“See it. Say it. Sorted.”

Many of us know one of the most common phrases heard in the underground of London is “Mind The Gap”. Do you know what the second most common phrase is?

“See it. Say it. Sorted.”

If you’re from London, you most likely hear this phrase at least 5 times a day. If you’re not from London, let me explain: When you board a train in the underground, after hearing “Mind The Gap”, this second message is announced to ask passengers who made it onto the train to help keep themselves and others safe by reporting things that seem unusual or out of place. If you see something, and you say it, security will sort it. The idea is to encourage and call on passengers to be their eyes and ears. It reminded me of how we as Christians should be His hands and feet. We should see what God has done, say our testimonies proclaiming that, and leave it up to God to sort out and transform lives. The first step is to mind the gap, but after bridging that gap, we are called to acknowledge that something is unusual and out of place in this world, and we are called to say something about it and to trust that God will sort it. The Mission Force 2023 team can tell you from our recent mission trip to London this past August that after riding on the train multiple times a day, you become somewhat numb to the repeated message. Sometimes distractions like other people, listening to music, or talking actually make you ignore the message altogether. What a reminder that is to us as believers to maintain the urgency of sharing the Gospel and to never get distracted or grow numb to The Great Commission - no matter how many times we’ve heard it.

Making Icons Truly Iconic

What do you think of when I say “London”? Maybe Big Ben, The London Eye, or Mind the Gap in the underground. You think of icons. The definition of an icon is something that is widely admired, especially for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere. Mission Force 2023 explored what it would look like to make an icon truly iconic. And what better way to do that than to connect them to God’s Word. One of the days of our trip, the leaders left early and texted the team a “scavenger hunt” list of London icons for them to find their way to. When the teams arrived, one of our leaders would present on how we could connect the icon to a Gospel truth. Whether that be guarding your heart like the Tower of London (Proverbs 4:23), knowing you are a child of the King like Buckingham Palace (1 Peter 2:9), or how to be faithful to God’s timing like Big Ben (Habakkuk 23), it was very impactful to visualize and bring to life what God’s Word says. It also showed us that we can communicate and connect the Gospel using everyday places and things. So the next time you drive by the Citgo sign in Boston, maybe talk about how to “fuel” your faith. Or the next time you are driving through Vermont, remember He is Lord of the mountains and valleys. As I said before, an icon is something that is widely admired for having a great influence and significance. Let’s make God’s Word iconic in New England.

A Higher Calling On The High Street

Let me set the scene: you’ve just been a part of a 4-hour training session about street evangelism and you’re told to put on a shirt with the words “WHO IS JESUS” written across the front and you’re handed cards that also say “Who Is Jesus” on them. You’re told to go out on the High Street (main street) and start asking people that question. What’s your response? Well, the Mission Force team this year said “let’s do it”. The result? Gospel conversations, a broadened worldview, some rejections, and an increased boldness to continue to be a faithful witness. Our team partnered with some amazing people from The Welling Church who taught us that the methods of evangelism have to change in order to keep the mission alive. Their method is to get right to the point and ask people who Jesus is within the first five minutes of the conversation because that is ultimately the most important question we can all ask ourselves and others. When we overcome the fears of rejection, incompetence, abandonment, failure, and our own safety, we become available to fully being used by God for evangelism. In the words of a known atheist Penn Jillette, “How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”. It’s a challenging and convicting question, but we learned from the Welling Church that evangelism is worship and we have to put ourselves aside if we are going to reach others for Christ.

Bringing Jesus To The Table

Perhaps someone on the High Street is asked “Who is Jesus” by someone in a blue shirt and they say I’m not interested in talking to you about that. They keep walking until they reach their destination, Kahaila Cafe, their go-to coffee spot because the baristas there are always the friendliest. They greet the barista who they see everyday, order their usual coffee, and sit down on one of the couches. When the barista brings their coffee over, they decide to ask that barista that they see everyday why they are so happy all the time. The barista sits down and chats with them about their faith and at the end of the conversation, invites them to a worship experience at the coffee shop happening Wednesday night. What just happened? They brought Jesus to the table. This was another method of evangelism that our team learned in London: a coffee shop ministry that stays open on Sunday mornings and is reaching people who might never walk through the doors of a church building. It’s meeting people where they are at and being that consistent light in the midst of darkness.

The Harvest Season Is Here

Mission Force returned to “The Living Room Club” this year to meet with Barney, a ministry leader in London who encourages a relational approach to outreach. Workers of the cafe, who are also believers, work half of the week as baristas and the other half of the week is spent leading interest groups like photography classes, soccer clubs, and ESL courses. From there, they build relationships and over time Gospel conversations and invitations to church just naturally happen. This year when we met with Barney, he challenged us from Matthew 9:37 and talked about the word “worker” that is used in that passage. The way we go from being a disciple (follower) of Jesus to a worker of the abundant harvest is by taking responsibility for people and praying to the Lord of the harvest to make more workers of the harvest. It means figuring out where your “field” is and committing to work hard in bringing the people in your field to Christ. (Matthew937 also happened to be the Wi-Fi password at the place where our team stayed all week).

2023 marked the second year of Mission Force and the second time returning to London. This year’s program included 14 young adult ministry leaders representing 9 different churches from across New England. We want to thank the BCNE and all the churches represented who supported and made it possible for us to invest in these young adults in this way. Join us in praying that they will apply what they have learned through the program and bring it to their ministries back home. Also pray as we continue the Mission Force program in 2024. Pray that this will be a program that continues to turn the mission field of New England into a Mission Force of believers through young adult ministry leaders. Pray that young adult ministry leaders will continue setting an example for others in faith, love, and purity as they strive to be faithful workers of the harvest.

Charlotte Mullane serves as the Partnership Coordinator and Admin Assistant at Hope Chapel in Sterling, MA.