Reg Layzelle was a leader in The Latter Rain revival in the 1940s thru 1960s. This revival was a resurgence of the work, gifts, and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Another emphasis was evangelism and missions. As an old man, Reg visited our church in the early 1980s. He made a profound impact upon myself as a newly saved college student. Reg declared, “Mission is the primary purpose of the Church, and the Church is the primary purpose of missions.”
The church is called to preach the gospel to every nation therefore sending and supporting missions is essential to its purpose. And the goal of every Mission is to form local churches with those who respond to the preaching of the gospel. There is a beautiful symmetry between Mission and Church that self-perpetuates both aspects of Kingdom work. The Layzelles did mission work in Uganda, and our church was a primary sponsor. Our founding pastor Ken Norberg visited Uganda several times, once staying a full six months. Our church raised enough money to have electricity run to the village where the base was located. Later we raised enough money to send a team to install a water pump and plumbing system for the village. It was known as “Kalamazoo Light & Water!”
At the 1981 Urbana Missions conference, I—along with about 17,000 college students—learned the Biblical basis for missions. I was deeply impacted and was ready to go. My heart was filled with anticipation for moving to a foreign land and devoting the rest of my life to world missions. But, to my surprise, near the end of the conference I heard God clearly speak to me: “You are not called to go. You are called to send.”
Since then I’ve devoted myself to sending and supporting missionaries worldwide. Our church has sent out so many individuals and teams that I don’t even know all of the nations we’ve influenced. I have no doubt we have given well over a million dollars to the work of missions and we continue to do so. Eventually I was able to go overseas on a mission, but not until I was in my 40s. Now, in my later years, my focus on missions is growing. In addition to my work at New Day, I travel extensively supporting missions and training missionaries and church planters. My ministry is a sending ministry, which is an expression of the apostolic call. New Day is my primary support, but I am also building a donor base to enable me to continue to minister to those who need it most—those on the front lines of mission work. You can learn more about what I do at www.cameronwright.org.
This month we are sending a team to Peru where Jon Yerty (who grew up at New Day) lives with his wife and leads a mission base. Later this year I will travel to Kenya, England, and Mexico. Every member of New Day is directly involved in every mission work we do. Even if you don’t go with a team, you support by giving financially, praying, and doing all the work to make church happen here every week. Church and Mission are two sides of the same ministry coin, and we all have a part in this calling.