International Ministries

“I would estimate that in the West 90 percent of all Protestant churches, as a congregation, have no direct commitment to, or involvement with, a real live missionary.” This statement found in Patrick Johnston’s book, The Church is Bigger than You Think, both saddens and gladdens my heart. Saddens, because much of the Western church with all of the resources that we have, both spiritually and materially, is not alL that interested in missions. It gladdens me because we at River Hills are not following the pattern of much of the Western church and are involved in the lives of four live missionary families. It is, of course, not a cause for pride but rather a cause for thankfulness for God’s mercy toward us in helping us to grow in missions. It is also a reason to seek God’s direction as we continue to
grow in missions.

So why do we at River Hills hold a high view of missions and willingly devote time, money and people to missions? Why do we willingly spend 12.5 percent of our budget on missions? Why are we in the process of sending out 2 families from our church and seeking to fan the flame in others whom God may be calling to full-time mission work? I think it has to do with what we as a church believe about God and His purposes in creation.

We believe that life is about God and that we were created by Him to know and enjoy Him forever. We believe that God is working out a plan in time and history to create a kingdom of people who know and find joy in Him. We believe that there is no greater joy in life than knowing and pursing Him. We willingly forgo other lesser pleasures to pursue knowing him. An example would be the pleasure of spending a leisurely Sunday morning with our families or friends and instead getting up and preparing ourselves and families to go and worship God with others. We do this because the joy of knowing God through worship is greater than the joy of a lazy Sunday morning at home. We love the glory of God and are aiming to know Him more.

Another phpect of our gathering for worship on Sunday mornings is that while we are meeting with God we are doing so with other people. They too are seeking to know and enjoy God in greater ways. As I see their worship and as I hear of the ways that God is their joy, I see the glory of God in greater ways. God is magnified in His being loved and sought not only by me and my family but also by seeing others seeking and finding joy in Him. John Piper puts it this way. “There is something about joy that comes to consummation when it gets out. Joy gets bigger by expanding joy. Joy increases by extending itself to others. My gladness gets bigger when it becomes your gladness.”

This is why I am glad to be involved in missions as a church. To be indifferent to whether God’s glory is known and loved among the nations of the world is inconsistent with what we believe. If God’s glory is magnified by the gathering of His people who live in the same place, speak the same language, and share the same culture then how much more is His glory magnified by the gathering of people
from every tribe, tongue, and nation to worship and enjoy Him? Our quest to find joy in God is greatly enhanced as we see others who live across the world finding joy in God. And this should lead to our wanting to spread the news of this great God to the nations of the world, especially to those nations who have not yet heard.

This is God’s great eternal plan. He has always had the purpose to create a kingdom of people from all nations who worship Him (Zech.
2:11, Isaiah 55:5). After Jesus did His work, the gospel is preached to the Gentiles (all non-Israelites) in expectation of their knowing and
finding joy in Him. In Revelation we learn that this great plan of God is revealed in the gathering of many different kinds of people to worship before the throne of Jesus (Rev. 5:9, Rev. 7:9). In these great scenes of the future, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation are worshipping Christ for He is worthy. What an exciting picture, and to be a part of that breathtaking scene is something we should all long for. And our excitement should increase with the thought of Mongolian, Indian, Indonesian, and Muslim peoples worshipping at our side!
This is why we hold missions so high at River Hills: Because we love the glory of God. We believe this is what life is about.