"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
                                        - Acts 1:8

From the beginning we sensed God calling us to something more than the traditional church involvement in outreach and missions - giving money once a month, praying for missionaries when we think about it, and honoring them with a potluck every three years when they come home on furlough. Although, we believe God can be served in a variety of ways on the mission field, at Countryside, we felt that something was missing. As we searched the scriptures to better understand what God wanted us to do, we were struck by a couple of things:

In the opening verses of Acts 13, we find the church laying hands on their own, those who were to serve as missionaries, sending them out to service. For this reason, we have moved away from casting financial support towards mission boards, ministries and agencies. Although we realize their valuable work, we have chosen instead to focus on and be committed to preparing the body at Countryside to serve the Lord themselves. Some will be raised up to serve in ministries near home only; others will leave for a short time as the Lord gives them opportunity. Still others we believe, will respond to God's call on their lives and will serve the Lord, full-time, outside of our area.

We believe heartily in the wisdom taught by Jesus in passages like Matthew 10:5-42 and Luke 9:1-6. In watching the Lord raise up servants from within the body, and then sending them out as missionaries from the body, we are better able to be obedient to the instructions that Jesus gave when He sent out the disciples for the very same work.

Jesus said in Acts 1:8: ".you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." We see the Gospel spreading throughout the then-known world beginning with the birth of the church on Pentecost in Jerusalem. Throughout the book of Acts the Gospel spreads and the church's influence for the Lord expands throughout Judea and Samaria until chapter 13 where the message is taken to the "ends of the earth." For this reason, we too have chosen to center our first efforts on our Jerusalem - Eugene and Springfield.

Our Jerusalem:

Our first small step was to open the Encouraging Words Coffeehouse, which later expanded to include a bookstore. This has given us the privilege of offering several concerts and other outreach opportunities to the community in a venue that is more casual and comfortable. Concerts are an on-going ministry of the Fellowship. There have been music outreaches during the Golden Years community festival, and parade outreaches during Coburg's two annual parades. Our first Thanksgiving Day Feast was in 1998. Annually, we have hosted the Countryside Corn Feed.bands, a huge Barbecue, a Field Day for the kids - all on Countryside's spacious country campus. As we continue to improve our campus, and our outdoor amphitheater The Garden, we look forward to being outdoors with our Easter Outreach and a variety of other outreach ministries to the people in the Willamette Valley.

Our Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth:

The Lord blessed us with an open door for a radio teaching ministry beginning in 1999. Things Above and the Things Above Minute bring the teaching ministry of Countryside Christian Fellowship and Pastor Terry Dawson throughout the Willamette Valley of Oregon and the world.

The Mission is home to our annual short-term team mission trips each summer. Although we really don't know what all else the Lord intends for us to do beyond our Jerusalem, (we're not there just yet), we have begun to get glimpses.

The Lord is speaking to people in the body about mission teams to Mexico for outreach, ministry to children and building houses for families, church buildings for congregations and to work in the orphanage. Our first trip to Tecate, Mexico in 2000 was just the beginning... street evangelism in Russia, outreach to the deaf, missionaries working in Brazil, ministry to the settlements in Israel - as we wait on the Lord for His guidance, seeking what the Lord is doing and what direction He will move us in, we're excited about the possibilities.