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Your small church can be part of making a global impact by hosting your own missions festival. This festival, which runs from a Friday night through a Sunday morning, does not require a huge investment of time, but can make a huge investment in eternity!!
The Great Commission, Jesus’ last command before He returned to heaven. He invites us to partner with Him to share the Good News with all nations!
Start Planning Your Small Church Missions Festival
By hosting this event, full of fun and engaging activities, you give opportunities to hear powerful testimonies and stories of transformation and a chance to celebrate God’s power worldwide! Your church can help to share the gospel to the regions beyond and more!
Who doesn’t want to be a part of that? I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to get started!
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NLT
Step One – About Your Missionary Speaker
Finding A Speaker & A Date
You may need to plan your date around your speaker. Some missionaries are only available in certain seasons, so work together to find a suitable time for all of you.
If you are in a denomination, you may have a specific missionary assigned to speak at your church and at a specific time. If so, plug them in for a missions festival, even if it’s not your usual way of hosting!
Since this is a weekend festival, Friday night through Sunday morning, be careful when choosing which weekend. Be practical, don’t make it the weekend before school starts, or schedule it at a time when other big events are happening, like a local festival, a holiday, etc.
To find a speaker, check with your church family. Perhaps someone has a connection with a missionary or even a relative on the field.
Speak to other churches in your area that may have a missionary coming in for a specific date. Perhaps you could extend their stay and have them come to your church while they are in the area.
Go online and check with independent evangelical missions-based organizations and see if they have a missionary or a representative available in your area to speak.
When You Don’t Have A Speaker
Remember, in this digital age in which we live, you can be creative with your missionary guests. What about hosting a virtual conference for the speaking portions?
If you can’t have an in-person speaker, ask your speaker to provide a video link of a ‘typical day in the life of a missionary’ filmed with just their cell phone! This is a great way for your church to experience the field and gain a greater understanding of what your missionary deals with on a day-to-day basis. Show small segments during different parts of your festival.
Consider setting up a Skype or Zoom call with a missionary for your Sunday morning segment if time zones allow. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box!
Communicate To Set Up For Success
Once you have found your speaker, the most important thing to remember is to communicate. COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE.
It is vital for your festival’s success that you and your guest(s) keep informed. Ensure the missionary knows everything you expect of them for your festival as soon as possible. Send them a copy of your schedule for the weekend.
Get their traveling plans to know when and where to expect them and if transportation is needed.
Let your guest know how much time they have for presentations, and if there will be a question & answer time, etc. Inform them of the audience to whom they will speak: men, women, teenagers or children, or the whole church family.
Ask about any technological needs they may have. Give them space, if they would like, to have a display about their field and put out any literature they may have to give away. Ask for any digital links for websites or emails to be displayed on your screen during the service.
Be respectful and aware that some missionaries must be very careful about broadcasting any of their presentations online, as they work in closed-access countries. Therefore, before your festival, make sure that your congregation is also aware of what can and can not be posted or shared online.
Be A Great Host
Discuss with your guest if they will need housing accommodations. Find out if they prefer to stay with a host family or would like to be treated to a weekend stay in a hotel (if you have one near your church).
Consider building some downtime for your guest so they can be refreshed. Ask them if there is a fun activity they would like to do while they are there.
Make sure certain meals are provided throughout the weekend. When meals are not part of the church gatherings, have different families in your church volunteer to host your guests or take them out to eat. Always communicate with your missionary for special dietary needs, likes, or dislikes.
Step Two – Promote Your Weekend
Get your small church excited about your Missions Festival. Start your promotion at least one month in advance. Give some teasers in your morning announcements. Be creative in the way you promote your event! Check out this article from our blog for some creative ideas.
Post on your social media sites and email schedules and reminders. Consider doing a snail mail letter. People really respond when they see you have taken the time to invite them to come!
Step Three – Make A Schedule
Creating a schedule is a valuable tool to help your small church missions festival run smoothly. Putting a plan in place helps coordinate activities, so they don’t overlap. Your Missions Festival schedule is essential for communication with your missionary, speakers, volunteers, and attendees. This schedule can help avoid conflicts with people’s schedules.
- Friday Night – Kick Off
Make it fun, intergenerational, and interactive!
- Saturday – A Day For Making Connections
Plan your Saturday with events committed to having times of more intimate discussions with your guest(s). This is a great time to have questions and answers. These times really facilitate a personal connection with your missionary, which will, in turn, result in remembering to pray and support them.
- Sunday Service – Emphasize Missions
Add new elements to your Sunday worship service and increase missions awareness in your small church.
Small Church Ideas For Missions Festival Events
Add one or more of these creative ideas to your Missions Festival schedule.
‘POP’ Quiz Game & Pop-Themed Prizes
This is perfect for a Friday night event. Purchase “POP” themed prizes for this game, such as soda pop, popcorn, lollipops, fidget pop toys, etc.
Ahead of time, ask your missionary some personal questions, such as where they were born, where they met their spouse, hobbies, favorite food, etc. Then do some online research about the field where they serve, just factoids.
Take the questions and answers you found and make a study sheet you can hand out to your church family to prepare for the game.
Make a simple game board; foam core works well. Attach balloons with strips of paper inside with a question written on them.
To play the game, ask your pastor to pop a balloon and read a question to play the game. The first person to answer wins a prize.
This game is a fun way for your church family to get to know the missionary and their field.
Host A Missions Theme Talk Show
Try a casual approach to your first night by hosting a TV-style talk show with your missionary as the special guest. Set your stage like a studio. Schedule built-in ‘commercial breaks,’ and ask your young people to make up a church or mission-themed product to ‘sell.’
This is a fun way to engage all ages and learn what your missionary is doing to impact their field for Jesus!
Friday Night Food & Refreshments
Choose one or do both:
- Have a light soup & sandwich meal before you start.
- Do a dessert night after service.
Recruit a family or a pair of church friends to take on the hospitality of planning and serving food and refreshments for your Friday night service.
Small Group Saturday Men’s Breakfast
This is a great time to have questions and answers. This breakfast can really help facilitate a personal connection with your missionary.
Host A Ladies’ Tea On Saturday Afternoon
This allows for a time to focus on the women of the field and personal needs of your missionary. If your missionary is a single man, do a family-style luncheon instead of tea.
Youth Night With A Missionary
Invite your missionary to a pizza party with your youth. This event gives your young people a chance to really consider God’s calling and what that looks like for individuals.
Plan A Children’s Parade For Sunday Morning
For your ‘Missions Parade,’ ask the children to dress in clothing representing other countries and cultures. Have them march to lively music with signs of the nation they are representing.
Present A History Of Mission Slideshow
Do a slideshow of the history of missions in the country that your missionary is representing. This is a great way to show how God is working!
Receive A Special Offering For Your Missionary
Have a ‘march offering.’ As you collect your special love gift offering for your missionary, have it be a special celebratory offering where children and adults march to a special offering box up front to place their love gifts for the missionary or project you have chosen to support.
Finish Your Service With A Prayer Circle
At the end of the church service, have a special time of blessing and prayer as you surround your guest in the prayer circle.
Celebrate Your Missions Festival With Refreshments
Have a potluck meal together following the service to end your weekend festival. This is a time for celebrating new friendships made!
For a potluck twist, consider hosting an international food feast. Three weeks before your Missions Festival, ask families to sign up to bring different ethnic dishes or foods they will serve at their stations. Decorate each serving station in the colors and flavors of that nation. Guests can participate in sampling foods from multiple cultures. Encourage your families to choose simple ideas, or even prepared foods from a restaurant or a grocery deli. A food fest is a fun and intergenerational way to end your weekend festival.
We realize that many denominations have their own missionaries and perhaps even their own requirements as to how and when they need to host a missions emphasis time. We are not suggesting you replace those standards. Our goal is to encourage small churches, who perhaps have never participated in a missions emphasis before, to try some of these new ideas.
Hosting A Missions Festival Can:
- Help your church become more globally focused on the spread of the Gospel.
- Build excitement about being involved in home missions.
- Engage people to give and be more active in the work of a specific field.
- Possibly be an avenue by which God calls someone to full-time service.
- Bless a missionary with your support, your hospitality, and your love.
As you seek God’s leading in planning your own event, we pray your small church will be impacted, and in turn, you will see the world being impacted as well!
Read More:
Short-Term Missions In Small Churches
3 Core Values For A Successful Event At Your Small Church
Rev. Don is a semi-retired pastor, currently serving at his local church teaching Bible studies, working the sound booth, and helping with special events. Don started serving the Lord in his teens when he was part of a Christian singing group. After high school and marriage, Don felt God’s calling into full-time ministry and began his God-given path to be a pastor. He has been serving in small churches for the last 27 years. Don loves to use creative means to encourage people to deepen their relationship with the Lord and experience true worship in many forms. He’s excited to share what he’s learned with others!
