April 28 – May 5, 2024
Global Missions Emphasis Week is an opportunity for us at Christ Church NYC to take some extra time to specifically think about and pray for gospel mission work around the world. We call it Global Missions Emphasis Week because in the life of a gospel-centered church every week is actually to be about missions. Missions are central to why we exist (Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Peter 2:9). Yet, it can also be helpful to take a little bit of extra time to put some added emphasis on missions. That is what this week is all about.
Below you will first find a Missions Report, which will provide you with a brief update of our two current global mission partners. You will then find a listing of recommended activities and resources that we hope will help further your engagement with global missions.
SCHEDULE
Memorization Challenge for the Week:
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:13-15)
Use each day this week to pray for a different region of the world. For each region pray specifically for missionaries and unreached people groups in that region. (An unreached people group is a people group that has never heard the gospel. And here is a helpful guideline for praying for them.) For those praying for missionaries, here’s a handy 16 ways to pray for them as well.
- Monday, April 29– Africa
- Tuesday, April 30 – Australia/Oceania
- Wednesday, May 1 – Asia
- Thursday, May 2 – Europe
- Friday, May 3 – North America
- Saturday, May 4 – South America
Sunday, April 28 – Equip Classes Offered
- Parenting Children for the Sake of Missions – (Fellowship Hall) led by Mark Hastings
- Reaching the Unreached for Christ – (One of the Sunday School Rooms) A class for children and youth led by Becky Pregitzer
- Cultivating a Heart for Missions in Your College Years – (the Commons) led by Josh Shirey
- Missionaries Every Christian Should Know: Adoniram Judson – (Sanctuary) led by Keith Paulus
Please RSVP here
Thursday, May 2
- 7 PM EST: Zoom call with Chris Clayman, the Executive Director of Joshua Project (email info@christchurchnyc.com to get the meeting link)
Sunday, May 5
- 9 AM: Monthly Prayer Meeting
- 10 AM: Service with guest preacher, Ken Ross, on Missions
- Missions Partners Video Presentation
- 6 PM: Monthly Praise & Prayer Evening
MISSIONS REPORT
Please check here during the Global Missions Emphasis Week to get the latest Missions Report from our Missions Partners!
Partnership with the George Whitefield College
CCNYC has partnered with the George Whitefield College (GWC) in Cape Town, South Africa for a number of years and in varying capacities. The mission of GWC, an Anglican seminary in South Africa, is to equip men and women for ministry throughout the world and particularly in the rest of Africa.
Mthokozisi Wisdom Mpofu
UPDATE FROM WISDOM via Video
This year we are continuing our financial support for George Whitefield College by paying for Wisdom Mpofu’s bursary. The bursary provides for Wisdom’s total tuition, room, and board for a year. As a church we believe that training up a pastor in Africa can have an immense impact in building the kingdom.
Alex Sswerwadda
UPDATE FROM ALEX via Video
For four years we helped to support Alex Sserwadda throughout his undergraduate studies at GWC. He has since completed his undergraduate studies but continues his training at GWC as he establishes his ministry in Mityana, Uganda, in training ministers. We are excited to partner with his work in Uganda, supporting him through prayer, financial assistance, and possible future collaborations. Our prayer is that this will lead to a work of gospel multiplication in that part of the world.
Robert and Lisa Stewart: serving with Mission to the World in Japan
UPDATE FROM THE STEWARTS via Video
CCNYC began its support of the Stewart family in October of 2019.
Robert and Lisa and their two teenage children are based in Uraysu, Japan where they serve with the organization Mission to the World. They have been involved in the planting of the Shin-Urayasu Grace Church which just this year became a fully organized church in the Presbyterian Church in Japan.
In addition to praising God for the formal establishment of this church, they also seek prayer that God would raise up Christian Japanese men who are able to take on leadership roles in the church; that God would provide a Japanese pastor for Shin-Urayasu Grace Church; and that many Japanese will hear the good news of Jesus and believe.
Future Mission Partners
The leadership of CCNYC is regularly praying for and on the lookout for ways that our church can more fully and faithfully participate in the work of global missions. We ask that you also commit this to prayer and that if you have ideas for future mission partners who would be a good fit for our church, that you please reach out and let us know. We hope this is a ministry that our whole congregation gets excited about, commits to prayer, and works towards fulfilling the mission God has given us.
HOW TO MAXIMIZE MISSIONS WEEK 2024
Read
A good missionary biography is also a great means of firing up our imagination for the ways that God might use us in the spreading of His gospel around the world. Here are three classic missionary accounts you might consider reading:
- Amy Carmichael: Beauty for Ashes by lain Murray
- Hudson Taylor: Gospel Pioneer to China by Vance Christie
- John G. Paton: Missionary to the Cannibals of the South Seas by Paul Schlehlein
- Five Pioneer Missionaries: John Eliot, David Brainerd, Henry Martyn, William Chalmers Burns, John G. Paton from Banner of Truth
Discuss
We want to especially encourage you to connect with others in the church in order to share stories and discuss matters related to global missions. Community and discipleship groups can also use this time to help each other think through and pray for God’s work around the world and how He might be calling us to participate in it.
Research
There are many good resources and websites to help Christians keep up to date with the state of global missions. One website that brings together data from a number of different sources is Stratus. With a little time and exploration, you can learn how to navigate this site in order to better pray, support, and give yourself to the work of the Great Commission. Another fantastic website (also an app and a podcast) is called the Unreached of the Day. Every day, it features a group of unreached people around the globe who needs prayers. It’s a great resource to add to your daily prayer list.