by Paula Nix

I love cross cultural ministry.  One of the things I love about it is how relational other cultures around the world are.  Relationships really seem to matter.  Time isn’t important, schedules aren’t important, people and relationships seem to trump all.  I long for that, but many times the cultural context in which we live makes it difficult.  Ours is a society where schedules and time clocks rule the roost.  But, isn’t missional supposed to be all about relationships?  So, how do we become missional in THIS cultural context?  How do we start to make the relationships we have and the people we love the most important thing?

I think that, sometimes, we just have to work with what we’ve got!  So, if we are a people of schedules and routines (speaking from personal experience here) then, let’s start there.  We, as a family, are coming up with a missional strategy.  I know, that may sound oxymoronic, but until we build the habit of intentionally relating to those around us, it will never happen.   Think of it like when you are trying to eat healthier.  You start by planning out meals, scouring for healthy recipes, counting calories, measuring salad dressing.  The goal, of course, is that eating healthily will become second nature.  But is takes a little work to get there.

So, here are just some suggestions for starting points for your family’s missional strategy.  Know that, just as Isaac’s Keep has both a Strengthen and a Spread plan, your family’s plan should also include connecting to those within our church as well as those outside, especially unbelievers.

1. Choose one family each week to focus on.  Pray for them and make some sort of contact with them that week.  Some weeks it might just be an email or phone call, some weeks it might be inviting them over for a meal, baking them cookies, or taking their kids for an afternoon.

2. Have a “company night” each week.  This is one day of the week where you plan for someone to join your family.  Prepare a larger than average meal and invite a different family each week.  (Example: One family at our church in Kentucky purposefully had a large meal ready every Sunday after church, usually prepared the night before.  Then, they would invite someone to join them after church for a home cooked meal).
3. Plan once a month to do a fun activity with another/several other families.  A trip to a pumpkin farm, a ball game, a picnic at the park, whatever.  Take the initiative, research activities, and invite folks.
4. When you are making a meal that is easily doubled, freeze the extra for ministry purposes.  When you hear that someone is sick or having a really busy week, surprise them with a ready to go meal they didn’t have to cook!
5. Take an interest in other people’s activities, especially kids.  Go catch a little league baseball game, a dance recital, a concert.
6. When holidays roll around, don’t assume that everyone has tons of family to keep them busy.  Invite a family or single to join your family for Thanksgiving dinner, a special Christmas tradition, or your 4th of July cookout.

I am sure you can come up with even more ideas suited to your own family.  Feel free to share them!  The key is to be intentional without being programmatic.  Community is not something that just happens while we are living our individualistic lives.  It takes effort, sacrifice, and (for our family at least) a little bit of planning.  But it is well worth it.