A pre-deployment checklist to stand firm as a Christian whilst away from home.
Being deployed?
A pre-deployment checklist to stand firm as a Christian whilst away from home.
Yourself
As part of your pre deployment prep, get yourself ready as a Christian.
- Before you go, find out if there are other Christians on the deployment as well. Talk to Chaplains, friends and FOCUS to help make those connections.
- Load up on Christian books & MP3/podcast talks.
- Load up on Christian music. Get it into your head!
- Make a goal to get into a book of the bible you’ve not checked out before.
- Take some bible studies that are ready to go; so you can run them with very little preparation. (See the resource guide for options)
Your family
- Communications. Before you go, clarify expectations of how often you’ll be able to talk. In reality, set up the expectation that communication with home might be sporadic.
- Before you go, pray together.
- Plan to do the same bible study series while you are away – and email each other about it as you go.
- Be open about how you’re processing it all and how you are feeling at each stage.
Your church
- Your local church is the backbone of family support. Make sure they know you are going!
- Get a church bible study group to ‘adopt’ your family and look out for them.
- Tell you your church you are deploying.
- Get them to pray for you & look out for your family
- get them to send ‘care packages’ ??
On Deployment
As a Christian the big challenge is standing firm for Christ. To do that:
· Make space each day to spend time with God.
· Read a bit of the Word, reflect, pray.
· Jesus did it: he regularly withdrew to a quiet place to pray.
· Find the time that works in your routine.
· Keep to it.
· Find the other Christians.
· Start meeting up in a small group for bible study and prayer and mutual inspiration
· Email for prayer backup from friends back home.
· Stand firm. Keep your eyes on the goal.
· Remember who you are.
Deployment Opportunities
- When you’re living and working in close proximity, there’s heaps of opportunities to talk about the big questions of life and Jesus.
- Go prepared to have these conversations.
- Go with some evangelistic tools / bible studies