SAN FRANCISCO, California--Dan
Rogers, superintendent of ministers, and his wife, Barbara, represented the WCG Jan. 21 at
Mission America's annual meeting in San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO, California--Dan
Rogers, superintendent of ministers, and his wife, Barbara, represented the WCG Jan. 21 at
Mission America's annual meeting in San Francisco.
In attendance were 300 church and parachurch leaders from 67 denominations.
Several U.S. congregations are also involved in evangelism activities sponsored by Mission America.
"A number of our congregations are finding vital spiritual meaning and joy in this evangelistic effort," Mr. Rogers said.
Following is Mr. Rogers' report on the Mission America meeting.
Mission America is a coalition movement bringing Christian denominations and ministries together for the goal of spiritual awakening.
Its mission is to pray for and share Christ lovingly and appropriately with every person in our nation by the end of the year 2000.
One strategy is to equip and bring together Christians and groups of Christians to establish three million Lighthouses of Prayer.
A Lighthouse is a gathering of two or more people in Jesus' name uniting to pray for, care for and lovingly and appropriately share Jesus Christ with their neighbors and others in their sphere of influence.
At the Mission America conference, representatives discussed strategies and ministry resources to accomplish the mission.
They joined in much prayer seeking the Lord's guidance in implementing the strategies that would maximize the gifts, resources and insights of all the ministry partners.
The Mission America coalition suggested a time line to pray for America. The first step is 40 days of prayer Feb. 17 to March 28.
All Christians are invited to join in prayer that the church may fulfill the Great Commission Jesus gave and reach the world with the gospel.
For more information write to Mission America, 5666 Lincoln Drive, Suite 100, Edina, Minnesota, 55436.
Following are reports from local congregations.
"Our Washington Ministerium and the WCG sponsored me to go
with two other pastors to a City Rereachers School in Modesto, California, last
February," said Tom Smith, pastor of the Washington and Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania,
and Wheeling, West Virginia, churches.
"That is where I first heard about Mission America's Lighthouses of Prayer."
Mission America was a cosponsor of the school along with several other paraministries.
The three stayed with three WCG families. They took turns as hosts for a Lighthouse of Prayer on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
"The first night we shared prayers for the neighbors and the community of Modesto," Mr. Smith said. "The next night we wrote down what we wanted out of our lives, since Jesus is now part of our household."
They wrote down these items (such as wrong attitudes and other evils), and tossed them into a wastebasket, symbolic of Jesus removing our sins totally.
Then they prayed for the neighborhood and family members.
That night a family member involved in an adulterous affair called one of the sisters and asked for prayer for their repentance.
She assured them she and the group would pray, then she invited them to the Wednesday Lighthouse Prayer meeting.
On the third night, the group had a prayer walk in the neighborhood.
"We met others doing the same," Mr. Smith said. "It was wonderful. Only those walking knew prayers were being offered. We did not make spectacles of ourselves. The purpose was to change the spiritual climate of the city, claiming it for God."
On Thursday morning, one of the teens declared his desire to make a commitment to Jesus Christ.
Mission America wants to have more than three million Lighthouses of Prayer by April. Each Lighthouse will pray weekly for five homes on their right, five homes on the left and 11 homes across from them, for a total of 22 homes.
Multiply this by three million, and virtually every home in America is covered by the National Day of Prayer, May 6.
A national door-to-door visitation will take place the weekend of May 8 to collect food, clothing or other items for local missions.
"We will also ask neighbors if they have any needs for which we can pray," Mr. Smith said. "Not everyone will accept Jesus in 1999, but we certainly hope they will all know where the church is by year's end."
"We have had a
chance over the past year to meet several people involved with Mission America," said
Frank Parsons, pastor of the San Antonio, Uvalde, Kerrville, Victoria and Corpus Christi,
Texas, churches.
"It has been profitable for us spiritually and organizationally by allowing us to network with other groups."
In May, Mr. Parsons and his wife, Jane, met with Paul Cedar, head of Mission America.
Later, Mr. Parsons attended a meeting with John Quam of Mission America and had lunch with him and a few others to discuss Celebrate Jesus 2000!
"It gave us an opportunity to interact with him for a full day regarding evangelism, neighborhood prayer and Operation Canning Hunger," he said.
Mr. Parsons purchased a copy of their video The Harvest and showed it in the congregations he serves.
Because of prayer and connecting with various groups, the San Antonio congregation is starting a community outreach ministry called New Beginnings.
"We are using some of the principles from the Mission America meeting and are preparing to begin discipling and evangelizing a community around our home."
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 1999