In the Great Commission, Jesus told His disciples
to share the Gospel of salvation beginning
with Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and then the
uttermost parts of the world. We can’t go to
the nations unless we’re willing to go to our
own neighborhoods.
Pastor
Jack Graham
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“There’s an old motto for missions that says,
‘The light that shines the furthest shines the
brightest at home,’” Pastor Graham said.
“So, with ever-expanding concentric circles
of influence, we’re to take the message of the
Good News to the people closest to us first,
and then to the regions beyond, and ultimately,
to the ends of the earth.”
Global Outreach Minister Mike Fechner says
missions work truly is about passion.
“Our desire is to make God’s name great
through the transformation of souls and societies
one person and one place at a time.” Mike
said. “We are praying for people to be raised
up by God with a passion for others to know
Christ and His compassion whether in their offices,
communities or around the world.”
Missions work, Pastor Graham said, can be as
simple as inviting a friend to church.
“Recent studies indicate that 85 percent of the
people who are invited to church by a friend
will attend that church,” he noted. “You may
not be able to go around the world, but you
can go across the street or across the hall at
the office.”
Last year, more than 1,200 people were baptized
at Prestonwood. Many of those were invited
by friends. Imagine, Pastor Graham says,
if everyone at Prestonwood invited someone.
“The heart for people everywhere begins
when we pray,” he said. “When we pray and
seek Him, He will always lead us to others who
need the Lord.”
Through the Prestonwood family’s faithful giving,
we are able to reach out to those He leads
us to—whether through the outreach ministries
of City Missions, or H.I.S. BridgeBuilders,
or a partnership with a church in Boston or
New Orleans, or through ministries working in
places such as the Amazon and the Serengeti.
Prestonwood has been blessed to touch the
lives of more than 100,000.
“When you have an evangelistic heart and
when the church is committed to the Great
Commission,” Pastor Graham said, “you raise up
people who want to take it to the limits, and
beyond the limits, to take it to the world.”
In the following pages, you will read about
Prestonwood members whose lives have
forever been changed by obeying God’s
command. It is our hope that, as you read
these stories of obedience, you will ask God to
use you in similar ways to proclaim Christ—not
only to your neighbors, but to the nations.
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