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