For anyone that knows Spanky Rouse or anyone of the Rouse House for that matter, you know our heart and passion for missions is a huge part of who we are. Lara and I have been on lots of mission trips and involve in mission projects all around the world for the past 12 years. We spent a few years being missionaries, we’ve financially supported missionaries, and now we are recruiting and coaching potential missionaries. With this next step in life and missions as a mobilizer at United World Mission I have to ask am I really making a big difference in the Great Commission?
Three weeks after being at UWM I was asked to lead our weekly prayer time and focus on mobilization. This pushed and encouraged me to begin studying the role of mobilization in global mission. At that time (4 weeks) I found myself seating in my office sending emails, reading information, making phone calls, and meeting with missional leaders from all over the world, but what difference am I playing in the Great Commission, global missions?
So I decided to spend some time studying the bible, talking to God about this role of mobilizing, and of course when you don’t know what else to do…Googled it. I found an amazing website, mobilization.org, that has a devotional notebook that is centered around this idea of mobilization. It points out the importance and significance of a mobilizer in fueling missions around the world. So most of my insight and information is going to come from there. Jesus talked in parables and so do I:
To mobilize is to awaken excite inspire provoke stimulate galvanize and encourage groups of people towards a specific action. In the English language the word mobilize is traditionally a military term. It refers to the process of moving resources soldiers weapons and supplies towards the battlefield. Without wartime mobilization, soldiers would never make it to the battlefield, battles could not be fought, and wars cannot be one.
Mobilization is critical to the act of making more in most armies, for every soldier who fights on the front lines, about 10 more personnel are needed to support that one soldier with supplies tactics technology communication and medical care. Mobilization is about much more than getting the soldiers to the front line, fully equipped with everything they need to execute the battle plan. It involves thousands of people laboring behind the scenes, who are offering support and resources to soldiers.
The ultimate job of a mission mobilizer is to engage, equip, and connect believers and churches worldwide to the most strategic role in fulfilling the great commission.
In short what do I do?
I have the amazing privilege and huge responsibility of making good relationships with individuals, churches, and other organizations for the purpose of engaging them, equipping them, and connecting them with the worked God has started and plans to complete all over this world. More specifically I am doing this with ministries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. I get to meet and talk with people that believe that God has put a passion or conviction in their heart to “go” and make a difference through teaching the bible, loving children at risk, evangelize the world, plant churches, meet physical needs, train Christian leaders, and so much more. After meeting with these people I get to connect them with the best opportunities in 45 different countries. These people that are answering the call are going overseas to serve the Lord anywhere from a few weeks to the rest of their lives. I absolutely love coaching these individuals through this exciting time in their lives and helping them figure out what/how/when/where God wants to use them!
So, I feel that this role of the mobilizer is so much more than an office job. I feel like I am playing a very significant role in fulfilling the Great Commission. The bible is very clear that some of us are the sower and some are the reaper, we all have a role to play in this world knowing Him. I get to be a life line for the field ministries/missionaries and a stepping stone for those trying to reach the mission field. It could be either my one family going or it could be us mobilizing hundreds of families to go. I love what God has given me to do for this season of my life!
The Rousehouse 