How Families with Children Can Be On Mission this Summer
There’s a misconception that in order to do missions as a family, you have to go somewhere or your church has to organize it. But here’s a little secret: that couldn’t be further from the truth! Now, missions trips are amazing and your church can be a great resource; but that is not the only way to do missions. Living your life on mission means turning your community into your missions field.
As parents and family members, it is our duty to not only teach our kids how to live a life on mission but to show them as well. Missional living starts right where we are. And if where we are is our hometown, then that’s where we need to do missions. Summer is the perfect time to do it!
Praying for Missions
Missional living can be as easy as your family sitting down every night and praying for your community and the missions taking place all over the world. It’s important to talk about missions with your kids.
Learning about Missions
A great tool is Missions in a Box. You can use the resources in it to begin a discussion about missions with your kids. Having conversations like this can lead to your family talking about how you can support and, more importantly, do missions together.
Doing Missions and Telling about Jesus
Doing missions in your own community can be as big or as small as you want it to be and can take very little effort. The opportunities are there—you just need to look for them and ask God to open the doors for you. This can be as simple as keeping cold water bottles in your car and giving them to someone working in a yard, riding a bike, or walking. These projects are truly missions when your children learn to say, “I brought you this bottle of water because I know that God loves me and He loves you, too!”
Need More Ideas? Try these:
- Hygiene Packs—Create hygiene packs in gallon-size ziplock bags. Donate them to a local Christian ministry that helps someone in need. Take your kids to the ministry center to drop them off and learn how the center uses these items to teach others about Jesus. Pray for the center before you leave.
- Laundry Love—Measure powered laundry detergent into snack-size ziplock bags. Take the ziplock bags to your local coin laundry, and give them to people there who are washing clothes. Let your child lead the way in sharing the detergent and about your church.
- Backyard Bible Club—Host a Backyard Bible Club for a week this summer in your neighborhood. Serve simple outdoor snacks (ice pops are great!) and use the five-day plan from Tell the Story. Get more families from your church involved, and divide up storytelling and craft responsibilities.
Planning Your Summer
If we want our kids to live a life on mission, we must first show them what that looks like. Let’s use this summer as a chance to show our kids how to live a missional lifestyle. Whether you are on vacation or in your community, be a model of everyday missions to your kids. You will see yourself and your kids grow in your relationships not only with Christ but also with each other.
If you need more ideas or specific ways your family can live a missional summer, talk to your child’s GA, RA, or CA leader, or a missions leader in your church.
