Ideas for Entering Into God’s Superplan
I hope you have been inspired by Superplan to live for God’s story. But your inspiration will not lead to activity if you do not take some practical next steps. I cannot determine what those steps should be for you, but I provide some suggestions below under different categories that fit into God’s Superplan (pray, learn, go, mobilize, welcome, and send). Check out www.pray1040.com for further suggestions and links on next steps.
Pray
- Create a name list. Write down everyone you know who is not walking with Christ. Include family members and friends, work colleagues or schoolmates, and those who have common hobbies or interests with you. Ask God to point out five individuals on your list. Pray intentionally for these five people and seek opportunities to share your testimony and the gospel message with them.
- Take a virtual prayerwalk among a significant unreached people group community in North America at upgnorthamerica.com.
- Regularly pray for and encourage missionaries you know.
- In your home, small group, or church, adopt an unreached people group around the world or in your city and begin strategically praying for this group.
- Prayerwalk through a neighborhood concentrated with unreached people groups.
- Pray for the countries of the world by using the book Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation.
- Pray for the peoples of Metro New York by using the book ethNYcity: the Nations, Tongues, and Faiths of Metropolitan New York (available at globalgates.info/resources).
- Pray daily for the unreached people groups of the world by using prayer guides from Global Prayer Digest (available through daily email subscription or printed booklets).
- Utilize prayer guidebooks and other resources from Joshua Project to pray for the unreached people groups of the world.
- Utilize short prayer videos from Prayercast to pray for countries and religious groups.
- Use the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World booklets to guide you in praying strategically for Muslims throughout the world.
Learn
- Learn which people groups are still unreached by visiting joshuaproject.net or peoplegroups.org.
- Take a Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class to better understand the biblical, historical, cultural, and strategic aspects of God’s mission.
- Alternatively, take a Kairos Course, which is similar to Perspectives, but less intensive.
- Take an Encountering the World of Islam course to better understand ministry to Muslims.
- Learn about unreached people groups in your city through literature and the diaspora people group databases at upgnorthamerica.com, peoplegroups.info (North America) and peoplegroups.eu (Europe).
- Ask open-ended questions to immigrants in your city or region to learn about their culture and religion.
- Subscribe to Mission Frontiers (email or print) to learn about cutting edge developments in missions.
- Most people learn best by doing! Join a group or network focused on living on mission with God.
- NYC Equip – A 10-month missionary training school focused on reproducible church planting among unreached people groups.
- Global Frontier Missions – Attend a five-month missionary training school or become an intern (their training school can also be done online). Main location is in Clarkston, Georgia, but at the time of this printing, they also have missionary training schools in Houston, Texas, Richmond, Virginia, and Sydney, Australia.
- Global Gates Pathways – Participate in a dynamic, 10-month internship in North America embedded in an unreached people group community, learning from experienced practitioners, and experiencing a trip overseas where many Muslims or other UPGs are turning to Christ.
- Launch Global –Another missional training community network with several locations.
- Mahabba Network—A network that helps everyday Christians in the United Kingdom share Jesus with Muslims and pray for them.
Go
- Start sharing the gospel with people.
- Start intentionally shopping and eating in places that put you in contact with members of unreached people groups. (Yes, you can buy rice from a supermarket and use self-checkout to avoid talking to anyone, but you can also buy rice at the local Muslim grocery store. Which option gives you more Superplan opportunities?!).
- Start intentional prayer and outreach among an unreached people group in your city or region. Do this with people from your church or other Christian friends.
- Visit the families of immigrant friends you have made from unreached people groups in their home countries and connected diaspora communities throughout the world.
- Contact a missions agency about joining them “on mission” on a short-term, mid-term, or long-term basis.
- Lead a mission trip among unreached people groups in your country. For opportunities with Global Gates, visit globalgates.info/get-involved/volunteer.
- Utilize social media to meet people from unreached people groups and converse about spiritual matters.
Mobilize
- Host seminars or trainings in your church about missions, evangelism with different religious groups, and spreading God’s vision for reaching the nations.
- Invite local or returning missionaries to speak in your church.
- Take Perspectives Coordinator Training to help coordinate a Perspectives class.
- Help coordinate an Encountering the World of Islam
- Help coordinate a Kairos course or a Momentum Yes group.
- Consider utilizing mobilization resources from the Center for Mission Mobilization.
- Update information on unreached people groups in your city to peoplegroups.info or peoplegroups.eu.
Welcome
- Teach English with an existing organization to form natural relationships with members of unreached people groups.
- Invite contacts or friends from unreached people groups to your home for tea or coffee.
- Invite yourself over to homes of people from unreached people groups for tea or coffee (Westerners feel like they are imposing, but most members of unreached people groups feel honored when people express a desire to visit their homes).
- Work with international students alongside International Students Incorporated, Bridges International, or another ministry.
- Work alongside a World Relief refugee resettlement office to help refugees adjust to the culture, find employment, learn English, take steps towards citizenship, and build a future for themselves and their children.
Send
- Ask a ministry or missionary among unreached people groups how you can best assist the work. Sometimes the help most needed involves skills you practice in your day job (administrative, legal, graphic and web design, marketing, etc.).
- Support missionaries through contacts from your local church or personal network, or through contacting Global Gates or another missionary sending agency.