Equipping the Saints

Have you ever had an event idea that you put into place, and halfway through thought, "What was I thinking?" I have had many of those as a local church pastor. The stains of the youth group's chocolate food fight occasionally remind me of that fact. However, the event this past weekend was not one of those ideas. Our small-town church hosted our first-ever mission training weekend, where twenty members were equipped with three skill sets to help our neighbors (here and around the world) and open the door to gospel conversations.

Using the training they received from ITEC, a couple of our members and a few people from the ITEC staff equipped us with information and know-how in three areas. The farm training instructed us to grow productive gardens and make compost using techniques lost to mechanization and wealth. The mechanical training equipped others to work on their own equipment. The optometry training taught others how to identify eye problems, give eye exams, and assign reading glasses. These trainings will be helpful as we serve and share the information with our neighbors.

This simple event and the hands-on ITEC training have instilled a mindset of reaching people with the gospel by serving them in practical ways. My church is so blessed to have the opportunity to be trained in this way. If you are a local pastor looking for anything to ignite your people's evangelistic fire and energize your church's serving ministry, I encourage you to hold an EQUIP weekend at your church. I am confident the ITEC staff would love to help you equip your people, too. Ignore the stains of those failed events in your past and give this a shot. You won't regret it.

If you want to learn more about equipping your church for short-term missions with a long-term impact, we would love to talk to you. Visit itecusa.org today!