Living Out Missions in a New Era

May 16, 2025

The Call Still Stands: Living Out Missions in a New Era

You’ve heard it said:
"Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations."
Maybe that verse has followed you around—on campus, during prayer nights, late at night when you ask God if He’s calling you to something more.

If you’ve wondered whether you’re called to missions, the answer might be yes.
But here’s what you may not have heard:
The way we live out that call is changing—and it’s time we caught up.

A New Way Forward—Same Mission, Same Call

For generations, the default assumption was: a calling to missions meant going overseas. But today, global missions is at a turning point.

According to the State of the Great Commission Report, the most urgent need is no longer just about sending Western missionaries abroad—it’s about empowering national believers who already live among the unreached to lead the mission themselves.

They speak the language.
They understand the culture.
They know the cost.
They’re already there.

And they’re ready now.

This is not a downgrade. It’s not a detour.
It’s a strategic, Spirit-led shift in how we fulfill the same, sacred calling.

The Call to Missions Is Still Yours

If you're a college student wondering what it means to respond to God’s call to the nations—this moment offers more possibility, not less.

In fact, this strategy may be the most faithful and fruitful way to invest your life in missions today.

What Living Out This Call Can Look Like

1. Multiply Others—Not Just Yourself

This is a generation that doesn’t just go—it sends.
You can be a mobilizer. A strategist. A disciple-maker behind the scenes who lifts up indigenous leaders and launches churches from within the culture.

You don't have to be in the spotlight to be on mission.

2. Reach the Nations Among You

There are unreached people on your campus. In your city.
Immigrants, refugees, and international students from places where access to the gospel is limited or illegal.

What if you discipled someone here—who carried Jesus there?

This is not a consolation prize.
It’s one of the most strategic frontiers of missions today.

3. Use Your Career Like a Passport

Your degree is more than preparation for a paycheck—it’s preparation for purpose.

  • Study business? Build sustainable ventures that fund local church planters.

  • In healthcare? Equip Christian providers in underserved communities.

  • In media or tech? Amplify the stories and voices of national believers.

Your career can be your mission strategy.

4. Invest in National Church Planters

Support someone already positioned to reach an unreached village or urban center.
The cost is low. The impact is high.
And the timeline? It’s immediate.

You can be part of expanding the Church—without ever applying for a visa.

5. Start Where You Are

Gather friends to pray for unreached people groups.
Start a monthly giving circle to sponsor gospel workers.
Use your influence to bring others into the story.

You don’t have to wait until you “figure out your calling.”
This is your calling. Right here. Right now.

Missions is Shifting. The Call Hasn’t.

This isn’t a watered-down version of missionary life.
It’s a smarter, faster, and deeply faithful way to live it—rooted in humility, collaboration, and the conviction that the harvest is ready.

At There and Now, we believe this generation can finish what others began—not by replacing the old, but by building on it with strategy, wisdom, and radical obedience.

The call to missions is still yours.
Only now, it comes with a new kind of map.

Ready to Say Yes?

thereandnow.org

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