missions

The Send

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One of our favorite images that emerged from “The Send” event this past Saturday was of Loren and Darlene Cunningham – Founders of YWAM.

59,000 gathered in Camping World Stadium for the purpose of a fresh wave of evangelism and missions in the earth.

One of our favorite images that emerged from “The Send” event this past Saturday was of Loren and Darlene Cunningham – Founders of YWAM.

In 1960 Loren received a call from God to raise up a new type of missionary. In a vision, Loren saw waves of young people getting trained and going to every nation on earth with the gospel. Loren and Darlene started Youth with a Mission.

In those days if you wanted to serve on the missions field, you had to attend seminary and wait years for a mission board to approve you and even then it was uncommon for young people to travel internationally.

In 1977 they bought an old hotel in Kona, Hawaii and started the University of the Nations. As of today, Loren and Darlene and the YWAM family are the largest missionary sending entity in the world with 15,000 full-time missionaries, training nearly 25,000 short-term missionaries per-year.

In 2005, Laura and I (Sean) had the privilege of attending a Discipleship Training School that Loren and Darlene personally led. It was a very unique opportunity. We called that time, “how to pioneer a missions movement 101.” We knew we were being equipped for some sort of pioneering work.

Shortly after, the Lord moved us to New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit. We ended up doing relief and saw a tremendous outbreak of God’s power. We saw incredible fruit in the midst of so much devastation and desperation. It ruined us to do missions and evangelism any other way.

In 2006, during a time of worship, suddenly the room disappeared and I saw a vision of a mountain. It reminded me of the “7 Mountains” (religion, family, education, business, government, media, arts and entertainment). We know as Christians we have to influence these main spheres of society if we want to see reformation.

In this vision I was seeing a mountain that was larger than the other 7 Mountains. It was the mountain of “disaster relief.” It touched every other sphere of society. Meaning when a disaster strikes it affects everyone and everything, usually all at once.

I knew that out of intimacy; we could have the right people in the right place at the right time even before disasters took place and we could take back the mountain of disaster relief and impact every sphere of society because of it.

The only problem was that there were secular institutions and organizations that occupied the high place on the mountain. They had a “form of Godliness”, but lacked God’s power. We had to take this mountain back for God!

I was stunned by the vision and stood there weeping. A man walked up to me that I had never met and whispered in my ear…”The Lord says, “if you want the mountain, then go take it.” We have not looked back since!

Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13 all speak of the hour when the “Great Commission” will be fulfilled. Meaning that the gospel will go forth into every nation. It explicitly says that it will be in a time when crisis and disaster cover the earth.

If we really believe the Great Commission will be fulfilled in our day, then this means we must train people for missions and evangelism for the unique dynamics that it will be fulfilled in. We also must refrain from the sin in our thinking that it’s someone else job to be out there fulfilling it. Jesus commissioned us all.

Most think disaster relief is the responsibility of the government. Many Christians end up volunteering with organizations that make no room for the Holy Spirit or the preaching of the gospel.

In 2007, Laura and I launched Crisis Response International. Our vision is to train and mobilize a new type of mercy missionary, the Crisis Response Missionary, mobilized in the spirit of night and day prayer releasing great demonstrations of power and rebuilding cities on the Kingdom of God.

2017 was the costliest year on record regarding disaster damage. With disaster and crisis breaking all historic levels in scale and scope, it has become a mission field unto itself but it requires unique training to be effective and safe.

Do you have a heart to take this mountain, this mission field with us?

Laura and I invite you to join us as at CRI’s new 85-acre mission base in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. This will be a training center to equip Crisis Response Missionaries as well as tens of thousands of short-term relief workers called CRI Responders to respond to crisis and reach the harvest.

There is an opportunity to join our missionary staff, volunteer at the base, attend a missions school or a spring training event (see below). If you want more information about CRI or want to start a discussion on where you might fit in. Send us an email at [email protected].

 

Warm regards,

Sean & Laura Malone – CRI Founders

 

Upcoming Events @ The CRI Mission Base

3 Ways to Respond to The Send Event

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Thousands gather at The Send to hear God’s heart for the nations

As the message of The Send went out in Orlando, Florida yesterday, we believe a new wave of missions is about to hit the earth, catapulting young and old, rich and poor, black, white, and everything in between to the ends of the earth in a great missions thrust before the coming of the Lord.

We believe The Send event served as a catalyst in moving the people of God out of the comforts of their church pews and into the harvest of the nations of the earth. As people answer the call of God in this hour to be a part of an end time army of God bringing the gospel to the four corners of the earth there are at least three ways to respond and process what the Lord is saying to you.

1. Go: God has called you to play a part no matter where life has you right now. But what does that look like for you? For some, it means living on mission right where God has you today. It may be going to school and becoming the best doctor, teacher, or artist you can be. For others, it may be staying home with your children and raising them to be world changers for Christ. For others, it may be working hard in a department store, or office.  If so, it doesn’t mean God has not called you there and anointed you to make a difference in people’s lives and called you to reach your co-workers, employees, customers or vendors. He has and you need to be open to being used by the Lord. One of the ways you can apply your faith to your work is by being more conscious of God’s grace and presence with you in your office or work setting. God does not live in a temple or a building but in you. You don’t need to be in a prayer room to pray. You are the hands and feet of Christ and that means in your workplace, in your home, in your school, you carry the very presence of God. For those in the marketplace, it means working as to the Lord, not engaging in office gossip or politics, but serving those you work with.

For others, God may be calling you to get out of your comfort zone or situation to go to the nations, either part-time or full-time. It could be for a season, a summer, or during break or paid vacation time from work.  You may be a college student with the summer off and praying about what you should do with your time. You may be a recent retiree or between jobs. If that is you, there are a myriad of options vying for your time and attention and a ton of choices before you. Have you considered what God is saying to you? Not what looks best, what will bring the best ROI, or even what you desire most. Not that those things are wrong and that could be what God has for you, but have you stopped to hear the voice of the Lord? God may be calling you. You may be in the season of transition because God is realigning your life’s work and purpose. The choice is something that you’re going to have to make with a lot of prayer, but for those who are hearing God say, “Go,” CRI has amazing opportunities to join us at our upcoming schools, where you will learn firsthand from missionaries out in the field and have a chance to go and minister internationally. For example, our ARC schools are 11-week schools training you for full-time missions and then sending you to a nation in crisis to make an immediate impact on people’s lives. ARC school is designed for those looking to do full-time missions. For those who may be called to part-time or those still trying to discern the next step, our basic training gives you an amazing experience, disaster relief certification, and confidence in ministering to those in need.

2. Send: For those not called to go, you can be part of a team of people undergirding, financially strengthening, and sending missionaries. You can do this through prayer, encouragement, and financially supporting organizations and missionaries in the field. This option does not relieve you of the duty to go and live missionally wherever you are of course, but you can take an active role and a very real role by sharing material wealth with those giving spiritual gifts to those in need. You still get to live as a witness for Christ and to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you, but, God has given each person a gift and if you have been blessed financially you can partner with an organization like CRI or others and we a part of The Trust, a group of churches, businesses, and individuals who are giving on a monthly basis to make this work possible. These faithful and generous givers, allow us to make an even bigger impact on the nations when disasters break out by allocating closer to 100% of every dollar given directly to aid those in crisis including food, shelter, clothing, prayer, chaplaincy, counseling services, and more.

3. Unclear: If you’re unsure or struggling to hear what God is saying to you, wait on him and allow him to speak to your heart. Ask for clarity and then wait for the peace of God on your heart to direct you. But the truth is faith if not accompanied by action is dead. God asks us to step out in faith and follow him. Your job is to get alone and hear from him.

We’d love to help you in any way as you discern the call to go into the mission field. Since 2007 we’ve trained and equipped 10,000 crisis response missionaries. Our goal is to go into the darkest places on earth with the hope of Jesus Christ. We have volunteer, part-time, and full-time positions available and are actively accepting new students and missionaries into our organization. We’ve just secured an 84-acre missions base in Blue Ridge, VA and would love to have you join us. We suggest taking the first step of faith with us by attending a training event. At a training event, you will be equipped and prepared to confidently go into an area of missions with skills and know how to effectively minister in a variety of contexts. After completing training, you will deploy with us and be trained to fundraise to support yourself wherever the Lord calls you. CRI provides resources, training, and covering to help you fulfill the call of God. Let’s talk more.