Newfrontiers : A Heart for Mission

The Harvest is Plentiful: A Heart for Mission

Anna Heasman (King’s Arms Church, Bedford) is passionate about reaching the nations and plays an important role in Newfrontiers’ Missions Development work. We interviewed her to find out more about her role, her heart for mission and why people should get involved in short term teams

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself

I became a Christian aged 10 at a Billy Graham Live Link event in Bolton Town Hall. I had grown up going to a Church of England Sunday school but don’t think I’d ever fully heard or understood the gospel before that night. At that stage only my mum was a Christian and she faithfully prayed for my dad, brother and I to commit our lives to Jesus. In the few years following my conversion, first my brother and then my dad also made the decision to follow Jesus. God first spoke to me about mission as a 16 year old at Spring Harvest and it’s been burning in me ever since.

I studied Business Management at university and joined the building materials supplier, Tarmac, on their graduate scheme. At the end of my fourth year there, I met my husband Nick skiing in Austria. Having training as a civil engineer, he tried to impress me by taking me to the top of a mountain with a massive concrete structure on it and we discussed how they would have got the concrete up there and its structural properties! Needless to say we even had a concrete mixer at our wedding!

2. What is your role at Newfrontiers?

I work alongside Andy Martin in Bedford doing Missions Development work. I am mainly involved with overseeing all the Newfrontiers short term teams, which includes liaising with hosts, designing the programmes and co-ordinating the UK Mission Training Track (Mission Awareness Days, Developing Your Call Days, Islamic World Days and residential training weekends), following up those who feel called overseas, meeting with people who have returned from overseas, networking with and looking at what mission organisations are doing with the people they send overseas and learning from them. So in summary, it’s a glorious mix of admin, strategy, meeting, teaching, prayer and prophecy!I’m also currently overhauling the existing nations website to make it more useful and informative so look out for this in April! (www.nations.newfrontierstogether.org)

3. Have you always had a heart for mission?

I’ve always had a passion for travelling and wanted to live and work professionally overseas to experience a different culture. I love it when people I have never met before prophesy ‘going to the nations’ over me, it completely overwhelms me!

I led a team of ten people to Izmir, Turkey in May last year to serve the church there and then Nick and I led a team of 22 young families and singles to Latvia in September. I think what excited me about both these teams was that the people who were part of the teams came back different. It catapulted them into knowing they were called to step up, do more and start living life the way God intended, wherever in the world they are!

I’m passionate about reaching the lost and believe strongly that we are all called to mission, whatever our stage of life. At the moment I co-ordinate our healing and salvation teams on Sundays at the King’s Arms church in Bedford.

4. What is most rewarding and most challenging about the work you do?

These are closely linked! The most rewarding thing is meeting up with those who are working overseas; hearing them listing the answers to prayer they’ve had and sharing stories of lives transformed as people have come to know Jesus!

The most challenging aspect is hearing all their needs! As Matthew 9:37 says ‘Then Jesus said to his disciples, “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into this harvest field”’.

This is hard in two ways. One, because I think 'ok, they’re looking for more team members, and I have specific skills that they need…God is this where you’re calling me personally?' but then I meet a team from another place and end up having a similar conversation with myself! It’s reassuring to know that I don’t have to have it all figured out because God definitely has a plan and at the moment I know I’m called to do what I am doing in Bedford.

Secondly, it can be a challenge getting word out about where Newfrontiers is working and what we are doing! Lots of people in our churches don’t know about our short term teams, cross cultural training and even think Newfrontiers isn’t working in a particular area that they are passionate about because it’s not mentioned on the website. Because of our involvement in sensitive areas, it can be difficult to communicate effectively. If you are ever in doubt please get in touch with us!

5. How can the average person get more engaged in mission?

In many different ways:

Mission starts at home! Show your friends, family and neighbours the love of Jesus through simple words, thoughts and actions.

Start praying for the nations either alone or with a small group. Most churches have people they have sent on mission, find out who they are, what they are doing and what you can pray for them about. Pray for the countries you feel passionate about, the ones you see in the news and the ones your neighbours come from.

Come on one of our short term teams. We have Newday Global for 16-18 year olds and Mobilise Worldwide for students and twenties, which focus on evangelism and church planting. Life Change Teams are for anyone over 18 with a focus on understanding issues related to cross cultural ministry such as racism and ministering like Jesus. The local elders lead through a series of seminars and undertake regular individual reviews whilst the team are in the location

Join the Newfrontiers Mission Training Track. We have Mission Awareness Days for those just starting to explore their calling, Developing Your Call Days for those who are more definite, residential training for those going overseas within 12-18 months.

Gather a group of friends from your church or small group and form your own Life Change Team.

6. What would you say are the benefits of doing a short term team with Newfrontiers?

The major benefit is input from people experienced in mission! The teams get two or three days of training before the trip departs because we want to honour those we are going to serve, blessing them and not causing them problems due to our own ignorance! Even the most seasoned traveller can experience culture shock and it’s important to have an understanding of the ways it can affect you, especially when you’re geographically removed from those you might normally rely on for support. Then once the team are in the location, those involved in leading the church spend time with the team, giving further teaching and conducting reviews about your experiences.

Going with a team as opposed to on your own gives you a good understanding of a missional life style, starting the day with prayer and worship together, working with people that you may not be naturally drawn to and resolving differences in order to achieve what you set out to do. These are good lessons to learn on a short term team.

We have many testimonies of people’s lives changed from going on these trips, a selection of which are found below:

Kirsty Lincoln (Kings Arms, Bedford) went on a short term team to Latvia in 2009
Being part of a team to Latvia changed my life. I had to break out of what was familiar into what was unfamiliar and it was scary and exciting at the same time. Before going on the trip I discounted myself, but as I stepped out in faith despite my anxieties, everything changed and coming back to the UK I feel like nearly every area of my life has stepped up a gear, and I now live with a daily expectation that God has adventures for me.

Zoe Joy Harries (Kings Arms, Bedford) went on a Life Change Team to Ghana in 2009
Going on the Life Change Team to Ghana in 2009 was an adventure from the start. I prayed for the money I needed and overcame some fears about going with people I hadn't met. Everyone in the team grew spiritually as we realised more of who we are and who God is. I gained friends both in Ghana and in the team that will last a long time. I would recommend going on adventures with God; they are never dull!

Emily Stead (Vine Church, Odiham Hampshire) went on a Life Change Team to Lesotho in 2009
A Life Change Team is exactly what it says. You return a different person and God challenged me in all areas of my life. I really felt God's presence both throughout the two weeks in Lesotho and when I got back to the UK. This Life Change Team showed me that we really are a worldwide family of churches together on a mission.

Tom and Gaynor Williams (ChristChurch, London) went on a Life Change Team to Turkey in 2009
Our time in North West Turkey was a fantastic experience. It gave my wife and I the chance to explore our calling and to feel more plugged into the work Newfrontiers is doing abroad. We felt God speak to us as a couple and got to enjoy some great food, culture and people at the same time!

Lee Hopper (Chafford Hundred Community Church, Essex) went on a Life Change Team to Lesotho in 2009
My trip to Lesotho was definitely a life changing one! The Newfrontiers church in Maseru organised a street evangelist day. Through this, many people were saved, and more were saved at church the next day. While we were on the streets, God led us to many people who were ill. We prayed for them and they were healed! I had never experienced that in my life before!

7. What are you excited about for 2010?

I think there is a growing expectancy and hunger for God to move powerfully, which I feel personally and I know from talking to many others is widely felt. I think this will impact both our churches and our personal relationships with God.

I’m excited about the developments to the teams we’re running this year – specifically the new locations of North Africa and Mexico for our Life Change Teams. We’re also sending a Newday Global team for the first time to a location in the Islamic World as we are aware that growing numbers of our young people are feeling called to this group of unreached peoples. 2009 was the first time we’d run a specific team for the Mobilise group but it went well and we wanted to build on that in 2010. Therefore we are running two Mobilise Worldwide teams this year for students and twenties going to St Petersburg, Russia and Alberta, Canada.