There was hardly a dry eye in the church as they watched their friends they have gone to church with for years, their own children respond to God’s calling on their lives to serve full time as missionaries. It was one of the most moving services I have ever been a part of as they realized the people they were looking at standing in front of them would no longer be sitting in their pews, but serving on the mission field. This was the closing “Life Commitment” service of the Global Celebration at the 2 Amigos (Friends) churches in Guatemala.
We began to mentor the Amigos churches a year and a half ago, and they had their first ever Global Celebration, I preached both of the Celebrations at the same time. During the opening celebration both churches were filled to capacity as They cheered as their missionaries came in, some locally and some from all the way from Cambodia. Every day and every evening they had multiple opportunities to personally hear about what God is doing in their field, and how the church can engage with them. Then we came to Sunday, they day of commitments.
On Sunday morning (at 8:30 at one church and then 10:30 at the other) we had our Financial Commitment. The first church committed over $30,000 US Dollars to missions, (the more than tripled their previos missions commitment) and the second church committed nearly $20,000 (which was almost four times their previous commitment)!
Then on Sunday afternoon and evening we had two separate “Life Commitment” services in which hundreds committed to pray for the missionaries, participate in their missions teams, and go and help them with specific projects. Then I asked those who God had spoken to specifically and was calling to be the future missionaries to go from their church to help expand God’s Kingdom in other areas to stand with the current missionaries. God did an incredible work in calling out those He is sending out!
