Lead Pastor Vision Trips
The week after Thanksgiving, four teams of lead pastors ventured on vision trips to Jordan, Tanzania, Cuba, and India. It’s a part of a larger missions initiative that includes seeing 1,000 people called from MN churches into the mission field and leading the nation in generosity to missions. A lead pastor from each of the teams shared their perspective with us:
Pastor Dan Scally from Hibbing said, “I heard about 11 million refugees displaced because of a civil war. I heard these things on the news. I had seen this place on a map. But everything changed after putting faces to the statistics. This took something from my head and put it deep into my heart. We drove past rural villages the size of my city without one church, without one missionary, not even one believer. This will change how I give, pray, and go.”
Pastor Paul Risdall from Delano reflected, “To see the way that God is moving in the Assemblies of God church in Tanzania is inspiring and moving. I left thinking that we as a church must be a part in some way to help equip pastors and leaders to plant more churches! Additionally, spending a week on mission with this incredible team of MN pastors is something that every pastor should experience.”
“The opportunity to go to Cuba and see what God is doing there was amazing. The way God is moving and working in Cuba using the things the government is requiring shows that in any situation, He is in control. The hunger of the Bible school students and the ingenuity the Christians show to share the truths of God is inspiring. For anyone that has the opportunity to participate in a similar trip, do it.” – Pastor Troy Fields from Lexington
Pastor David Savage from Mountain Lake said, “It’s easy to say, ‘Give money; support missionaries,’ but it’s different when you see the children that were rescued from the streets, now pastoring churches. Until you go and realize the power of the Gospel lived out in a world that seems utterly hopeless, you won’t have the heart for missions the way that Jesus has called us to have a heart for missions.”
This is just the beginning! We encourage every lead pastor to go on a vision trip. We will have similar opportunities in 2019. Look for more information soon.
