Hovey Commissioning Service

We have had the privilege of taking part in the Commissioning Service of our Family from our sending church, First Baptist Church of Waterville, MN.  You can also read some Really Exciting news in our new update letter:  Click to Read Update Letter

You may ask what is a Commissioning Service?.....

Commissioning in its very base definition is "the act of committing or entrusting a person, group, etc., with supervisory power or authority".

So how does this relate to the local church and the Hovey family?
It relates in many ways starting with the Great Commission that is outlined in Matthew 28:19-20  "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
However, the Great Commission does not just apply to missionaries or those who travel to other countries.  While the verse does say "go" in the original language, it would be closer to say "while you are going." The emphasis is not on the task of going, but instead, the emphasis IS of making disciples.  So this Great Commission applies to each and every believer in Jesus Christ.  It is an authority that is entrusted to every believer of Christ.

So if every believer is already Commissioned why have a service for a missionary?
As Pastor Gene has said at our service..."Commissioning a missionary is much like commissioning a boat for its first service...its about sending them off and we as a church get behind them to support them".   This is not a new practice but is a biblically based practice as we can see written out in Acts 13:1-3.  So what this means is our Church has prayerfully entrusted us with a very powerful task and that is to represent our church in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Papua New Guinea.

It is truly our privilege to be able to partner with our home church, several other local churches, many individuals and Family to set sail on this journey that God has called us too.  If you would like to see the whole service you can watch it here:  Hovey Commissioning Service 2017

As part of the Service our family was prayed over by the whole church

We had some wonderful treats as well!!

Gunner was pretty excited about it all

especially treats!!

As a Family we want to thank each and everyone of you who stand in the gap with us and allow us the privilege to take steps forward for the sake of spreading the Gospel!