Keep A Prayer Journal

“About a year ago I started a prayer journal. I got a a little journal and on the top of each page I wrote the name of someone I wanted to pray for. Below it, I wrote the date and a little note about the thing I was praying for that person. Every day, as I spend some time with God and flip through the journal it reminds me of what I have said I would pray for that person. Sometimes I write them a quick message to see how they are doing and ask if there is anything else I can pray for. Other times I am able to write a star with a new date because God has answered what I was praying for. It not only helps me be more intentional in my prayer time, but also allows me to see God working and moving in people’s lives and give him praise.”

Be Prepared to Share

“My goal (with my team) is to be known by our communities here as people who love God, love to pray, and love to talk about and read God’s book. So I work to integrate these topics into daily conversation with those we interact with. I try to have a few stories from God's word in my back pocket, or ready to tell related to certain topics. I am able to say 'Hey, that reminds me of a story, can I tell it to you?' in more conversations than I even realize!"

Use What You've Got

“One very natural way that I try to live missionally is by using the fact that I am a foreigner in a foreign land. People often ask me about this and ask why I would leave America to live in this part of the world that is poorer and not as prestigious. I use these opportunities to tell them that I am here because of God leading me here. If they are open it gives me an opportunity to share more. Also, we have worked to get to know neighbors and see what needs are around us, and as we reach out in tangible, personal ways this helps us to live missionally every day. We also use other natural connections from connecting with parents where our kids are involved in extracurricular activities to celebrating holidays with friends and neighbors as a means of connecting with and caring for people. I really think this question in many ways goes back to how you live missionally in your home culture. Our lives should have a natural (or maybe supernatural) love, care, and outreach to the people in our community whether we live in the US or in some little known corner of the world.”

Weave Your Faith Into Your Language

"One thing I always say in response to this kind of question is that we need to talk like Christians even to non-Christian people we know or meet. This doesn’t mean we use all the deep Christian lingo, but we can talk about God with people without having to evangelize or be in Bible study. My mom is really good at this. We might be at the dentist and they always ask how you’re doing, even when their hands are all up in your mouth. And she answers, 'Well, we’re trusting God with this difficult situation,' 'I’m praying for my adult children,' or 'God has blessed us with this,' And things like this. We all believe God is the one who does this but we choose to edit our conversation with non-Christians to leave out all this God talk. But this is a great time to lay out clearly all the ways God is good and good to us. And because it is our story the listener cannot be offended, but they can easily see God’s work in our lives."