My Un-Cool Church Part 2: Missions

Jim Allison in Honduras

One of the things that was very different about my church in Indiana was missions.  Being independent meant that the missionaries were independent too, unlike the Southern Baptists who have the Cooperative Program.  The Cooperative Program enables support for missionaries to come from a large pool of money set aside for their support.  Independent missionaries have to travel to individual churches to raise their support.

Both systems have their good points and bad points.  The Cooperative Program allows missionaries to get to the field quicker and gives them stable financial support.  Independent missionaries have to be able to put on a pretty good show to raise their support, and that can exclude some awfully good people who can do lots of good work but may not be entertaining speakers.  But the good part about being independent is that you have to visit your churches.  The people have to know you personally.

For most of the first 10 or more years I went to Ewtonville, I never saw a missionary or heard one speak.  Maybe once we had a special service where three or four came to speak.  Even though we supported the Cooperative Program, we didn’t know any of the missionaries personally.

But then things started to change.  Ed & Martha Brown started going to Honduras and later to Oklahoma.  Others decided to join them.  It was the beginning of a complete transformation.

Since then our church has been involved, up close and personal, with missions in all kinds of ways.  We continue to support orphans in Honduras, and our VBS offering usually goes to a feeding program for the poor in that country.  We have built houses in Mexico with our own hands.  We partnered with a church in New Orleans after Katrina, and saw it rebuilt and on its feet again (Both my kids got to go on one of the trips to NO).  We sent a group to Africa to build a school.  We also worked in Dominican Republic.

We began supporting several missionaries on our own, in addition to continuing to participate in the Cooperative Program.  These missionaries are in Ukraine, Jordan, Iraq, Honduras, and Mexico.  And this is just our foreign missions outreach.  Later I will speak about what we’re up to in our own community.

Ukraine missions

I praise the LORD for this change in focus in our church.  So many of our people have been able to go and serve in another country.  There’s nothing more eye opening than serving the LORD with this global perspective.