Introduction

God asks the church to be a community of people sharing a common purpose and fellowship, continually growing in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. Paul describes the church as “...his body, the fullness of him who filleth every thing in every way” (Eph. 1:22).

Christians are called not only to be Christlike in character, but to share in Christ’s mission to the world (John 3:16; Luke 19:10).

When a church serves the world it is an expression of the love of Christ to the world. It is the body of Christ serving the world’s needs and being used by the Spirit as an agency of salvation.

God calls every member of the church into ministry. The church is a kingdom of priests set free to minister for Christ. Our priesthood is to each other within the church, as to the world. Every Christian believer is called to ministry, gifted by the Holy Spirit, and in baptism ordained for ministry (Eph. 4:11-12).

The message of Christ’s soon coming must be carried to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people on planet Earth before He returns (Matt. 24:14; Rev. 14:6).

Ellen White says “To show a liberal, self-denying spirit for the success of foreign missions is a sure way to advance home missionary work; for the prosperity of the home work depends largely, under God, upon the reflex influence of the evangelical work done in countries afar off” (Gospel Workers, page 465).

Duties of the World Missions Coordinator

The ministry to which a person is called when he or she becomes the world missions coordinator can be described in the following ways:

1. Weekly reports. Provide an interesting mission emphasis for each week’s Sabbath School program. This can be read from the Mission quarterly or Sabbath School Leader magazine, or audio-visuals can be used such as the Mission Spotlight slide-sound program or videos such as First Wednesday or ADRA reports. Sometimes church members who travel, student missionaries or returned career missionaries can be scheduled to share personal stories.
2. Distribute materials. See that every division has Mission for their age group and encourage its use.
3. Educate the children and youth. Work with the division leaders to plan goals and make visual aids to promote mission giving through regular mission offerings, birthday and thank offerings, and Investment projects. Help them to find interesting story books, speakers and tapes. Make sure the youth and junior Sabbath Schools get an opportunity to see the videos shared in the adult division.
4. Information. Keep the church members informed about world budget offerings that are scheduled for the church service such as missions extension, Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA), etc. See that regular items are in the bulletin.
5. Plan special events. Plan ways to promote the worldwide mission of the church through events such as mission conferences, mission theme days, mission potlucks, mission study groups, mission trips, mission prayer circles, a mission newsletter or bulletin insert, or a mission vespers.

Responsibilities in the Local Church. North American Division Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. Copyright © 1997, Revised 2017. Permission to copy for local church use.