The Mission Minded Family

My husband and I first got to know each other on a missions trip to Nigeria, Africa. We were both passionate about missions and fell in love with the Nigerian people. I went a second summer and spent six months on a missions internship. He went on missions to Mexico over Spring Break. When we got married four years later we both thought missions would be a part of our lives. In fact, we planned on going on missions every other year. Then we had kids.

Seventeen years of marriage and four kids later and we still haven’t made it to the missions field though we regularly support several missionary friends and have participated in church outreaches. Still, there are so many mission outreaches we talk about but never actually do, even in our own community. And sadly, I’m not sure we’re raising a missions minded family.

That’s why I’m excited about this book The Missions Minded Family by Ann Dunagan.

Enjoying Missions throughout the Year

A great way to involve your family in missions for 2009

Excerpted from The Mission-Minded Family by Ann Dunagan, Authentic Publishing, 2008

International Holiday Ideas

Throughout the year, acknowledging international holidays can give our families an insight into our world’s need for Jesus. These vibrant festivities are filled with colorful expression, yet often these traditions are rooted in false religion and fear.

 As your family looks at current traditions around the world each month, you can utilize these specific days to target different people groups for prayer and to increase your family’s mission-minded vision. You may even want to commemorate some of these days. However, I am not encouraging your family to celebrate evil or pagan holidays. This international holiday list is simply to help your family learn about world cultures and to regularly remind you about the need for specific mission-minded prayer.

The first part of the book is filled with information on what a missions minded family looks like. And not all mission minded families look alike! The book talks about your destiny as a family and how to submit that destiny to God. Filled with real life missionaries and mission minded families, this is an encouraging read for anyone who wants to go beyond their front door and spread the message of the Gospel in word and deed. In addition, throughout the year, Dunagan takes traditional holiday and shows how we can be more mission minded through suggested prayers and activities. In addition, there are dozens of teaching opportunities for children and ways parents can incorporate missions into every day life.

Some examples are as follows:

TEACHING OPPORTUNITY

Make a Mission-Minded Family Calendar

Get out your family calendar, and take a moment to write down the names of these holidays on their respective dates. Throughout the year, you can then come back to this section of The Mission-Minded Family to read about each holiday and pray accordingly.

January

·         1 – New Year’s Day, International – Around much of the world, this day is celebrated as a time of new beginnings. Many people make New Year’s “resolutions,” or promises, for the coming year.

As mission-minded believers, pray for and seek God’s directions for the new year and take time to evaluate and realign your priorities.

·         6 – Epiphany, International – In many countries throughout the world, this day is celebrated to remember the wise men who came to bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child, Jesus. In Spain, children receive gifts on this day instead of Christmas. Children put hay in their shoes and find the hay replaced with treats the next morning.

Pray for the people of Spain to recognize Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah, just as the wise men did.

·         14 – Pongal, India – In southern India, this day marks the beginning of a four-day harvest festival. The people gather to watch a pot of newly harvested rice boil. If it boils quickly, the people believe it is a sign of a prosperous new year.

Pray for a mighty spiritual harvest in India.

·         Martin Luther King Day, United States (date varies) – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, was a Christian minister and a civil rights leader. King was active in seeing segregation laws in the South abolished, and in 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated in 1968. The third Monday of January is set aside as a national holiday to remember King’s leadership and the importance of civil rights.

Pray for harmony and love between different races and nationalities and for God to give you love and compassion for other people groups.

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