This past Sunday we sent out the W*****'s into the mission field. They will be flying out today to Togo.
William Carey, who is considered by many to be the father of modern missions, said to his friend Andrew Fuller and to his church: “I will venture to go down [to India], but you must hold the rope."
With this, he was asking them to serve as his support in God’s calling on his life to go to India with the gospel. And he invited his friend and his church to participate in the mission by "holding the rope” from home base.
As the W******'s leave today, and we send out the P****'s next month, let's remember that they need “rope holders”. And you, as their church family, are called to be just that.
And so today, let's remember: As we send out missionaries, we aren't just bystanders who watch it all happen. We don't just sit back and observe what God does through them. With every missionary family we send out, we enter the battle with them by holding the rope -- by supporting them, encouraging them, and lifting them up often through our prayers.
So today, let’s be reminded of our role as their rope holders. And today, as the W****'s venture down [to Togo], let’s together commit to be a church family that holds the rope well.
- Mark
