go. For the majority of us, being a purposeful prayer partner and local missionary here in this context is a faithful way to live.
Potential Cross-Cultural Missionary
But for those who do sense this specific calling, it’s time to let the church know! Fill out our Global Missions Interest Form to start the interview process to be considered as a potential cross-cultural missionary. We will have an initial interview and self-assessment, through which we’ll partner together to create a personal development plan. You will also be paired with a missions mentor to help you take steps toward growth in spiritual health, maturity in Christ, and skills in cross-cultural evangelism and discipleship. The beautiful thing about these development plans is that they will give you practical next steps to grow as a mature disciple whether you ultimately move overseas or not!
After months of self-reflection, prayer, assessment, training, and mentoring, and once the Sending Department and elders would affirm that you are maturing in Christ and in a healthy place to be sent, it’s time to explore sending agencies and teams together. This may include agency applications, field interviews with team leaders and agency staff, or even one or more vision trips to see the ministry and team in action firsthand. Through God’s guidance and provision, at the end of this process, you would be placed with a team in a given agency.
Committed Cross-Cultural Missionary
Now that you have the location, team, and agency identified, it’s time to home in on the more specialized training (e.g., language and culture acquisition training, specific people group/religious training, agency-specific training, coaching in support raising, etc.). But it’s not just book-learning; we will continue walking alongside you with a missions mentor who has been on the field and will help provide hands-on opportunities for cross-cultural evangelism and discipleship here in Cedar Rapids. The other main objective during this phase is to help you develop your missionary care team, who will be essential to your spiritual, emotional, and relational health and longevity on the field.
Commissioned Cross-Cultural Missionary
At this stage, you have been affirmed by the elders, gone through the necessary pre-field training, and developed your missionary care team. It's time for the moment the last two or more years have been building toward: your commissioning! But just like a wedding ceremony is not more important than the marriage, commissioning isn’t the finish line in missions; this is just the starting line of the marathon you’ve been training for. This is true for both the missionary and the sending church! Veritas Church will work with you, your team, and your agency to ensure you are set up for a healthy transition to your new city. We will establish a regular rhythm of communication between you and your care team. Our church will create ongoing opportunities to pray for you. We’ll also have a hand in ensuring you have your spiritual, relational, emotional, and material needs met during stateside assignment. And you can plan on Veritas Church being here for you when it’s time to transition off the field. Throughout this entire sending process, we are with you to ensure you are sent in a manner worthy of God (3 John 6).
You Are Sent
At Veritas Church, we believe that every Christian has a role to play in fulfilling the great commission; to follow Jesus is to be sent by Jesus (John 20:21)! Hopefully, this global sending roadmap helps you find your place to be a part of bringing God glory among the nations! Whether you’re brand new to missions or you’ve booked your flight to your new home overseas, there’s a place for you on this journey. Visit our Sending page to take your next step, whatever it might be!