LifeCall Missions launched to involve volunteer_72505

Posted: 7/22/05

LifeCall Missions launched to involve volunteers

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–Committed to the idea that God leads people into service as a lifetime calling rather than a one-time event, the Baptist General Convention of Missions Equipping Center has launched LifeCall Missions, a volunteer missions program for Texas Baptists of all ages.

The effort is meant to enlist, encourage and equip volunteers for mission work, said Jim Young, director of the BGCT Missions Equipping Center.

Mission Service Corps, a Southern Baptist Convention program for mission volunteers, will continue to be facilitated through the BGCT Missions Equipping Center under the LifeCall umbrella. More than 1,200 Texas Baptists serve as Mission Service Corps volunteers.

LifeCall also gives non-SBC-affiliated BGCT churches an option for volunteer mission work.

LifeCall is designed to reinforce the idea that individuals in ministry serve as church representatives reaching out to their communities, said Cecil Deadman, associate director of the BGCT Missions Equipping Center.

Texas Baptists can apply to be LifeCall missionaries and receive a certificate of affirmation from the BGCT. Some LifeCall applicants will undergo criminal and clergy sexual misconduct checks.

Congregations are encouraged to hold commissioning services for LifeCall missionaries to affirm their ministry by helping churches identify what mission workers of their congregations are doing, Deadman said.

While churches will be the primary recruiters of LifeCall candidates, 40 LifeCall advocates stationed across Texas can help individuals match their talents with ministry opportunities.

“We're hoping to create a culture of a missions lifestyle,” Young said.

The BGCT commits to provide prayer support, encouragement, mentors and training events for short- and long-term LifeCall missionaries. Convention-affirmed volunteers serving between four months and two years must be members of a BGCT-affiliated church and serve through a BGCT effort. Short-term LifeCall servants can minister in a variety of work, such as a food pantry, mission trip or backyard Bible club.

LifeCall urges Texas Baptists to serve as youth and increase participation in missions incrementally as they grow older. Young people may start by helping during Vacation Bible School, then help a pre-teen camp and eventually serve in a student exchange program with another congregation within a Baptist association.

Participation in mission work creates a passion to expand God's kingdom, as Christians are encouraged by following God's will, Young said.

“If you're involved in missions, it becomes more than a theoretical thing that happens over there,” he said. “The church becomes a missionary force.”

For more information, contact the BGCT Missions Equipping Center at (888) 311-3900.