Mission Revival Helps
Disclosure: My husband and I have worked together on numerous mission conferences, and we have attended many others in various churches. Here are a few of the ideas that I have taken from hand-out papers which I have gathered from those churches.
1. All Year: Talk about the Mission’s Revival (Conference) all year. It is the biggest event of the year.
2. Two months ahead: All classes pick a theme or country for Mission’s Displays. (Classes can take special offerings or get donations from businesses to help defray the expenses with elaborate missions’ displays)
Note About Mission’s Displays: You can establish your own criteria for building class displays. Encourage classes to use theme or ethnic music and costumes with their displays. Before each night of the services, people can view the class displays. Classes will be judged by the missionaries. Adult classes could build their displays in the Fellowship Hall. Awards could be presented at the Mission’s Banquet on Saturday evening. Examples of awards could be “Most Creative Award” or “Most Original Award” or “Best Decorated Class”.
3. One month ahead: First, sanctuary is decorated with large theme banner. Display small flags on pews and large flags on walls or use flag stands distributed evenly on both sides of auditorium. (If you are a small church with limited resources, display only the flags of the missionaries that you support. After a few years, you will collect many flags) Second, print flyers about the mission’s conference and give out.
4. Three weeks ahead: First, send each family a challenging letter to encourage them to minister to the missionaries while they are with them in the conference. Second, give Faith Promise Sunday School lesson to the teachers to teach for next three weeks. (Children’s church can hear faith promise lessons and raise special missionary offerings for various projects or missionaries also)
5. One week ahead: Classes meet in their rooms to work on decorating. Junior Church or Teens practice for Parade of Flags or practice for skits about missions. Ladies meet to discuss details for a missionary tea or brunch. Have mission choruses and songs printed and placed in pews. Assign someone to prepare candles for candlelight service Sunday evening service. Assign a man to be in charge of Men’s Breakfast on Saturday morning.
Don’t get overwhelmed with too many activities. Decide on the activities that would be best for your people.
Notes About Candlelight Service: Plain candles will be given to everyone 8 years and above. Candles with missionary labels will be given to heads of households.
Note About Teas or Brunches: Assign one lady to be in charge of missionary brunch or missionary tea. This lady can enlist others to help her set up and decorate. Assign another lady to coordinate all items to be brought in for the gifts baskets for each guest missionary wife. (Remember since most missionaries are traveling in cars and can’t carry too much with them, gifts should be small. Gift cards to Walmart make wonderful gifts)
Note About Men’s Breakfast: This could take place on Saturday morning. Have a few men give testimonies on what Faith Promise has done for them and hear a testimony from a missionary.
Note About Parade of Flags: This begins every evening service of the Mission’s Conference. Students march into auditorium carrying flags of various countries as energetic mission music plays. Each student places his flag in his individual flag stand. The student stands at attention at his flag until music stops playing.
6. Two days before: Every member of your church is called to promote the revival.
7. Sunday AM Service: First, have the missionary wives give three minute testimonies. One church takes up a surprise offering just for the missionary wives right after their testimonies. Second, have the missionaries and their wives pass out Faith Promise Cards. (Not ushers for this service) Third, the missionaries are to pick up the cards also. Fourth, someone is prepared on platform to do calculations on overhead screen for congregation to see. Have each missionary read off the amounts on the cards. (This will excite the people to see how the other members are walking by Faith too!)
8. Closing Sunday night service: Have missionary bring a short message, and then go into candlelight service. To close the service, a pastor could bring each missionary family forward and hand them their love offering check reading the amount. Allow missionary to give closing remarks to show his thankfulness.
Closing Candlelight Service
Pastor: We believe in prayer. Our church needs to know how important prayer is to the missionary. Money may supply his needs, but it will never supply the spiritual strength needed to minister in the regions beyond.
Narrator: We place a large candle in front of the Church to represent the Light of the Truth of God that goes forth from the pulpit of this local church. This LIGHT is to go into all the world. Someone must take it. Our missionaries are willing to do just that. From this light, we will send more light.
(Turn out all lights. Pastor lights large candle)
Narrator: As we call the name of each missionary family that we support, the head of the family representing that particular missionary will come forward with his family to light his candle. By coming forward with your family, you and your family are promising to pray for this missionary family. Who will pray for____? (Give Name and Country: Example: Santino Family to Romania)
All those remaining, please come forward and light your candle.
Song: Have someone sing Thank You for Giving to the Lord
Narrator: At this time–every other person, please blow out your candle! Wait a few minutes. See what happens when we become disobedient and apathetic. When we stop praying and giving to our commitments to get the Gospel out…We somehow believe that our light will not make any difference.
Narrator: Now, blow out all remaining candles…This represents what will happen when there is light here at home but nowhere else. Unless we go, give and pray, there will be no hope to a world left in total darkness.
Let’s all begin this new Missionary Year by each family kneeling in prayer and praying for their missionary family.
Lights go on low. After prayer everyone stands and joins hands singing “Thank You Lord for Saving My Soul”.
Special Notes:
1. Ushers hand each head of the family a candle with a labeled ring of a particular missionary on it and hands other family members (8 years and older) a plain candle. Families should sit together for the candlelight service.
2. The head of the family will be the only one getting fire from the pastor’s candle. After he lights his candle, he and his family walk left or right to form a circle around the auditorium. After everyone is in place, the heads of the families may light each of their family members’ candles. This saves too many walking around carrying melted wax.
3. Instruct 1st and 2nd families to keep moving as the globe is formed.