Missions is the very heartbeat of God. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Because God is holy, the price of sin must be paid. Yet, at the same time, He loves us tremendously and doesn’t want to see anyone die in their sin. II Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Because God cares about the eternal souls of men, He sent His Son to pay the penalty for sin. How, then, does one accept the payment?
Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” To be saved, one must first recognize that he is lost. Then he comes humbly before the Lord and asks to be saved. The question is, with all the cults and false religions in the world vying for men’s souls, how do they find the one and only way to Heaven?
Verses 14 and 15 continue, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” There are people all across the globe who have never heard God’s plan of salvation. God’s answer to this dilemma is missions. God’s churches send out missionaries.
We attend a church that believes in Faith Promise to support missions. Faith Promise means that, by faith, a believer promises to trust God to provide him with a specific amount of money over and above his tithe to support missions.
As a stay-at-home mom, I haven’t worked outside the home much. And for the past three years I home schooled my grandsons, and although my daughter promised me some money for childcare and teaching the boys, when finances get tight, that promise kind of vaporized. So when our missions conference came around every year, I never even prayed about giving because I had no income whatsoever.
However, this year’s Faith Promise Missions Conference was different. The week before the conference, I started working as a bus monitor for Head Start preschoolers. It’s only a six-week position because I’m covering for someone who’s recovering from surgery. Still, I currently have a temporary income. That pumped me full of desire to pray about giving this year – by faith – since I have no guaranteed income from week to week. But that’s what faith promise is all about; trusting God to provide the money.