Anna Coulter is from Carrickfergus. The entirety of the greater Carrickfergus area only measures 65 acres. Many of you will either live on or have known farms that are bigger! Yet Anna recently took part in some training with RP Global Missions which has given her a vision much greater than just the town she grew up in. We asked her to tell us more:
Until recently, the “global Christian lifestyle” wasn’t a familiar concept to me. But now, having studied how deeply rooted this concept is in Scripture, I cannot ignore God’s desire for me to adopt this lifestyle. I grasped this concept through RPGM Explore, the training course RP Missions has developed to aid us in uncovering God’s global vision.
God’s Vision: Every Nation, Every Language, Every Tribe
As a child, I had learnt that the Israelites were to be a light to the nations. But I had never comprehended that everything that occurs in the Old Testament advances God’s global vision. God has predestined people from every nation, every language, every tribe and every people, and Christ will not come again until this has been accomplished.
We know the church is multicultural, but just consider for a moment that every language spoken in every part of Africa will be represented in Heaven! Isn’t that so exciting?!
Introducing RPGM Explore
In May 2021, a group of us worked through this RP Missions training. In seven lessons, we looked at seven different areas of mission, including “welcoming” – when God brings the nations to us and calls us to welcome them into the church (e.g. university students studying in our town or city). Before the training, “welcoming” had never occurred to me as being part of mission work.
Each lesson begins with statistics, which I found beneficial in enabling me to accurately perceive the spiritual state of our world before exploring the topic further. Next, there is a short article and discussion questions through which we searched the Scriptures and personally applied the lesson.
For each lesson, you work privately through the given lesson over a fortnight and then meet with your cohort online to discuss the lesson. These times of discussion were so beneficial.
What Does the Lifestyle of a Global Christian Look Like?
My cohort was so diverse – with a grandma, a mother homeschooling her youngest, a recent college graduate, and a young married woman. Each of us had different experiences in life, church, and mission, and sharing these was so profitable.
As we chatted through our circumstances and mission opportunities, I was challenged to think of further ways that I could implement what we were learning. Could I do what some of these other ladies had done? Did I have similar opportunities?
I want to share some conversations that went on within my cohort. The homeschooling mother shared how her family had previously hosted international students in their home – this was not possible for them to do at present but she and her husband were considering alternate ways they could welcome the nations, or the possibility of them partaking in a short-term mission trip.
The discussions around welcoming challenged the young married woman about the international students in her city; subsequently, she and her husband were seeking how they could welcome and share God’s glory with the representatives of the nations in their city.
During the lesson on “sending,” we explored the numerous ways we can “send” missionaries: subscribing to their prayer letters, writing letters of encouragement, educating others about specific mission works, to name a few. Additionally, our discussions challenged me as to how little I supported missions financially.
Example: Do I Need it, or Is it an “Extra”?
The short article shared an anecdote of a young woman who kept track of her extras and gave the same amount to missions. Let me explain: I consider extras to be things I don’t need but I have treated myself to, such as a new item of clothing, that “dress, was on sale, but I didn’t need it” so I consider that an extra; or going out for dinner; or, buying myself a coffee. Things on which I would not spend money if I was being really careful. So I have begun keeping a record of the money I spend and every couple of months I total it up and match that amount, giving it to mission.
The principle goes that if I cannot financially afford to match my extra then I should forego the extra.
I have been keeping a record since the beginning of September, and when I totaled it up at the end of December I was excited, knowing the money I was sending would support a mission work dear to me, and that it would aid the furtherance of God’s kingdom.
At 21 years of age, I could procrastinate about supporting missions financially, or be indecisive about how much to give, but by building this approach into my life, I am taking a step in adopting a global Christian lifestyle.
We Are All Called to be Global Christians
You’re likely to be familiar with Revelation 7:9-11, “a great multitude…from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages”, as I was before I took the training; however, through the course we studied, I discovered this vision of our Almighty God is found in Genesis right through to Revelation.
In this short account, I’ve only shared snippets of how I and those in my cohort are beginning to capture God’s vision and live it out by adopting a global Christian lifestyle. I hope, however, I have been able to convey my passion to adopt further this lifestyle and to share God’s vision, and that I have encouraged you to consider joining us on this journey.
The diverse make-up of my cohort shows us that whatever stage of life we are at, whatever experiences we have had or the mission opportunities we seek, there is so much we can share, and learn as we seek to discern how God calls each of us to adopt a global Christian lifestyle.
Anna Coulter works in bakery in Northern Ireland making deserts and traybakes (a British idea you will have to look up). Anna’s father pastors the RPCI church in Enniskillen N. Ireland. Anna has served as an RP Missions team leader in the past and is co-leading our first RP Missions Team Leadership Seminar.
NB: RPGM Explore is required for all participants of RP Missions trips. It is designed to create the life long vision for missions that we hope our will be fostered during participants trips around the world. We also welcome anyone to take this course whether they are planning to go on a trip or not. For more information and pricing, please email info@rpmissions.org. You will hear back from either Keith Mann or Mikayla Covington.
