Stories from the Mission Field | CGO Blog

If you couldn’t give someone a complete Bible, only a few books of it, what books would you choose? Likely, your answer includes one or more of the Gospels. As the true story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, the Gospels are of utmost importance in evangelism (and in our own faith). And last month, we looked at how the Psalms are helpful in outreach. We looked at how they help us express a range of emotions that show us that God not only understands but that He is also okay with our feelings. We also talked about how they show community and point us to Christ.  

We all need Jesus. We always have and always will. Sometimes I think we forget that in our desire for things to be good or normal or best, we’ll always need Jesus. Even now, when we’ve been given more “free time,” maybe you feel as though there are a billion other things to think about or do besides go to Jesus? Maybe you always say  you will later? Or you’re feeling angry. Maybe you feel like you’ve prayed enough. Or you feel like your prayers fell on deaf ears. Could it be that you’ve tossed God to the side in exchange for the scrolling of the news feed or social media profiles?

If I had asked a month ago what loving one’s neighbor looks like, I’d probably have gotten answers such as helping old ladies cross the street or parking further away from the church entrance so others could park closer. A glass-half-full benefit of this current pandemic is that, while we are seeing that such actions are great, ultimately, loving our neighbor extends further than these things and fully invites them into community with us.

There are things we can be certain of in these uncertain times. We can be certain that Jesus rose from the dead. We can rest in the knowledge that God is for us. And we know and can trust that God works through His Word.

Within a couple of days, our lives have been upended. Events that were supposed to be coming up have been canceled, many of us are working from home for the first time, and even churches have suspended in-person gatherings. It may feel pretty bleak, but a side effect of all this chaos is that people are looking for hope.

It was the second day of tennis practice my junior year of high school. I was team captain and ready to begin the season. My coach pulled me aside about halfway through warm-ups and told me that we’d have new person joining. That this person’s family was new in our tiny town. Despite the fact that the new person had never played before, she wanted to try the team so she could make connections before the school year officially started in three weeks.

Partnership (noun): the association of two or more people as partners. Partner (noun): a person or group that takes part with another or others in doing something. When the director of Children’s Collective reached out to HOPE LA Lutheran Church, a unique partnership began. A secular preschool and a Lutheran Church? In Los Angeles? That’s an odd combo. However, the team at HOPE LA was invited to come and teach a Bible study or read to the kids during the week. This relationship with Children’s Collective continues to grow. HOPE LA has been able to provide countless opportunities to introduce the Gospel to those who may not have heard it before. This partnership has been aided by generous donations to Concordia Gospel Outreach.

You may remember that during the 2019 National Youth Gathering, participants from around the country helped us to pack twenty-six tons of Bibles, books, and other Christ-centered resources. These boxes were sent out to the 1,500 congregations that participated in NYG to encourage evangelism within their own communities.

The church I attended while in college looked for ways to reach out and serve the community we lived in. Situated right on “Frat Row” in one of the most educated cities in the country, our church had a unique position to serve.

We all have different talents. We know this; we experience it daily. It’s an incredible thing to watch different people with different skills work towards a united goal. The Word speaks to this concept by saying: “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body” (1 Cor 12:17–20). St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Barrington, Illinois, and their recent mission trip to Belize provide a great example of this message in action. Because of your gifts to Concordia Gospel Outreach, we were able to play a small role in God’s work in Belize.