Ministry Before Missions: 5 Reasons to Think Local Before You Go Global

Suzanne Pearson • Jun 23, 2022

For many future missionaries, God’s calling to mission work can create an unnecessary sense of urgency. The desire to GO as soon as possible may cause an emotional decision to pursue cross-cultural missions right away without proper preparation. The result can be culture shock and difficulties adjusting to life on the mission field.

Seasoned missionaries offer great advice to avoid this pitfall: think local before you go global. Taking the time to invest in local ministries that relate to the type of mission work you want to do will go a long way toward preparing you for the field. There are many reasons why gaining experience in ministry while still living at “home” is a great idea. Here are 5 Key Reasons To Think Local before you Go Global.

1. To Gain Skills in a Particular Type of Ministry

Even though TEAM and other reputable mission-sending organizations provide great training, orientation and support before you go overseas, there is nothing like on-the-job experience. So take a look at the type of ministry you are interested in, and then seek out local opportunities that will allow you to learn those skills. For example, if you’re interested in education , teach or volunteer at a local school that is geared toward the age group and demographic of students you want to reach.

TEAM Guatemala global worker, Amie is a great example. Even before she went to college, Amie knew that she wanted to pursue medical missions . But after training as a nurse, Amie didn’t jump right into international missions. Instead, she worked as a nurse in a local homeless shelter. “I began to have some experience in the States that would look similar to the experience that I’m in right now in a clinic that’s in an under-resourced area and having to be creative with care and with supplies.”

2. To Learn How to Interact and Communicate with Diverse People Groups

Probably one of the biggest hurdles many global workers face is how to effectively build relationships with people from other cultures. Thankfully, those communication skills can begin before you ever leave home. Kyle and Shelly, TEAM workers in South Africa , invested in cross-cultural relationships in their Chicago neighborhood before traveling overseas.

“It proved to be really helpful to us because we got to preview the experience of a missionary. When you’re a missionary and you head overseas, you become the fish out of water. You become the one who is in a different land, a different culture,” says Kyle. “So if you want to know what it’s like to be a missionary without ever leaving home, one of the best ways to do it is, make friends with someone from a different culture in your country. When you see their struggles, you’ll understand your struggles when you become a missionary.”

Kit, another TEAM worker in South Africa is involved in college ministry . Before going abroad, Kit worked for four years in the U.S. with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. During this time, he learned how valuable it is to just spend time doing life together with the students. “[Intervarsity] helped me to see the importance of just being with the students. I don’t know if I would have really understood that without the ministry that I did before,” says Kit.

3. To Understand the Values and Struggles of a Particular Culture

Every culture has its own values and struggles, many of which aren’t easy to see at first glance. Often potential missionaries have the misperception that if they know the language of a culture, they understand the culture itself. The worldview and value system of a culture, however, run much deeper. Rubbing shoulders with people from that culture within your own local community helps you gain a richer understanding of the culture’s mindset.

Art and Vicki are church planters in Mexico , but before they moved across the border, they worked for years at a Hispanic church plant near their home in Chicago. Even though Art was born in Mexico and spoke Spanish, he grew up in a mostly non-Hispanic community. Vicki explains how Hispanic ministry in Chicago prepared Art to lead a church plant in Mexico. “He learned about some of the difficulties in Mexico, some of the social problems,” remembers Vicki. “[We learned] the importance of relationships, the idea of ‘we’ instead of ‘I.’ This was a great way that God used the Spanish class and the church to confirm…that this was something we felt passionate about and that we could do.”

Art and Vicki’s work at Emmanuel Evangelical Church in San José del Cabo, Mexico came after years of local ministry in Chicago.

4. To Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Engaging in local missions before international ministry allows you to find out which parts of ministry come naturally to you and which will require more practice and training. We all have strengths and weaknesses, but often it takes real-life practical experience to home in on what they are.

Amie looks back on her time as a nurse at the homeless shelter as invaluable in that regard. “It was a time where I could see very clearly some of my strengths and weaknesses, and start working on them before going overseas,” says Amie. She also says that those areas of weakness were faith builders as she saw God’s strength at work. “And so when I’m struggling with ministry here…I know that I can look back and see how God has worked in the past and I know that He is faithful and will continue to be at work in the future.”

5. To Grow in Your Walk with the Lord

Probably the most important thing to remember when considering missions work is that we are all, first and foremost, disciples of Jesus , no matter where we are. In order to be effective missionaries, we must first be committed to growing in the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus. Reaching into the lives of other people, right in our own backyard, is critical to our own discipleship and spiritual growth .

Paul, a veteran TEAM worker offers this sage advice: “Gain some ministry experience, become strong in your walk with the Lord, become stable. Then you bring that with you on the field. You’re just going to be more productive. You’re going to be a better servant of the Lord.”

Convinced but not sure how to make it happen? Check out some practical ways to get plugged into cross-cultural ministry without leaving home. Invest now in local ministry, see how God uses you right here at home, and you’ll be ready for global missions before you know it.

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Bridging Dissonance: Finding Connection in Music and the Gospel

By Emily Sheddan • 18 Jul, 2024

TEAM worker Luke Standridge and his fellow musicians use music to build connections to faith in Japan. In music terms, dissonance creates movement or even suspense in a song. It invites tension. That tension is what helps grab our ear’s attention and the interchanging of these notes with pleasant melodious parts is what makes music such a delight. In a similar way, God is using music to grab people’s attention and catalyze Gospel impact in the largely unreached nation of Japan. TEAM Global Worker, Luke Standridge moved to Japan in 2019 with no clear direction on how he was going to use his passion for composing music while doing ministry. However, after Luke got involved with a local church and began developing deep friendships, the Lord opened unimaginable doors for Luke that in time, coordinating his creative skills with sharing the Word. “People Need to Come to Japan!” Growing up as one of ten kids in a family that was heavily involved in ministry and missions, Luke never considered that it would one day be a part of his own journey. In 2016, via a Japanese language learning class in Indiana, Luke and his brother had the opportunity to travel to Japan. Hearing, learning, and using the language in the context of Japanese culture was the goal. While it was Luke’s first international trip – even his first trip on a plane - it was also his first time hearing about the spiritual condition of the Japanese people. “And just through that, God did a huge 180 change on my heart,” says Luke. “More people should come here as global workers. People need to come to Japan!” The call God was laying on Luke’s heart is echoed when looking at the spiritual landscape of Japan. The nation is home to the second largest unreached people group in the world. It is one of the most difficult places for the Gospel to take hold and grow. Japan is also home to a deep and rich culture that prizes creative arts from pottery to ink to music to anime – a fact that would help Luke find his niche in life and ministry. God’s Guiding Hand In the short three-month timespan of that first trip, Luke found that opportunities came naturally to share about life, and people’s curiosity for Christianity grew. “I left Japan knowing I just had to come back,” Luke shares. “Even if I didn’t get back to the same area, I knew Japan was where God wanted me to be.” The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. His plans do not fail. Luke returned to Japan in 2019, and less than a week after arriving, he was put in touch with a renowned composer in Japan. The composer saw some of Luke’s music and invited him to help write the music for a beloved in-country animated show. But God wasn’t finished yet! Fast forward a year, and more connections and opportunities allowed Luke to help with music for Pokémon - a franchise that has brand recognition around the world and was being developed into a TV series in Japan. Luke recalls how the Lord began using these connections in the production world to open doors for Gospel conversations. One night while having dinner in downtown Tokyo with famous artists and composers from all around the country, Luke was asked about his ministry-focused visa. This was a rare opportunity in a setting with people otherwise uninterested in Christianity. Luke shares, “The whole time I could see God’s hand in guiding the entire thing.”

Connecting in a New Kind of “Neighborhood”

By Lorena de la Rosa and Suzanne Pearson • 13 Jun, 2024

Through creative arts and other forms of innovative outreach, “The Neighborhood” is creating connections to the Gospel and the love of Jesus. CONNECTION. It’s a common word with powerful implications. Dictionary.com defines connection as a joining or linking together; a relationship between people or objects that unites or binds them together. God has created each of us with a deep need for connection with Him as well as connection with others. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to this, as the writer exhorts, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” This God-given need for connection lies at the heart of a creative and innovative ministry in Japan known as “The Neighborhood.” TEAM Japan global worker, Kelly and her family created The Neighborhood as a place where connections are formed through creative arts, educational opportunities, and simply just providing a space for people to be together. A Family Calling The journey to the creation of The Neighborhood began over 5,000 miles away from Tokyo, in California where Kelly, her husband Jeff, and their five children were living. The kids were the first to sense God’s calling to missions, and asked why their family wasn’t serving in this way. How Kelly and her family came to TEAM is a God-story in and of itself. “God placed a TEAM Japan worker at our lunch table the same week that the kids posed that question to us,” Kelly recalls. “We had never heard of TEAM and so we thought, ‘let’s check this out.’ After that, God just kept confirming that we were supposed to be here.” After a period of fundraising and with much excitement, the family of seven moved to Japan in 2014. For the first five years, Kelly and Jeff served as a part of other TEAM ministry initiatives, but they began to sense a stirring for something new. Creating The Neighborhood Kelly and her family truly have a deep gift for hospitality, and regularly opened up their home to others they met in Tokyo. They saw a great need for people to have a place to gather and connect, and they wondered what doors the Lord might be opening for them to meet that need. “About a year before we were to return the States on home assignment, we were just really thinking about our future in Japan,” Kelly says. “We saw a need for people to have a ‘third place’ – a place that’s not home and it’s not work. They didn’t have a church community or any other place where they could meet people and just connect.” Kelly goes on to explain that in Japan, the culture is such that people don’t generally invite each other into their homes, but as her family did so, people embraced that opportunity. “This idea formed in all of our hearts of a student ministry center – a place where we can create community and learning,” says Kelly. “It was born out of what we were already doing in our home, but seeing how we could expand it and have better space.” God’s Provision What happened next is a true testament to God’s provision. Kelly, Jeff, and the kids returned to the States and began sharing their vision for The Neighborhood with their supporters and churches who responded generously. Upon returning to Japan, the search was on for the right space. “We had a Christian realtor that we told our dream to, and he just went looking for it,” Kelly recalls. When the realtor found a 5-story apartment building, he said, “It’s kind of out of your budget but it has what you need and want.” The Lord provided the funds and the family moved into the space in November 2019. They now occupy all but the ground floor, with living space for their family as well as classrooms, areas to study or hang out, and guest rooms for exchange students or others who need a place to stay overnight. The first floor is occupied by a pizza shop – a welcome amenity for the many groups and students who visit The Neighborhood. “It’s very convenient!” Kelly says with a laugh. The Neighborhood began to see lots of activity right away until the pandemic hit in early 2020. During the height of the quarantine, Kelly and Jeff used the time to redecorate the space and plant gardens outside the building. Then as the restrictions eased, they invited individual students or families over for meals and fellowship. It wasn’t until March 2023 that The Neighborhood was able to fully open again as intended. Kelly shares that despite the setbacks of COVID, the Lord continued to provide the funds to pay the rent.