NMI page in the Upstate New Yorker
A note from your president …Welcome to the Nazarene Missions International page for the Upstate New York District Church of the Nazarene! I hope you find the information here helpful, inspiring and challenging.
Our purpose as the Upstate New York NMI is, in a nutshell, to mobilize the church in mission. We are here to help you do that as best we can. In time there will be an enormous volume of resources on this web site. In the meantime, I want to introduce you to our theme for the quadrennium covering the years 2005-2009. “The Cross – Seize It! Share It!”
There is much that could be said about such a theme, but let me just highlight what I believe is the most critical focus for us as a district at this point. It’s the “seize it” part. Why is that so critical? It speaks of the ownership of the mission.
I live in Syracuse and I see on occasion the billboards for the Rescue Mission that emphasize that “It’s my mission!” The Rescue Mission understands that, if needy people are going to be reached by the Rescue Mission, it’s going to take more than the people who work there!
I can assure you that the Upstate New York NMI and our mission efforts as a whole will be nothing more than lofty ideas, heart-tugging emotion and guilt-laden giving unless we – all of us – take ownership of the purpose of the cross of Jesus Christ. It will take all of us owning the mission to see anything significant accomplished.
What does ownership look like? That’s a difficult question, but I know that it will involve our time, our finances, our imagination, our physical effort and labor … it’s going to take more than a missions lesson on a Wednesday night. It’s going to take common ordinary people who will catch a vision for making a difference in your world and take the initiative to LIVE missions lessons on Saturday afternoon, or Monday night, or Thursday morning, or …
Where can you make a difference? Where can you “Seize the Cross”?
Perhaps the better question is, “Where will you make a difference?”
I look forward to hearing your stories of seizing the cross, sharing the cross, and the difference it’s making in your community, then in our great state of New York, then in our nation and around the world!
Laboring together!
Larry Lain
Upstate New York District NMI President