Gaining a Heart for the Unreached

A New Strategy for Mobilization

“A new kind of mobilizer is needed for the next generation. We are now finding that we need to include discipling people into readiness and to find opportunities to partner with God in the worthwhile work of shaping and sanctifying the next generation who will carry forward the future of missions.” Erlacher, Jolene & White, Katy. (2022). Mobilizing Gen Z

This past May I had the opportunity to lead a two-week vision trip to Gdansk, Poland with six young adults from Canada. This is the second trip like this, and one of Avant’s new strategies of mobilization. Through ongoing relationships with students, we are able to mentor and trust the Lord to stir the hearts of those who have not yet considered missions.

The team met monthly to pray, learn about the biblical emphasis of missions and God’s heart for the world, and to learn more specifically of Poland’s need for missions and church planters. The students had just invested one or more years learning biblical theology and now they were able to go overseas for hands-on learning. Building a support team of financial and prayer partners was their first step to trusting God and seeing Him faithfully provide for their needs. All throughout the two weeks in Poland, the team met each night to debrief, talk about their experience, and share what God and His Word were teaching them.

Learning, Serving, and Growing in Gdansk

The students were involved in leading worship for a new evangelical church that meets in a business center. They each gave their testimonies four times throughout the trip, sharing about themselves and how God has been at work in their lives. Much of the trip was about learning from the Avant missionaries in Gdansk, Poland. They were able to hear how God called these families to serve and how it’d been going for the past ten years. There was story after story of God at work in Poland and lives being changed. It hasn’t always been easy, but the testimonies showed God’s sovereignty and grace, and a city that once had seven churches now has 25! (Still way too few for a city with a population of 477,000.)

The team participated in outreaches, Polish lessons, Sunday services, prayer meetings, Bible studies, church picnics, and bike rides. For two weeks we got to know the wonderful people involved in the church plants! Each of the students commented on how impressed they were with how much each member of the church gives of their time, energy, and resources to help support the work of the church. Going home to Canada, the team expressed a desire to be more involved in their own churches and to share ideas with them from the team in Poland, like outreaches in the park with famous art or an outreach at the mall.

Impact and Vision for the Future

I saw firsthand the shaping and sanctifying work in each one of the young adults on our vision trip. They were in a new country with a new language and out of their comfort zones, and they had to rely on God and trust Him in daily tasks. Having the debrief and team experience helped each of them process and pray for one another. I believe this trip was lifechanging for each one of us who went to Poland. One student, Ben, shared how God used the trip to confirm for him a calling and desire to become a missionary. He had been praying and seeking God’s will, and through the trip and conversations with the missionaries and myself, he came home with a desire to study intercultural studies and pursue missions. Praise God!

These trips have a focus on the connection between those currently serving on the field and those considering entering full-time ministry. They help expose new opportunities and needs of missions so people can catch the vision and become active in their role in the Great Commission. It’s important to have these opportunities for the next generation, to give them a chance to see how God is working through His people to reach the unreached. This is at the heart of Avant, and this is why we go.

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