Why Missions?

Here in Cleveland, we are urban missionaries. Why not church planters or just paraministry leaders? I think the best way to answer these questions is to look at how I define missions and why it fits what we do the best.

What is missions? Being a missionary is following what Jesus said in His last words in Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Basically the entire purpose of the Holy Spirit coming on the day of Pentecost was to spread the Gospel both locally and around the world. Jesus wanted us to go to our city (Jerusalem), our region (Judea), our region we avoid (Samaria), and our world (ends of the earth).

So what does that have to do with missions? Why do it this way? So the way we see missions is the church sending people to hard places in order to connect with a people group that need to hear the Gospel unconventionally. Typically when people think of missions in this light, they think of the 90% Muslim countries where people could be killed for sharing their faith so they have to open a school to teach students English as a way to share the Good News of Jesus.

However, that definition fits us as US Missionaries. First off, the United State is now the third largest mission field in the world (fits the ends of the earth description). But more locally, we are a hard to reach place with a normal church structure. The median income for our community is roughly $15,000. So if we had a church of 25 people and half of them tithed regularly, our church would bring in $18,750. Especially with inflation, that’s not enough for a livable wage, let alone enough to run a church. Therefore, financially it would not make sense to run our operation like a traditional church.

But when it comes to how we look and operate, we are operating as missionaries. Our aim is to learn our culture, build relationships with our people in unconventional ways. That’s where us using the nonprofits comes in. Unlike nonprofit leaders who serve in low-income communities and live in the suburbs, we live and serve in the same community. We are truly missionaries at heart, even if it looks a bit different from world missions. Help keep us in the field by donating today at mcquillersincle.org/donate. Thanks so much!