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What is a Sending Church?

Barry Falk is the Lead Pastor of Black Creek Community Church in British Columbia, Canada, and Jana Hildebrandt is the Director of Missions at Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas. They each sat down recently with their respective Mission Mobilizers: Greg Laing (Western Canada) and Stephen Humber (Midwest US).

Stephen: Jana, what does it mean for Ridgepoint to be a sending church? 

Jana: We place a high value on mission and fostering a desire to be a part of what God is doing around the world. When it comes to choosing our partnerships, we try to go deep rather than wide, which means we like to support workers that we already have a relationship with. We don’t just support financially, but we want to be hands-on in partnering with them, going to see them, building relationships with their national partners, helping with projects, praying, staying in touch. 

Stephen: What are practical examples of focusing on mission in your congregation? 

Jana: We started an Adventure Room for kids where we try to foster an interest in other cultures and, more importantly, an excitement for what God is doing around the world. It helped to plant a seed in many of our younger missionaries. We also like to highlight our missionaries on Sunday mornings and, when we can, to provide more in-depth opportunities to hear about how God is at work in their ministry. But we’ve also participated in numerous mission trips, which have probably been the most impactful. We’ve had more than 450 people involved in our family-friendly starter trip, and then we’ve encouraged many to go on other trips to become more engaged with our missionaries. As people go on these trips, we watch for where God is stirring their hearts and then we encourage the next step of investigating or discerning. In fact, every one of our church-sent missionaries participated in at least one mission trip when seeds were planted in their hearts prior to being sent out long term. 

Greg: What about your church on Vancouver Island? Barry, what does it mean for Black Creek to be a sending church?

Barry: Over the years, we have been blessed to have a number of believers called out of the normal to go and bring the good news of Jesus to those who need to hear. For us, twenty years ago, that meant sending a family of four to East Asia to serve in a very restricted setting, and they are still involved in that mission today. When you send someone out, it always seems to bring back an element of life, vision, and perspective to your church family. 

Greg: How do you nurture a heart for sending among your congregation in Black Creek?

Barry: This is a challenging question, and it’s a topic we pondered in our pastoral staff meeting. We have taught on the priesthood of all believers and that God doesn’t see pastors and missionaries on a higher spiritual level. So, I have personally counseled many people who are zealous for the Lord to serve where they are planted and not to seek full-time ministry. Sometimes, this feels counter-intuitive and contrary to the traditional method of stirring up fervor, and yet it has produced fruit in quite a number of people who have chosen vocational ministry and full-time mission service.

Stephen: What are some examples of sending workers from Ridgepoint?

Jana: We have been so blessed to walk alongside Travis Jost as he followed God’s call to leave a career in banking to become a missionary. It wasn’t an easy path to let him go, to see Travis leave his home, his church family in Kansas. But what a joy for us to see how Travis is investing in God’s kingdom in Burundi! We know his impact is great and we love that we can be involved in his ministry through our prayers and support. There have been others, as well, like Nasser al-Qahtani. It’s humbling to think that a simple invitation to join a church mission trip to France put in motion God’s plan for Nasser to take on such a key role in resourcing and encouraging the Church in the Middle East. So, with both Travis and Nasser, we just kept supporting their next “yes” and walked with them in discernment and prayer. 

Greg: What is one of your favorite examples of Black Creek sending a worker into the field?

Barry: We recently commissioned a young lady from our congregation to full-time work with Multiply, serving among an unreached people group in Toronto. In some ways, she might not be considered a typical church planter, but she carries a strong gift of prayer. The kingdom of God is like that, often surprising in who God chooses to go and represent him. It is such a joy for our church family to extend our mission across Canada.

Stephen: Jana, what does your partnership with Multiply look like? 

Jana: We love having Multiply keep us in the loop, resource us, walk alongside our mission candidates, and counsel us in how to care for our missionaries. Our Midwest team has been invaluable in recent years as we walked with missionaries through discerning new assignments, dealing with the stress of being in a restricted country, walking through family tragedy, and working with families who struggle to see their loved ones far away. We love working with our missionaries to identify what a mission trip might look like based on where they’re at on the mission strategy map, noting that not every trip has to have the same outcomes and values. Some are strictly to build relationships, some to give support through working alongside them, some to just pray.

Greg: Barry, what does partnership with Multiply look like for Black Creek?

Barry: As an older MB church, we have inherited the rich blessing of belonging to a larger family of churches, which includes Multiply as a church-based organization. Our relationship with Multiply has been a long-term, faithful walking together as the Holy Spirit leads us to bring the “good news of great joy to all people.”

PARTNER

To explore partnership opportunities for your local church, get in touch with a Mission Mobilizer at 1.888.866.6267.

To learn more about current service opportunities, go to multiply.net/serve

 

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