Waiting to Take the Field

You heard about The Dugout in our services a couple of weeks ago. Here is some more information about them and how you can pray!
 
In baseball lingo, a dugout is a covered shelter at the side of the baseball field where players and coaches sit when they are not on the field. When the players leave the dugout and “take the field,” they go out as a team to their designated positions. If it is not clear, a player may ask the coach, “Where do you want me to go?” 
 
As followers of Jesus at CFC, our vision statement means that we are also called to “take the field,” and that field is the mission field. When we do, we follow the pattern given to us by the early Church, who prayerfully sent the first missionaries (Cf. Acts 13:1-4). They were called to be Jesus’s witnesses “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The fact that the Church sent out cross-cultural witnesses suggests that each one of us also has an important position to play on the team. We are on the same mission together!
 
When it comes to potential missionaries in our midst at CFC, we want to identify them, pray for them, and develop them. At CFC, we are doing that through a small group of young adults called The Dugout who are waiting to take the field. They are preparing to be career missionaries sent out from CFC, as the Lord leads, within the next five years. This group is led by a family who was a part of The Dugout at CFC many years ago, and they became career missionaries when they were a young couple. They knew how helpful The Dugout was for them, and they wanted to help prepare others to be sent (cf. John 20:21).
 
Here is how we are preparing the members of The Dugout:

• They get encouragement in personal evangelism and discipleship efforts with those in their daily lives.
• They share about how they have recently seen evidence that God is at work around them and among those they are seeking to share the gospel with.
• They get global missions-specific training and education from a variety of speakers.

 
How can you as a CFC family member respond to this and play your position on the field? The Lord told His people to “pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields” (Matthew 9:38). In other words, Jesus said to pray for more people to take the field! 
 

• Pray for The Dugout to take the field in His timing, in His way, and in His fields.
• Pray with others about The Dugout and our global staff and partners at CFC on Sundays from 9:15-10:30 AM. Drop in and stay as long as your time allows. This prayer group meets in the Prayer Room, which is at the end of the hallway on the left side of the Worship Center near Entrance B.
• Pick up a Global Staff handout at The Center or in the Prayer Room. It will help you remember to pray on your own or with your family or small group for our homegrown missionaries. While we support a number of other global partners, this is a list specifically of those who were homegrown on the soil of our CFC Family. 

Through your prayers for more workers to be sent, you are playing an indispensable role in furthering God’s work through “the next shift” of those committed to the global work of the Lord.
 
If you want to watch a short video we created and showed in our services a couple of weeks ago, CLICK HERE. 
 
We look forward to being with you Sunday! Also, please reach out if you need anything from our staff or elders!