Editor’s note: This is a first-person story from David Moore about his experience traveling on mission as a family. 

Pictured above: Mission team learns about Shepherd’s Bush area during a prayer walk. Photo by David Moore

What started as a suggestion for a father-son mission trip turned into a full family adventure with all five members of our family serving in London with a team from our church.

Each of us had been on mission trips previously, some individually and some with another family member, but we had not served all together on one. The more we thought about it, prayed about it and discussed it, the more excited we became about doing this together.  It was my wife Beth and I, and our three children, Grayson, 21, Sophie, 20 and Carter, now 18.  

Our church, First Baptist of Ocala, has partnered with Shepherd’s Church in West London for the past two years, sending a team in the summer and a team in the fall. The church plant is located in the Shepherd’s Bush area of London and is pastored by David Seckington.

For this mission, our team of 17 was tasked with canvassing the neighborhood surrounding the White City Community Center, where Shepherd’s Church hosts its service each Sunday, and inviting residents to an American Style Thanksgiving Party and engaging them in gospel conversations.

This mission kept us busy each day, which is really what you want from a mission trip as we go to serve. For this trip we:

• Walked a lot – 8 to 10 miles each day by some estimates. Walking to and from the church, walking door to door, and walking to restaurants, the Tube or subway and more.
• Prayed a lot. We started each workday with prayer, scripture and a devotion. We prayed for those we invited, the church and the community.
• Encouraged a lot. As we each picked a verse from the day’s Proverbs reading, we would ask and encourage each other about it during the day. 
• Invited a lot of people and distributed a lot of invites.
• Served a lot. The day of our event kept us busy from early afternoon to early evening with all the meal prep, room prep, serving and interacting with the guests, and cleanup.
• Laughed a lot. I know this sounds unimportant, but it’s good to laugh and have fun with those you are traveling and serving with. It helps build camaraderie.

THE MISSION EVENT  

On our first workday we met with Pastor Seckington and the missionary couple Cason and Chandler to talk about the week’s project. As we discussed the event, Seckington said they would be excited if 50 people attended the party. This type of event could serve as a great outreach for the young church plant.

We were all excited the night of our party when we had over 100 people join us for this meal! Not only did they get to experience a great American holiday meal with baked ham, roasted chicken, breaded dressing, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole and green beans, but more importantly a gospel presentation. Beth’s recipe for sweet potato casserole – crunchy topping, no marshmallows – was new to many and was an instant favorite with the crowd.

All the guests sat at three long rows of tables that we had set up at the community center. We were so encouraged to see these tables full and guests talking with each other as they enjoyed the meal. It was what we had worked for and prayed for in the days leading up to it.

Our team, which had split into groups of two to go door-to-door canvassing, was excited to see people that night that we had personally invited. What a blessing to see the fruits of our labor.   

“In our area, part of our ministry at this stage is to earn trust. It is a post-Christian culture, where many people think they already know what church is about,” Seckington said. “We are also fairly new in a housing estate that has been around for decades and has numerous long-term residents. Therefore, one big factor is that more people now know who we are and what we are like.

“This event is building on the previous event we did with FBC Ocala, serving hot dogs and showing an England football match. It has also really improved our relationship with the Community Centre where we meet – the difference was very tangible after the event,” he said.

LEARNING THE AREA

On our first workday, Cason led us on a prayer walk through the main business district of the area, with a variety of ethnic shops, markets and restaurants on both sides of the street. London is considered one of the most multicultural cities in the world, a real melting pot of various cultures from all over. This is reflected in the various businesses throughout the city. During our walking tour of Shepherd’s Bush, we stopped at various points and prayed for specific people groups represented in the nearby businesses. This tour would give us an idea of some of the residents we would likely encounter going door to door.

BJ Hurse, pastor for missions at FBC, said London’s rich diversity made it the perfect choice for a mission partnership.

“The nations are descending upon London. When you are attempting to reach and plant a church in London, you are attempting to reach every nation, tribe and tongue,” he said. “London is very much the vision of Revelation 7:9, we just have to be faithful to take the gospel there.”

THE CHURCH PLANT

Hurse said FBC Ocala was excited to be part of London’s rich history of kingdom work.  

“God put London on the hearts of our pastors as we began to pray where we could see churches planted throughout the world.  When you look back at how God has used London throughout church history, it has been a very strategic and important city. It is still an influential city in modern times, but it has turned away from God and is defined by secularism.”

The church already had a connection with London in Scott Belmore, an IMB missionary. Formerly of Alaska, Belmore now ministers to university students in London. As they sought a national church planter from London, Belmore introduced Hurse to Seckington.

“Anna and I were already living here when we felt the Lord call us to plant a new church,” Seckington said of he and his wife. “It seemed the most obvious place to start – we knew the area well, knew there were a few small churches, tens of thousands of residents, huge diversity in nationality and socio-economically, and a great need for Jesus. As we started taking first steps of outreach and prayer, it just became clearer and clearer this was where God wanted us to be.” 

INVITING OTHERS

Doing our door-to-door canvassing, we learned rather quickly that just inviting someone to the event and handing them a flyer was not going to do much to get a conversation going. My youngest son, Carter, and I began asking if they were members of a local church. If they said no, it really gave us an opportunity to talk more about Shepherd’s Church being new and how it was a perfect time to join. On another day, Sophie and I got to pray with a young woman who asked us to pray for peace.

PERFECT TIMING FOR OUR FAMILY

This was the perfect kind of trip for an active family, and with our oldest son, Grayson, graduating from college that semester, it seemed like the timing was also perfect. This marked his third mission trip with our church. As Eddie Gilley, director of the University of Florida’s Baptist College Ministries said in this story, going on mission trips during your college years is the best time to go. Almost half of our group were college age adults.

For Carter, a high school senior, this was his first mission trip outside the United States. He said he enjoyed experiencing a new culture in London and seeing the White City residents gathering at tables during the dinner. “One older guy said he liked getting together with fellow residents because he really didn’t have any other type of community to be a part of,” Carter said. “That made me see how significant our work was there and how important Shepherd’s Church could be for these people”

Hurse said FBC Ocala plans to continue this partnership with Shepherd’s Church.

“God has used and moved in England for centuries and did incredibly important things through people who lived there,” he said. “Our hope would be that God would do the same thing again and impact the world by seeing London transformed and submitted to the lordship of Christ. To see its universities honor him in their education, to see churches revere him in their worship, and to see the people once again focused on His glory and what He’s doing in the world. That’s really our prayer in why we’re involved in church planting in London.”  

TWO TAKEAWAYS

Here are two suggestions for church leaders and individuals interested in upping your game for missions.

More family options: Church leaders, consider adding more opportunities for families to serve together on mission trips. You’re promoting missions and family togetherness. How awesome is that? Not all trips will work for this, but try to have at least one. And hype the family aspect in promoting that trip. Just one trip can forever change a person’s heart for missions.

Take the trip: Parents, take advantage of the mission opportunities your church is offering to make a lasting impact on your children’s hearts for mission. Even if it’s not promoted that way, check out the particulars and see if it will work for your crew. Get your students plugged into your church’s student ministry to take advantage of student missions. If you can’t take all the family, consider doing a parent-child trip. We had two like that on our recent London trip. My family has taken lots of trips and vacations together over the years, but this London trip will always hold a special place in our hearts.

THE END