by Darlene Cunningham
What have been keys for you in leaving a legacy for the next generations of your own family, and also in the mission?
How can we be intentional about it?
Loren and I have been particularly blessed to have generations before us that loved God and passed on that love for God to us.
Each generation knowing that they were a part of a team – never feeling like it was the parents’ ministry, but the child knowing it was their ministry as well.
This is reflected in Value #15 for us as a mission.
15. Value families
YWAM affirms the importance of families serving God together in missions, not just the father and/or mother. We encourage the development of strong and healthy family units, with each member sharing the call to missions and contributing their gifts in unique and complementary ways.
For our own family, our children prayed for their daddy when they were young, laying hands on him when he went out as THEIR missionary. They each went on mission trips, participated with us as a family, and then went out in missions on their own. Always, we were looking to include them in the call…observing how THEIR individual gifts could be matched with specific opportunities, which both affirmed the gift, and helped to move them forward in their own call.
We now have grandchildren, and as we write this, we are preparing for missions trip with our children and grandchildren – that they may have first-hand involvement in practising Mercy Ministries, as well as sharing the Gospel.
Blessings,
Darlene
Watch Darlene speaking about family in missions: