Missions: The Going
/“...the mission (attaining unto the resurrection of the dead) will cost you”
I was asked to write a blog post about my transition from MBT to Living Faith Boston. To be honest with you, this request was not immediately met with my joy or excitement to share. This transition in my life has been hard, in all the same ways that being made conformed to the image of Christ is hard. The goal, the prize, in a believer’s life is to know Christ and be conformed to his image, right? See Paul’s explanation in Philippians 3:8-11:
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
This is the passage we all memorize and love to quote. But, have you really thought about what Paul is saying? Suffering the loss of all things? Knowing the fellowship of his sufferings? Being made conformable unto his death? These things, when you really consider them, mean the mission (attaining unto the resurrection of the dead) will cost you: suffering loss of everything, suffering in the same ways Christ suffered, and ultimately death to self or even physical death!
Wow, I’m a real downer, aren’t I? I don’t mean to discourage those prayerfully preparing to be a part of the next MBT church plant. I mean to do quite the opposite. I pray that as you read, you’ll see that the prize is worth it. I encourage you to continue preparing for what God has in store as you seek to do his mission.
“I knew that this was the field I was supposed to buy.”
Transition Part 1: My Preparation.
My transition to Boston as part of a church planting team began with several years of preparation before Boston was even a thought. This season of preparation was born out of a desire and burden for missions.
Many of you have heard the phrase “line of demarcation” from the pulpit. This point in my life, the point where I was all in and ready to tell God “here am I, send me” was the day of my grandma’s funeral. You see, she and my grandpa were missionaries to Ethiopia. Growing up, as I heard all their stories from the field, witnessed the fruit from their lives, and saw my grandma’s deep love for God as her closest friend, I wanted that. I also grew up with parents that took us to missions conferences, hosted missionaries, and led countless prayer team meetings and Bible studies in our home. People’s lives were being changed and God was doing a work, and I wanted to be a part of that!
My tipping point or “line of demarcation” came after my grandma’s funeral during a conversation with my grandpa. He told me that he and my grandma had been praying for someone from our family to be sent to the mission field. That day was when I genuinely started asking God to let me be the answer to their prayers. That prayer led me to start preparing to go for if and when the time came that God would call me.
The following summer after my grandma’s death was when I went on my first missions trip outside of the states to Taiwan. After that trip was the first time I prayed about moving to a specific place to minister to a specific people. I was in no way prepared to go at that time, but God used that to show me how to consider a field. If I had never genuinely prayed and considered a mission field, then I never would have bought one. Some other fields that I had considered before Boston included Tampa and Lee’s Summit, but as much as I wanted to go labor together with Lucy and Astrid or Caroline, God kept saying wait, you need to keep preparing.
Proverbs 31:16 “She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.”
At the same time I was considering some of these fields, God was showing me the need for practical and spiritual preparation. I took Jeff Bartell’s Missions class in LFBI spring of 2016. God greatly used this class to teach me some ways to prepare:
Get out of debt. This freed me up a lot. Once my student loans were paid off, I was more free to go on missions trips and ultimately to be able to move to one of the most expensive cities to live in (Boston).
General “adulting.” It was good for me to learn how to pay rent, pay utilities, get along with various roommates, do my taxes, learn how to be hospitable in my own house, etc.
Be a part of several different serving ministries in your church. This was more helpful than I knew at the time. I served in kidtown, then altar ministry, then A/V, and shadowed some other ministries along the way. Honestly, I wish I would’ve gotten experience in more ministries now that I look back.
Feed the flock where you’re at (disciple and lead Bible studies). Learn the Bible and take LFBI classes. God used small group Bible studies to model church planting to me. The things I learned from Bible study splits were very useful when the time came to split off from MBT.
Alongside some of these ways to prepare, God was also using things like the Blueprint (Titus 2) study and Deb’s Emotions Study to grow me in sober-mindedness and in learning how to deal with my emotions biblically. I don’t know how to express this enough, but if you are a woman considering the field, these two studies are crucial. Since moving, I’ve needed to remind myself of these lessons several times. Satan will attack your emotions. Just sayin’.
From 2016 to 2019, during each Mission Focus, it seemed like the Lord was asking me if I was truly willing to go if he called. I had gone into each conference praying “here am I, send me” but the thing that I kept hearing in return was “but would you really give this up?” God challenged me with considering things like actually leaving my parents in their old age and not being there to take care of them, giving up being able to see my nephews grow up, leaving the wonderful fellowship and praise at MBT, leaving the close friendships I had made in my years in C&YA, and giving up my Bible study. God was bringing me to a point of willingness. That part of the preparation was the hardest.
Luke 9:57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
I knew God wanted me to consider going with Mike to Boston during Mission Focus the year before being sent out. The following season included lots of praying, seeking God in his word, conversations with leaders and pastors, and attending missions prep dinners once a month. To my surprise, the pastors quickly gave me the green light. However, in my quiet times, I pulled a lot of “Gideon moments” asking God for the dew on the fleece but not the grass and then on the grass but not the fleece (Judges 6). I think the Lord got sick of hearing it. But finally one day in my quiet time, there was complete peace as I read Ruth 2. I knew that this was the field I was supposed to buy.
“I have to fully depend on God for him to do anything through me.”
Transition Part 2: Being Sent.
The year leading up to actually going to Boston is what I like to call the year of “the great smackdown.” It’s the best way I can think to describe what God was doing in my life. I had been asked to transition out of C&YA and into Mike’s adult fellowship about six months before being sent. When Brandon told me the timeframe of when that transition was to take place, I cried. The majority of my spiritual growth had been in C&YA and the thought of leaving my Bible study girls and disciples was just so sad. I was nervous to go into a class that ministered to a completely different age group than I was used to.
God used that season of stripping me of comforts I had in C&YA to reveal wrong thought patterns I had developed, to ask me to deal with past sins that had popped up again, and make sure I knew I needed to die to self daily. God was showing me I have no righteousness of my own and that I am absolutely worthless in my flesh. It was a very humbling year, and I am so thankful for that. It led me to better understand I have to fully depend on God for him to do anything through me.
God also used something I heard from Andrew Ong during that time in regards to ministry. He said, “Depend on God, not methods because methods change.” God was showing me that I had grown a dependence on the methods I learned in C&YA over the years. Ministering to adults was different. They have different struggles, burdens, schedules, and prayer requests. God stretched me a lot and taught me through the examples of women like Meredith and Rebecca in the class on how to minister to those I had no experience ministering to.
When the time came to leave, it got real. I sold my car, I got rid of a lot of belongings, and I finally started to understand a little of what Paul meant when he talked about suffering loss. I had to actually leave all the things God had challenged me to be willing to leave. I wept as I hugged my parents, my friends, my siblings, and my grandma. I cried after my last service at MBT. There was a season of loss at first (and from time to time I find myself still grieving that loss). I am comforted, however, in being surrounded by a team that has gone through the same loss and yet is full of faith that God sent us here.
Brandon told me before I left, “Be more excited about the ministry that’s ahead than about the ministry you’re leaving behind.” That has stuck with me and has been a huge encouragement since moving to Boston.
“The hardest parts of a transition to Boston have driven me to know Christ deeper”
Transition Part 3: On the Field in Boston.
I officially moved to Boston (more specifically, into the Reneau’s basement) the first week of June 2020. That month, the Reneau’s and I started going on prayer walks around the neighborhood and church building. The following month we began regular evangelism outings and a Creation to Christ Bible study at the church. It was evident real quick that when your church is three adults total you are simultaneously the A/V team, hospitality team, website design team, social media team, invitation card making team, kidtown team, cleaning team, praise team, etc. it is all hands on deck! It was a huge relief the day we had two more families and could make a “ministry rotation.” Wow, that phrase is like a drink of cold water… “ministry rotation!”
There have been struggles and frustrations since moving to Boston, but all the while God is doing a mighty work here. In the short time I’ve lived in Boston, our church has seen three salvations, four discipleship pairings (potentially more in the near future), two decisions to follow the Lord in baptism, and several people that have visited or heard the gospel. There are students from Boston University that have started regularly attending church which gets me all excited for the thought of some sort of C&YA ministry in the future. God is building his church here! This brings me back to Philippians 3:8-11:
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
Praise God! The hardest parts of a transition to Boston have driven me to know Christ deeper, helped conform me to his image, and ultimately will lead to more fruit here. The giving up of all things is worth it for the sake of knowing Christ and being a part of his mission.
Brooke Sidebottom is a key member of the Living Faith Boston church plant and serves there in various ways, including as a bible study leader and a member of the praise team.