Impact on Missions
Global Impact: How the Mission Expansion Project is Good for Global Missions
By Nate Irwin, Elder & Pastor of Global Outreach
One of the many issues involved in the decision to expand our facilities is whether this use of money is the best possible use of God’s resources. I’ve been asked to share one perspective on this question.
As many of you know, I had the opportunity of growing up surrounded by poverty in the country of Pakistan. It is a poverty of both body and soul, as Pakistan, from a spiritual perspective, is one of the least-reached countries in the world. When I returned to the States to go to college, the contrast of our wealth and their poverty was staggering, and one of the things that bugged me the most about American culture was its extravagance and waste.
And so, as one who is somewhat attuned to the physical and spiritual needs of the world, when I hear a figure of $17-19 million, my ears perk up and I ask the question, “How could we in good conscience spend that amount of money on church buildings when millions are starving and billions are dying without Christ?” It’s a legitimate question, and if we didn’t ask it we wouldn’t be thinking hard enough about our proposed mission expansion project.
The answer, to me, comes when I look back 11 years at our own history, when we were at another crossroads. We were worshiping in the Fellowship Hall and space was tight. The question was whether or not to build a larger sanctuary. We prayerfully decided to build. One of the benefits of that decision, in addition to over 3,200 people now regularly coming under the teaching of the Word of God, was this: in the 13 years before the current sanctuary was built, we gave a total of $845,000 to missions. In the 11 years since, we have given $13.3 million, more than a 16-fold increase!
As I extrapolate those figures (which I realize assumes God’s continued gracious hand on our church and our ongoing commitment to reach those who have never heard the Gospel), I realize the potential is there for us to multiply our missions giving 10-fold in the years ahead, something which could scarcely happen if we don’t expand our facilities. So that’s why I’m excited about investing $18 million now. For I believe it will be seed money that will, by God’s grace, multiply itself many times over in the years ahead for the needs of the poor and the lost around the world, to the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
So how is the Mission Expansion Project good for global missions?
Let me summarize my answer in five points:
- We preach the Word at College Park Church, which includes preaching the supremacy of Christ for His glory among all nations and their joy in Him.
- More people coming under that teaching will mean more people committed to God’s plan to reach all peoples on earth with the Gospel.
- More people committed to God’s plan to reach the nations will mean more people going to the least reached of the world and more people sending them.
- A bigger base will mean that we can give more money in the long run to global missions. In the 13 years before the current sanctuary was built, we gave a total of $845,000 to missions. In the 11 years since, we have given $13.3 million, more than a 16-fold increase.
- This is all contingent on God’s ongoing grace and our ongoing commitment to making reaching the unreached a priority in our church life.