In our homes, “world missions” should be more than just an optional afterthought to teach our children. Let’s raise the next generation to have a passion for God’s Great Commission. As Hudson Taylor, famous missionary to China, often said, “The Great Commission is not an option to consider, it’s a command to obey.”
What is a mission-minded child?
A mission-minded child … dreams of fulfilling God’s destiny.
A mission-minded child … prays for that next-door neighbor.
A mission-minded child … may want to become a missionary – or a teacher or a doctor or a newspaper reporter or a state governor or a pastor or a businessperson or an airplane pilot or an author or a florist or a mother – as long as it’s what God wants.
A mission-minded child … is not a picky eater!
A mission-minded child … takes home a photo magnet from the visiting missionary family and puts it on the kitchen refrigerator.
A mission-minded child … is healthy, active, and adventurous.
A mission-minded child … spends a summer night sleeping outside on the trampoline, gazes up at a sky filled with twinkling stars, and realizes God’s plan is infinitely bigger than his or her own backyard.
A mission-minded child … imagines rollerblading on the Great Wall of China!
A mission-minded child … recognizes the names of David Livingstone, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, and Loren Cunningham.
A mission-minded child … knows how to use chopsticks.
A mission-minded child … has a reputation for thoroughly enjoying Bible sword drills and memory verse contests at church.
A mission-minded child … puts extra money in the missions offering and feels extra good inside.
A mission-minded child … thinks it could be fun to sleep in a mud hut in Africa!
A mission-minded child … reads all the way through the Bible by the age of ten (or eleven or twelve) and is excited to start again!
A mission-minded child … stares at the photos in the new geography textbook or magazine and imagines climbing to the top of that Egyptian pyramid, snorkeling in those tropical-blue waters, and giving a new outfit to that poor boy with the ripped-up shirt.
A mission-minded child … befriends the new kid at school.
A mission-minded child … thinks beyond the “box” of what’s merely expected and hopes to do something big, or something little, for God.
A mission-minded child … wants to obey (even when no one is looking).
A mission-minded child … loves Jesus!
Now it’s your turn. In your family, what is it like to be mission-minded? Have each of your children come up with two of three practical examples of how he or she has been living out God’s Great Commission in everyday ways.
A mission-minded child …
This is awesome Ann! What an example your family is -sounds like your kids.
A mission-minded child… knows that eternity matters.
Thanks for commenting, Danette!
And thanks for raising your mission-minded kids to impact the world, growing up in Niger, speaking several languages, loving Jesus, sharing the Gospel to children, ministering to the poor … And everything else you guys do, every day!!!
A mission-minded child has a well-used passport.
Fabulous post, Ann! It is certainly a prayer in my heart, that I’m raising boys of mission-mindedness ready to impact generations! My husband calls them “generational generals!” Bless you!
Love that thought Jen, about raising your boys to be “Generational Generals!” AMEN!!! May God’s plans be our focus, as we pray and train our kids for Him. (Appreciate you!!!)
A missions-minded child learns to overcome the things that they aren’t (perhaps some of the characteristics listed above) and knows that God can use them even in their weakness!
A mission minded child is that who uses giving as a bait to win other children to Christ.
A mission minded child is that who points to Christ and when he is celebrated for his/her intelligence.
A mission minded child is sensitive to other children’s feelings with the aim of encouraging them.