Editor's Note: I was greatly inspired by this article posted on the website of the Detroit Church of Christ, which discusses their missionary efforts and dreams both in Michigan and around the world. You can access the orginal article and other inspiring stories on the church's website: http://www.detroitchurch.org/.

" … Go and make disciples of all nations …"
- Jesus (Matthew 28:19)

God has called all disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations,” to represent Him and be His missionaries over the face of the entire earth! This article is therefore dedicated to celebrating and further reaffirming our call to be missionaries all over the world! In April and May of this year, the Detroit Church of Christ (DCOC) was truly encouraged by three events that occurred that further inspired us to focus on being missionaries. First, in the beginning of May we were able to welcome, fellowship and learn from one of the great missionaries in India: Dinesh George. Dinesh is the lead evangelist of the 1,000+-member Bangalore church and oversees the disciples throughout all of India. It was truly an honor to have Dinesh come and share his heart with us while he was in Michigan.

Second, in late April, we sent ten disciples for a two-week mission trip in Papua New Guinea. These disciples were sent to be effective missionaries and to help ensure we continue to have strong "chords of love" between our brothers on the other side of the world.

Third, at our leaders meeting/church wide devotional on Friday, May 9th, Brian Perkins, lead evangelist of the DCOC, announced plans to take a group of disciples go to Kalamazoo this summer to evangelize and continue to build relationships that will prayerfully form the base of the church that, God-willing, shall be planted in 2009!

For a church to truly impact the lost world, it needs to be focused on the mission of making disciples. This article will address three areas that are perhaps of greatest need for us at this hour in our history. The three areas that are needed for us to be the church that God has mandated are as follows: missionary leadership; the need for everyone to have Kingdom dreams and be on mission teams; and for everyone to be a missionary, either here or somewhere in Michigan.

Missionary Leadership: Dinesh George, lead evangelist of the Bangalore church in India (left), Brian Perkins, lead evangelist of the Detroit church (right)

Missionary Leadership

First, when we consider the life of Paul, one of the greatest missionary leaders who ever lived, we know that he ensured his life was an example to those in his charge. When disciples have a good example to follow, they are more inspired to imitate the good example they see (1 Thessalonians 1:3-6). The example that Paul, their leader, set ended up being what propelled the church to be a model or an example to others (1 Thessalonians 1:7). This led to the evangelization of that entire area (1 Thessalonians 1:8). This is incredible, but it all starts with leadership that is exemplary and mission-minded. Without leadership that is mission- minded the church will be stagnant and will not "move". The last time we checked we were still a "movement"! We believe that although we have had challenges, we believe that our movement of churches is getting stronger. It is encouraging to see that the leadership of both the churches in Michigan and India is mission-minded and is calling the rest of the church to their examples.

The second aspect in missionary leadership is raising up future leaders. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders states the following in relation to raising up future leadership: "The multiplying of [the leader] in the lives of the promising young people among whom he works should rank as one of the main goals of his ministry" (pp. 182-183). It is encouraging to note that in India the churches are led by Indians and not by Americans. This shows that the leadership in India is mission minded and has been raising up indigenous leaders. Here in Michigan, it is encouraging to witness some of the "young guns" who have been raised up to lead ministries. Collin and Beth Sherrill and Wayne and April Wright are disciples who have been raised up to lead and are doing great in their respective ministries.

At our church wide devotional in May, both Brian Perkins and Dinesh George shared about the training programs in place to raise up new leaders in our churches. In the church in Bangalore, India, Dinesh has a group of 40 to 50 aspiring leaders that he is training. Here in Detroit, Brian, has initiated the Detroit Ministry Training (DMT) program that currently has twelve disciples who aspire to leadership positions. Currently, disciples come from Detroit, Grand Rapids and Toledo, Ohio for the two-year DMT program.

The time we had with Dinesh was truly encouraging. Like any good missionary leader, he both challenged and inspired us to be our best for God. Some of the things that stood out from Dinesh’s lessons were as follows: caring for our people, the need for strong discipling, the reminder that great things done in our ministry should be a normal occurrence and the question, "Are you living up to your level of leadership?" Dinesh also shared about the unity of the churches of India and how various leaders were asked to move from the church they were leading and begin leading a church in another part of India. It is inspiring to see that the leaders agreed to the proposed moves and this has further helped strengthen the churches in that part of the world. This shows the true missionary heart of the leaders in India. As we strive to evangelize Michigan in our lifetime, let us imitate our Indian brothers and sisters and live totally committed lives, willing to "go anywhere and do anything for the sake of Christ!" This must define missionary leadership in our time!

Kingdom Dreams / Mission Teams

In the beginning of the year, to kick off our Winter Jubilee, the Detroit church had a time to reflect on 2007, draw close to God, and be aligned with God as he plans to make an impact through us in 2008. It was during our Winter Jubilee that our theme for this year, "Bent on Conquest," was presented and plans for the next 18 years were unveiled. One of the goals articulated was for us to have a church planted or a Bible talk available within reasonable driving distance of everyone in Michigan by 2025. The first two milestones presented at this years’ Winter Jubilee were to have a membership of 340 by the end of this year and to plant a church in Kalamazoo in 2009.

At our church-wide devotional in May we learned more about the churches in India and their plans to plant a church in another city beginning with the letter ‘k’. God willing, the Bangalore church in India will plant a church in Kanyakumari. Planting churches is an awesome thing! It is just like making disciples, but here an entire spiritual family in a different geographic location is born! Seeing as leaders can only be in one place at a time, for churches to be planted and thrive all over the world, many disciples need have kingdom dreams and should have the desire to go on a mission team.

When we think of kingdom dreams and mission teams, one couple who stands out for so many of us is Phil and Pat Morr. Phil and Pat could have simply "retired," but they had the heart to "go and make disciples of all nations (or peoples)." They left their family – kids, grand kids and great grand kids – to lead the church among the "people" of Zondervan in Grand Rapids! Amazingly, Phil and Pat are in their 70s and will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this month! It is awesome to hear the news that the Grand Rapids church continues to grow and is now over 40 disciples! Do you have a dream to make an impact like Phil and Pat? I’m sure we have a few disciples younger than Phil and Pat in Detroit who would be fired up to go to Kalamazoo. If you have ever dreamed of being on a mission team, this might be your chance!

This is the first Sunday service in MI for our ten missionaries after they returned from Papua New Guinea. From left to right: Shann Perkins, Liz Kolman, Debbie Steinke, Diane Bontekoe, Angelo Flucker, Brian Perkins, Joe Ugorji, Chris Stranad, Chesca Ugorji, Anabel St. Amour (Michigan, 05/04/08)

In India, some disciples had such a desire to plant a church in a part of the country that had no church that they simply decided to "Go". Although commended by the church, the sending church was not able to financially support them. With burning desire for the lost, these disciples decided they would go and get jobs and start a church. Surely, we can do the same here in Michigan. A number of jobs are transferable or we can get jobs when we go and plant a church. For those of us who are disciples in Michigan or for those who would like to come to Michigan to help with our missionary efforts, let us take to heart the words of Brian Perkins as he called for more people to step up into leadership and for people to be on mission teams. We all have one life to live. Let’s live out the kingdom dreams that God has for us and let’s make plans to go on some of the mission teams that are going to be sent out next year and in the years to come!

Everyone is a Missionary

When we consider the impact of the Jerusalem church in the first century church, we know that the apostles had a great impact in planting churches. We also know that impact also came from the average "Joe Christian" in the first century. It is possible to have all disciples involved in church planting only when everyone is totally committed to God and His mission. Total commitment by all members will enable us to get to all the towns and villages in Michigan! In Acts 8 we see an excellent example of ordinary disciples doing great things for God. Acts 8:1-4 shows the largest mission team in history sent out. This was a mission team of over 5,000 disciples! And they were fired up! The scriptures teach that these average disciples preached the word wherever they went. It is no wonder that Paul was able to say that the word was preached all over the world during his lifetime (Colossians 1:23).

It is great to see disciples in Detroit get their fire back! In fact, it appears that Joe and Chesca Ugorji, from Texas, are planning on coming to join our mission efforts in Michigan. The Ugorjis have been inspired to see how outward focused the Detroit church is and want to be a part of the mission work. To reach our first milestone of growing to be a church of 340 disciples by the end of the year, everyone needs to have the heart of a missionary. We need to be missionaries wherever we are and we need to inspire those around us by our example!

Some of the great examples of disciples with a missionary heart are Damon and Stephanie Banks. Earlier this year, it was great to hear that Damon and Stephanie took a group of disciples from Michigan to encourage some of the disciples in Windsor, Canada. This is perhaps reminiscent of Paul’s missionary travels as he went from town to town to encourage the disciples. The Wayne State University ministry is another example of "average" disciples truly living out the missionary life to which we are called. Although the ministry started out with its challenges, it now has two Bible discussion groups meeting on campus.

It was exciting to see that God encouraged us with 464 in attendance at our family Reunion Service on May 4th! The 306-member Detroit Church of Christ, along with 114 children and 350 adults, attended the Sunday worship service. We are beginning to get our momentum and believe we will keep taking it higher; but we are encouraged by what God is doing as we all strive to be missionaries in Michigan. Now is the time for each of us to make sure our faith and trust in God is strong! Now is the time for us to make sure our discipling times are happening and that confession is on our lips and repentance is in our hearts! Now is the time for us to draw closer and love each other like never before, realizing that our first family is the family of God! Now is the time for us to raise up and be the leaders God has called us to be! Now is the time for us to dream and to plan to go on mission teams! Now is the time. God’s time for us is now! Let us "Go"!

Niviene Riad (l) and Bashar Elia (r) the happy couple. Niviene (Bashar’s fiancée) arrived from the Middle East. Bashar and Niviene were separated for over 3 years! They now serve in the Oakland-Macomb Region.