What the Church Is Really Here to Do… and How to Do It

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I held the cardboard cow with the confidence that could only come from a seven-year-old boy on a mission. 

My church was raising money for Heifer International, and every child in my Sunday school received a little folder shaped like a cow, with slots for coins. Week after week, I watched the collection of coins in that paper cow grow and imagined how, one day, a family across the world would receive a real cow because of the money other children and I had collected. I didn’t know it at the time, but God was using that simple act of giving to spark a lifelong passion for missions. 

I was raised in church. In fact, I can’t remember a day in my life when I didn’t know Jesus. My faith journey has been one of slow, steady spiritual formation, with a passion for missions woven throughout my life’s tapestry. What began with a cardboard cow has led me, decades later, into my calling as a leader with the Florida Conference of the Global Methodist Church. In my role, I have the joy of inviting churches to discover the joy and responsibility of global missions. 

Missions as a Pillar of Discipleship

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gathered his disciples with a clear purpose: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” He issued an active command to go out and invite others to be transformed by the gospel. 

Later, in Acts 1, Jesus says His followers will be His witnesses in Judea (their home), Samaria (their neighbors), and to the ends of the earth. I don’t think he was giving them a geography lesson. I think it was a roadmap for Christian life. 

I believe that these invocations, at their core, were a call to discipleship—discipleship to the very ends of the earth. When the call is to invite others to formation into the likeness of Christ, regardless of geography, then missions become central to that formation. 

It’s why every church I lead, counsel, or support is encouraged to articulate a discipleship process—and within that process, I want them to identify a pathway for serving, going, giving, and reaching beyond their own community borders. 

“The World Is My Parish”: Wesley’s Radical Vision for the Church

In the Methodist tradition, we often quote John Wesley’s famous line: “The world is my parish.”

Wesley said those words because he kept preaching outside the walls of the established parish boundaries. At the time, this approach to ministry was radical. Wesley's contemporaries insisted on geographical and institutional lines of parish authority. But Wesley refused. He wanted to reach those who had been marginalized or forgotten by society. He believed everyone needed an opportunity to encounter the good news. 

No church exists only for its own improvement, comfort, or growth. If all nations, tribes, and tongues are our parish, then outreach becomes critical to discipleship. Outreach to individuals who live one street away, or an ocean away. 

The Church Exists for the People Not Yet Inside It

It’s amazing to me that the church is the only organization on the planet that exists for the people who aren’t yet members of it. Every other organization exists primarily to serve its own. But the church? The church is different.

In my experience, when a church becomes inward-facing, focused only on the people inside its walls, it starts to stagnate. But when it becomes outward-facing, it begins to flourish. 

Sometimes a church needs to change the question they’re asking. Rather than asking if their outreach benefits their church or their membership numbers, perhaps the better question is whether it advances God’s Kingdom. 

Missions may not add another member to your church, but it will add another member to the Kingdom of God.

The False Choice

At this point, many church leaders will push back against my recommendation. Very often, they look around the needs in their community and see how much more needs to be done right in their own backyard. 

I understand that concern. It’s one I've grappled with myself. But the question assumes something Jesus does not: caring for one group of people excludes the other. 

Wesley was never an either-or kind of guy. Wesley lived in the ‘and’. Local and global. Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. 

We don’t have to choose between the neighborhood and the nations. I believe the Kingdom of God is big enough for us to pursue both. 

It’s a misunderstanding to think we cannot look internationally until every local need is met. If the early church had waited to meet every local need before sending out missionaries, the Gospel never would have spread beyond Jerusalem. 

I don’t want to minimize needs or poverty in our own spheres. Poverty anywhere is heartbreaking. But it’s worth calling out that poverty in countries without a social safety net or economic stability is incredibly hard to overcome. The conditions that we take for granted: stable government, functioning public schools, strong infrastructure, and reliable transportation systems, are just not available to people in some regions of the world.  If churches in affluent communities don’t partner with churches in vulnerable communities, it’s unlikely anyone else will. And it’s unlikely that our brothers and sisters in those areas will ever be able to climb out of poverty.

Missions Break the Chains of Entitlement

We live in a culture saturated with self-focus. It’s all around us. Not just in teenagers glued to their phones, but also in adults immersed in the world of ‘treat yourself’ messaging. Even Christmas commercials tell us we “deserve” more. 

But entitlement is not a fruit of the Spirit. It’s a fruit of pride. 

And missions break it. 

Take a teenager—or an adult—to a place where a person survives on less than $3 a day, where safe drinking water is a luxury, where daily life is not guaranteed. Suddenly, the illusions of our own self-importance crumble. We have a desire to live beyond ourselves and to reach out to someone else in need. 

Missions open our eyes, humble our hearts, and form disciples.

I have watched young people encounter global poverty with wide eyes and leave with deeper faith, a heart for service, and a renewed desire to live for Christ. 

Common Mistakes Churches Make

After years of traveling, pastoring, and overseeing churches, I’ve noticed a few common mistakes churches make when they begin engaging in global missions. 

1. Overcomplicating It

Some churches think they must plan an elaborate international trip right away or create an entire missions department from scratch. That’s overwhelming, unnecessary, and often discouraging. 

2. Reinventing the Wheel

Other churches think they must build a missions program unique to their church. But there are faithful, biblically grounded ministries already doing remarkable work. We don’t need to build everything ourselves. 

And that leads me to one of the most important lessons I’ve learned. 

3. Partnership Matters

There are incredible organizations out there that have been doing ministry and missions-related work for a long time. They’ll partner with your church and help you create a missions plan that works for your congregation. 

The Florida Conference has chosen to partner with Compassion International. They offer churches an easy, trustworthy on-ramp into global missions. They’ve been doing this work for decades. They work through local churches in vulnerable communities around the world and care deeply about holistic, Christ-centered child development. 

I recently traveled to El Salvador with Compassion’s team and some leaders from our denomination. I watched adults around me—who had intellectually known about Compassion—tear up as they saw the ministry firsthand. The Holy Spirit moved, and their hearts expanded for others. 

For a Church Feeling Overwhelmed: Start Here

If your church feels paralyzed by the scope of global needs, here’s my encouragement: take it one step at a time. 

Step one: Decide that missions is part of your discipleship pathway.

Don’t treat global engagement as optional. Let it shape your people. 

Step two: Partner with an organization already doing it well.

Find a ministry whose theology you trust and whose model empowers local churches. Let them guide you as you begin. For many churches, Compassion can be that partner. 

Step three: Start small.

You don’t need to organize a two-week trip halfway around the world as your first step into global missions. Sponsoring a child, prayer, advocacy, and learning are all powerful first steps. 

The Beauty of a Church Living Out Its Calling

After all my years in ministry, I have come to believe that there is nothing more beautiful than a local church living the way God designed it to live. 

When a church embraces both local and global calling, everything changes. The church becomes alive with a mission. It becomes Kingdom-focused. It becomes a thriving source of discipleship makers. 

My prayer is that every church leader reading this will feel a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit to think about what a global mission focus could look like for their church. 

And somewhere, perhaps to the very “ends of the earth,” a child waits—just as I once waited with my cardboard cow—trusting that someone’s small act of faithfulness might change a life. 

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/doidam10 

Rev. Jay Therrell serves Jesus as conference superintendent of the Florida Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church. Jay is married to Kendra, a senior partner in a statewide law firm with offices in Jacksonville. Together they have one son. In his spare time, Jay likes to travel, cook, and be an avid fan of all things Star Wars, the University of Florida (Go Gators), and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

To learn more about Compassion International, visit their website.