Missions is ‘the bone marrow of the church’

Blogging live from Arlington, Texas
I attended the 10th DFW Missions Dinner for Missions Resource Network, a Texas-based ministry that helps equip churches to plant churches.
Some highlights:
• Robert S. and Katharine Bell and the Bell Trust received the Crystal Globe Award for distinguished service in missions. The Bells established the trust in 1956 to support ministers and missionaries. The trust has distributed nearly $30 million and has contributed to thousands of religious, missionary and charitable works of Churches of Christ.

Betty Bell Muns accepts the Crystal Globe Award at the Missions Resource Network dinner in Dallas. At left are trustees of the Bell Trust. At right are Bob Waldron, former director of MRN and current direction Dan Bouchelle. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

• The Hills Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, Texas, received the Antioch Award for congregational excellence in world missions. The church (formerly the Richland Hills Church of Christ) annually contributes more than $2.2 million to local and global missions, and more than 1,000 of its members participate in short-term missions each year. The church supports 22 long-term missionary families in 13 nations on four continents.
• Dan Bouchelle, director of Missions Resource Network, talked about the ministry’s vision for the future. In the past 13 years, MRN has sponsored numerous workshops to help care for missionaries as they serve on the field and as they return from the field. The ministry has helped train at least 14 mission teams serving on five continents.
Now MRN plans to shift its emphasis from team training to church equipping, Bouchelle said, although the ministry will continue to help train missionaries. MRN plans to work closely with Churches of Christ in the U.S., helping them to “think like missionaries” and catch a global vision, he said.
Bouchelle also talked about partnering with congregations around the globe as they reach out to their own communities and surrounding nations. Two churches he mentioned are congregations The Christian Chronicle has featured in our ongoing Global South series — the Nsawam Road Church of Christ in Accra, Ghana, and the Pasir Panjang Church of Christ in Singapore.
Bouchelle talked about missions as “the bone marrow of the church” and the need for U.S. congregations to recognize the global shift in the demographics of our faith. I plan to write more about this later.

Joel Reed (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

• Barry Packer, chair of the ministry’s board (and a trustee of the Bell Trust), announced that Joel Reed of Atlanta will succeed him as board chair for Missions Resource Network.

• Feedback
  It’s great to see the body of Christ uniting around God’s global mission!

  Alan W. Phillips

  April, 21 2011

  I wish many more churches truly believed the message and acted as Richland Hills. Many I see just pay lip service to missionary work.

  Bob Valerius

  April, 21 2011

  I comment the Christian Chronicle for its effort in informing me and others the activities of the Churches of Christ globally.
  I also give kudos to all who invest their time and money in the mission work, May God bless you all in Christ.
  Mojima Etokudo (Evangelist)
  Church of Christ
  Ikot Odiong-Ukanafun
  P.O:Box 353
  Abak
  Akwa Ibom State
  Nigeria

  Evangelist Mojima Etokudo

  April, 22 2011