This year Mid-Atlantic CBF is exploring the way we and our congregations can further engage missions in our community and around the world. We are also looking at how mission engagement might naturally lead to advocating for those we seek to serve.
In May, Ellen Secherest shared with our fellowship about the Encourager Church Program and how congregations can directly support and connect with Field Personnel around the world. A first step for us is to support the Offering for Global Missions to keep personnel in the field and to maintain presence where it is needed most of all. We can also come alongside field personnel and share in the work they are doing. The Encourager Church Program invites congregations into a multi-year commitment to invest in, learn from, and build relationships with Field Personnel and the people they serve. This gives us a chance to get to know the missionaries we support.
MACBF is also looking at how we as a regional organization can strengthen our partnership with field personnel who are doing the work that aligns with our collective calling and passion. In the Mid-Atlantic we have churches filled with people from all over the world. We have congregations working with displaced people right in their own communities and coming up with creative and helpful ways to Welcome the Stranger. It would make sense for us to partner with mission groups and field personnel doing the same work across the country and around the world. In January we are planning a trip to the border to see and learn from people like Elket Rodriguez and the work they are doing with those displaced from their home and seeking refuge in the US.
It is our hope that as we engage in mission, build partnerships and learn from those on the front lines doing the work, we will naturally be drawn into advocating for our neighbors. Engaging in missions is more than just giving money. It's giving our hands, our hearts, our time and our voices to make change and bring justice for the least of these!