“Why did you become a missionary?” At a missions conference I attended many years ago someone asked this question to missionary Bert Elliot, the older brother of the martyred missionary, Jim Elliot. His answer surprised me and I have never forgotten it. He answered, “Every day my parents would read the Bible with us kids and that is why I became a missionary.” How can you engage your family in global missions? Start with daily Bible reading!
God’s word is the primary means of missions mobilization. The Bible doesn’t just give a few verses about missions, it is a missionary story; and God is a missionary God! The Bible is the story of God’s plan to gather worshippers from all nations.
I wanted to share two ideas for mobilizing your family as you read the Bible together; one for young children and one for teenagers.
For younger children, you can purchase or download (for free) the One Big Story family devotion. You can go through the story of the Bible with 52 family devotions.
Discover the grand story that God has set into motion through His Word. These 52 family devotionals will walk your family through God’s Word chronologically over the course of one year. Through each story, see God’s purpose of blessing the nations revealed through the way that He blesses His people.Through hands-on activities, discussion questions, and prayer prompts, actively engage your children in God’s story in an ongoing way. As your family builds a framework for reading God’s Word in light of His purposes, watch as God shapes your view of His character, His heart, and His purpose — as well as who God created your family to be.
The Bible doesn’t just give a few verses about missions, it is a missionary story; and God is a missionary God!
This year for the first time we all as a family (with our teenage son) have individually been reading through the Bible with a chronological Bible reading plan. After we read through the Bible individually we gather together for breakfast and read a devotional based on that day’s reading entitled, Missionary God, Missionary Bible: A One-Year, Missions-Centered, Chronological Reading of the Bible. This book has been a great help so far this year to consider how the verses for the day are part of God’s global purpose for all nations.
During some of my daily Bible readings I think, “I can’t see how this particular Bible passage fits into the global thread that ties all the stories together into one story.” As I then ask myself, “How are these verses part of the story of God’s plan to gather worshippers from all nations?” it becomes more and more clear that the Bible is indeed a missionary story and we all have a part (including our kids!) in seeing Him honored among all nations.
