You Are a Missionary

If you were a missionary—which you are—to the town you live in South Jersey, whether that’s Gloucester County, Camden County, or wherever you are, summer is a big time for you.

In summer, as a missionary, you’d be preparing for a major emphasis on meeting people, making connections, building relationships, and getting involved in other people’s lives.

Which only makes sense.

In a growing, family-friendly place like Gloucester County, for example, this time of year is the time when people get outside, play together, get engaged, and generally enjoy this beautiful part of the world we live in.

Since I’m a pastor, I’m called to “equip the saints for the work of missions” (a paraphrase of Ephesians 4).

Equipping means, among other things, giving you ideas on how you can build up the body of Christ by making new disciples.

In that light, here are some ideas for different “places” in our area. Think about these as you prepare your summer missions endeavors:

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Our Trip to NYC

Our group at Newark Penn Sta.Lunch began at Phil and Polly's house with cold cuts and a season of singing and devotion. One hymn we sang was inspirational and provided food for thought, discussion, and prayer.

We left around 1:30pm and found out even before we left the house that we didn't know where we were going when Phil backed ever so gently into Jamal's car.

Jamal's words were, exactly, "That was my car."

We decided when we saw there was no damage that it was either the worst thing of the day which would only get better, or that it was a bad portent of things to come.

Read on and you decide.

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Inviting Your Friends

Updated on by Phil Henry

Most people who visit a church event do so not because they woke up some morning and decided, "I need to get back to God!" but because someone in their life, often a spouse, many times a close friend or relative, invited them to be a part of something.

That's been our experience, too.

At Mercy Hill's first preview service, several people visited our community for the first time. As far as I can tell, all of them did so because they were personally invited by someone who has already identified with our church family.

Some were invited and were not able to come. I wonder if they will be invited again?

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