How 2 different churches practice an Acts 1:8 mindset

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (CSB)

Developing an Acts 1:8 strategy means supporting missions at local, regional and global levels. It means practicing a strategy that not only includes financial support but also involves prayer and sending people out to engage in missions at each of these levels.

“An Acts 1:8 strategy must start with prayer,” said Ashley Evans, missional engagement director for the Arizona Mission Network. “Acts 13 shows us how a prayer meeting leads to the Holy Spirit directing missions.”

Look for local opportunities

Erik Brewer, senior pastor at Tucson Chinese Baptist Church in Tucson, said his church wants to provide regular opportunities for hands-on ministry and missional thinking.

“A church can develop an Acts 1:8 strategy by praying, giving and going,” Brewer said. “We encourage our members to try a local or regional mission trip before venturing on to an international trip.”

At Tucson Chinese Baptist Church, local opportunities include everything from volunteering at the food bank to collecting supplies for New Life Pregnancy Center to engaging with college students through campus ministry.

Every year, the church makes a regional impact when it sends a team to McNary to help with a VBS for the Native American community there. Last July, the church sent a team including three missionaries.

“We intentionally try to include new members in this team every year to help them develop a missions mindset,” Brewer said.

The church also looks to make a global impact right where they are by offering free ESL classes to Chinese students and their families, while also helping them navigate life in the U.S.

This year they also sent five individuals on three international mission trips. A family of three went on a medical mission trip to Kenya in partnership with Samaritan’s Purse. One of the church’s ministry staff also led a mission trip to Southeast Asia. And Abigail Brewer, a high school senior, went to Moldova in eastern Europe where she taught kids English through Bible study, songs, skits and conversations.

“My church helped me go on this trip through prayer and financial support,” she said.

Abigail Brewer from Tucson Chinese Baptist Church serves on a mission trip in Moldova. (Photo courtesy Tucson Chinese Baptist Church)

Consider your context

For Pinal County Cowboy Church in Casa Grande, practicing an Acts 1:8 strategy looks different.

Local missions include hosting team ropings, sponsoring Central Arizona College’s rodeo team, partnering with Christian Challenge on the college’s three campuses and hosting a worship service at a nursing home.

The church’s regional missions impact includes its annual worship service at Central Arizona College’s home rodeo, which draws college students from Arizona and New Mexico. It has also sent mission teams to help with VBS in Bethune, Colorado, and to share the gospel at the annual Country Thunder music festival in Florence.

This year, Pinal County Cowboy Church sent three teams to northern Ghana to engage Ghanaians with the gospel through well drilling, teaching high schoolers and medical clinics. And for the past three years, the church has sponsored North Cache Ranch Rodeo in Canada, where church members have shared the gospel. It also sends a mission team annually to Mexico to help with Christmas festivals for children.

“If a church intentionally operates within its means, it has flexibility to respond to a missions opportunity any time,” said Tim Pruit, pastor of Pinal County Cowboy Church.

Partner together

Developing an Acts 1:8 strategy also creates an opportunity for partnership among churches.

“Churches and associational networks going on mission trips should save a spot for pastors and leaders from other churches in order to whet their appetite for missions,” Evans said. “Also, churches that do well in one level of missions should teach others how to do it, so that they can learn from each other.”

Francis D., a freelance writer living in Casa Grande, is a member of Pinal County Cowboy Church. *His name has been changed for security.