You don’t have to travel far to make an impact. Many volunteers give their time and skills from home to help bring God’s Word to people worldwide. Whether it’s typing up Bible translations or offering another gift, everyone has something to be generous with. How could you serve God right where you are?
Have you ever heard of MissionAssist? Would you be able to guess from that name what the charity is all about? Perhaps the strapline will give you more clues: ‘serving world mission from home’.
Sounds like quite a big idea – a group of people willing to donate their skills and experiences by gifting some of their hours to add to mission workers’ hours in order to multiply the impact of mission organisations all around the world.
It’s a role for people with big hearts – for God and for those Jesus died to save.
And the opportunity to serve without leaving home is a big blessing for people in a wide range of circumstances – perhaps you can think of someone in your circle of family, friends and church who is looking for a flexible way to serve God that would fit in with their existing commitments and life situation.
Meet Rob. He has a lyrical Welsh accent and lives in Bristol. Rob has long-term health issues that keep him at home and unable to go out much. But this hasn’t stopped him from being generous with what he’s got: time!
Over the course of 20 years, Rob has spent hours typing up Bible translations into digital format – in languages he doesn’t speak and for people he doesn’t know. Recently, he was hugely encouraged to discover that his agency carer could read the language Rob had been copying from scanned images into computer files. In his own home, Rob was able to hear a believer reading the Bible in their native African language.
Everyone has something to be generous with, and for Rob, it’s his time and his patient ability to sit at his computer and type away. And somewhere on the other side of the world, someone is reading the Word of God in their own language in a format they can access.
Thank God for Rob and the hundreds of other volunteers who serve God via MissionAssist!
Sarah McQuay, MissionAssist
Reflect
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship." Romans 12:1 (NIV)
Pray
Pray for organisations that use their time and talents to support mission work around the world. Thank God for the dedication of those who serve quietly from home, multiplying the impact of mission workers and bringing the Word of God to others. Ask for more people to discover ways they can be generous with their skills, no matter their circumstances. Pray for those receiving these resources, that they may encounter Jesus and be transformed through His Word.
Act
Acts for you to consider today:
| Learn how to say ‘hello’ in sign language. | ||
| Educate yourself on the impact of Bible translations and tell someone else about it. | ||
| Buy a Bible or book in a different language and donate it to your library. |
Share
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About MissionAssist
MissionAssist comprises a huge network of dedicated volunteers serving from their own homes to help mission workers around the world advance the gospel and make scripture more accessible.
To achieve all this, it brings together Christians, mostly living in the UK, who have a wide range of skills, experience and different abilities. MissionAssist receives requests for services and matches them to volunteers who are experienced, available and eager to serve world mission from home. It also provides the EasyEnglish Bible which is written in clear, simple English.
