What is your mission in life?
I have a question for you: What is your mission in life?
The answer to that question may come quickly to your mind or the question itself may stop you in your tracks. Your answer may be multifaceted, even complicated, or the question may cause you to realize that you have never really given it much thought or prayer.
No matter how you respond to that question, New Wineskins Missionary Network exists to help you move forward in fulfilling the mission for which God uniquely created you!
As Christians, the question isn’t: Do I have a mission?, but rather: How do I join God in His mission to spread the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth? At New Wineskins Missionary Network, we define “mission” in broad terms - each individual, small group, and church - big or small, new or years old - has a specific role to play in the Great Commission.
One of my personal goals is to help church planters to see themselves as missionaries to North America, and to help our parishes see church planters that way as well. The United States alone is the third largest mission field in the world now, after China and India. I know, it’s hard to believe, but it is true! So, as missionaries, church planters need the same kind of prayer, emotional and financial support as those serving cross-culturally overseas.
I’m excited to announce that Always Forward, the ACNA’s church planting initiative, is hosting its 2019 fall conference as a pre-conference to the New Wineskins Global Mission Conference at Ridgecrest, Sept. 24-26, 2019. The theme for New Wineskins ’19 is Better Together so dovetailing these two important events into one week couldn’t be more strategic.
New church planters will be exposed to all kinds of local and global mission opportunities of the global Anglican Communion who will be gathered from many different nations, and networks like GAFCON’s Church Planting network can share ideas as well as learn from North American church planters.
Not only church planters, but every individual Christian should ask the question: How can I be an everyday missionary in my local context? Our vision at New Wineskins is: Every Anglican empowered and equipped to engage in local and global cross-cultural mission! Everything we do is designed to help you be more knowledgeable, active and effective in living out your missional calling.
Do you wish you could impact the nations, but aren’t in a position to go yourself?
Let us connect you to the Anglican International Student Ministry Network that just launched to help you discover how to extend hospitality to the more than 1.5 million students studying in North America from every country on the globe.
Do you have a heart to pray for missionaries?
Use our Prayer Calendar and pray with us daily for hundreds of cross-cultural workers.
Do you want to see your church more engaged in missions, locally and globally?
Celebrate World Mission Sunday in a creative way on Feb. 10, 2019 using some of the ideas found at www.NewWineskins.org/WorldMissionSunday.
Are you engaged in a cross-cultural ministry, but would love to have more exposure and partnership with others in your diocese?
Invite us to host a New Wineskins Mission Roundtable in your area, where mission-minded folks from your community can come together to share ideas.
Are you ready for some good news that you can be sure is not fake and will inspire and inform you about what God is doing all over the world?
Read our weekly blog posts from missionaries and senders, planters and church attenders on all sorts of topics (www.newwineskins.org/blog).
Are you interested in a particular area of mission, but don’t know how to take your next steps?
Check out our Resources pages on a dozen different categories for websites, videos, podcasts, recommended books and more. Better yet, attend one of our New Wineskins pre-conferences for advance training and become part of a mission network.
All of these questions and more can also be addressed by attending the upcoming New Wineskins Global Mission Conference, Sept. 26-29, 2019 at Ridgecrest, NC. Registration is open now at NewWineskinsConference.org and Super Early Bird rates are available through Dec. 31, 2018.
Our 2019 conference theme is Better Together, but that theme also applies to us being able to continue the work that we’ve been doing for 44 year here at New Wineskins. We need your financial partnership now more than ever, especially as we prepare for New Wineskins ’19.
Now, I have another question for you: Will you support the mission-equipping work of New Wineskins Missionary Network with your financial gift today?
If Anglicans don’t support Anglican missions, then who will? If every Anglican signed up to be a recurring giver at even $20/month, we would never have to make another appeal. Once you sign up to be a recurring giver, it’s amazing how you really don’t miss that money in your monthly budget, yet so much good can be done when we all give a little bit. Really - together we can accomplish everything that God has ordained for us to do as part of his mission to reach the world!
Jenny Noyes is the Executive Director of New Wineskins Missionary Network. She is a passionate speaker, networker, and evangelist. For fun, Jenny can be found riding ElliptiGOs with her husband Larry, playing tennis, and spending time with her family. You can contact Jenny here.