This November we have an opportunity to make a decision that could affect all our lives. It will not only affect our lives, but even the world. No, it is not our U.S. presidential election, but it is the decision to participate in the PCA Global Mission Conference, November 1–3 in Atlanta. How would participating in this conference affect our lives, even the world? We are praying that it would reawaken the PCA’s mission to go and make disciples of all the nations!

If there is anything that will bring us together in an age of division, cynicism, and doubt, it is rallying behind our common mission. If we are not engaged in advancing the gospel of the kingdom, we will naturally gravitate to building our own kingdom or pursuing a life of entertainment and comfort. It is too easy to lose our way in this world and focus on lesser matters.

In seminary I had a classmate who was from Turkey. At the time there were only a few thousand evangelical Christians in the whole country. While studying in the United States, he interned at a local Presbyterian Church and was invited to observe a session meeting. I asked him what he thought. He said, “It was very challenging for me.”

I said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “In Turkey, when the pastor says, ‘We need to go now!’ we all go and follow. We were living in a context where people would throw bombs into Christian gatherings. At the session meeting I attended here [in the U.S.] they discussed, even debated for several hours, what kind of toilet paper to buy for their bathrooms.” I could understand why he was so challenged!

Engaging in global missions helps us to see things from a different perspective. Very often our missionaries and national partners help us see the gospel and our Christian faith in new and powerful ways. They remind us that we have a common enemy who seeks to thwart our mission. They inspire us to join them in seeing the darkness pushed back, Satan’s kingdom destroyed, and the gospel of the kingdom advance through the world.

So let’s make the right decision this November and gather together with our missionaries and national partners to worship, hear what God is doing across the world, and then be sent out to accomplish the mission of our King! 

Register now for the Global Missions Conference at mtw.org/gmc. Early registration has been extended through General Assembly, June 15.