Summer is an excellent season for invigorating a missions spirit in a congregation, as 200 members of several IBSA churches learned on June 4. IBSA’s annual Missions Spectacular put church members to work on projects at several locations nearby, with the intent of fueling more missionary outreach in more distant places.
“Missions Spectacular is a first-time event that gets people contagious for missions,” said IBSA’s Mark Emerson. “Church groups come and have an a-ha! moment. They think, we could do this in our own community.” It’s part of IBSA’s larger missions strategy patterned on the verse Acts 1:8.
As Associate Executive Director for the Church Resources Team, Emerson spearheads missions mobilization along with directors Carmen Halsey and Dwayne Doyle. In 2016, 22,000 members of IBSA churches reported being active in their mission fields, ranging for those closest to home, to mission trips on the far side of the globe.
The Acts 1:8 strategy encourages commitment on four fields, drawing on the geographic missions description Jesus gave the disciples just before his ascension: Jerusalem (local missions), Judea (nearby regions, such as the state), Samaria (national), and the ends of the earth (international).
This year, the projects focused on two areas on the Illinois side of the St. Louis metro area. One work group continued the renovation work at Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis. For more than 30 years, the Center has provided tutoring, recreation, and after-school care for children in their impoverished neighborhood, with the intent of getting kids off the streets and away from gangs, drugs, and crime.
Many Illinois churches have supported the CAC with finances and volunteers. Three years ago, CAC started a multi-million-dollar refurbishing of the facilities that includes the purchase of abandoned properties nearby and installation of gardens and playgrounds. The well-kept green space is remarkable in East St. Louis, and the CAC is often cited as a leader in efforts to revitalize the decayed community.
Members of Emmanuel Baptist in Carlinville were on scene tilling the mulch bed on the new playground and planting hardy hostas in the beds under the trees.
In Staunton, a new congregation called The NET Church is leading a revitalization of the community food bank. Members of Bethel Baptist Church in Troy assisted sorting and stocking the shelves at an expanded storefront facility that opened in April. The food bank has provided an open door for ministry in the Staunton community, and The NET Church is involved with other churches and with the local fire department in operating the ministry.
“It’s amazing to see the effects of mission service in a place not too far from home,” Emerson said. “When the group gets back home, they see their community differently. They start making lists of things to do. And people get excited about missions that demonstrate the love of Jesus.”