Greetings to you all. We hope you find some interesting bit of news of our family and what we are up to. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Friday, August 10, 2012

The Vision, Mission, and Goal of the Prodigal Son Project.

Hello again everyone.  We wanted to share something with all of you in hopes that you will let us know what you think either through email or by posting a comment on our blog here.  This vision statement is the result of some recent prayer and words from the Lord regarding our mission that we shared with all of you about three years ago when we came home from Africa.  Well, as we said in an earlier post, we still have the vision for the mission The Prodigal Son Project.  So here is our vision statement.  Please read and tell us what you think.  We are not starting any kind of fund raising at this time, just trying to see what peoples thoughts are.  Thank you.

• The Vision- “My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:31-32

This is the foundation for our mission, the calling back of the prodigal children of God, these wandering backpackers. Many years ago God gave Nate the vision of these backpackers coming to salvation in Jesus and taking the gospel to the world on the trails wherever they might roam. On a few occasions we had the opportunity to share the gospel with some backpackers. While we did not see any accept Christ we saw a willingness to hear the gospel and share about different beliefs. This openness is the key to get into their minds and hearts with the message of Jesus.

• The Mission- The mission of the Prodigal Son Project will be a two step plan. First will be the home side. This plan consists of regular bible study/discussion times during the week in our home with backpackers from around the nearby hostels. This will be done by putting up notices in the local hostels inviting backpackers to our home on certain nights of the week to participate in religious study/discussion. Food will also be provided as a means to draw people in and as a way to show hospitality.
The second step is to reach the backpackers where they are, in the hostels and on the trails. This plan involves three backpacking trips throughout the year. These three trips would fulfill what our Lord commanded by reaching our Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost ends of the Earth.
The first trip would be our family traveling together. This would be primarily a research trip to find new information about hostels and sites of interest to backpackers so we have updated information to share with the backpackers we meet. The idea is to go somewhere close to home and gather this information while also sharing the gospel should the opportunity arise thereby reaching our Judea. The second trip would be primarily to share the gospel so our children can also learn how to take part in the ministry but would also be a bit further abroad. This would mean traveling a farther distance from our home, thereby reaching our Samaria, and staying in hostels for a period of time. The last trip would also be primarily to share the gospel but would be reaching out to other parts of the world such as main land Europe, Asia, and the Middle East for example. Until our children get old enough for such a trip this would be only Nathan traveling alone. This trip would thereby reach the rest of the world.

• The Goal- The goal of the Prodigal Son Project is to reach the Backpacker community with the gospel of Christ making disciples who will then take this same gospel out into the trails and roads they travel thereby spreading the good news of Jesus wherever they go and thus fulfilling the great commission to go into all the world.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this.  Please pray with us about this mission and let us know what you think.  You can also check out our page titled The Prodigal Son Project and watch a short slide show there on backpackers.  You can find the pages on the left hand side of our blog.  Thanks again and God Bless.

2 comments:

  1. This plan looks like it has had some thought put into it. It is more organized than the short DVD production I saw in church. It is definately Bible based in following the command Jesus gave us, which, I confess I'm not totally doing. I would be happy to support such a project and I pray that God will raise up supporters so that this work could take off in these last days. Candy

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  2. Dear Nate and Lia,

    I think you have articulated your vision very well! And, your current work should be getting you in shape for the coming work! We are keeping your family and your missionary work in our prayers! <><

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