Missions

Great Outdoors Community Church is committed to Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations” by supporting ministries and missionaries both locally and around the world. Fifteen percent of the church’s annual budget is allocated to missions. And that is just the starting point. Each year the church raises thousands of dollars in additional missionary support through special offerings and various fundraising events.  

In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” GOCC models its missionary support after this verse.

The mission’s team here are the ministries and missionaries currently supported by the church through the Missions Team:

Our Jerusalem… Titusville and Brevard County

• Christian Ministry Concepts. Titusville. Christian Ministry Concepts was founded by Richard and Carla Patke in 1993. CMC provides biblical counseling for individuals, couples, and families. They also offer classes on marriage, parenting, anger management, and addiction recovery. In addition, they have provided training in Biblical Counseling to over 500 pastors in Central America.                                                                                 https://christianministryconcepts.com/
• Good News Global (formerly Good News Prison and Jail Ministry). Brevard County. Good News Global places chaplains in prisons and jails across the United States and in several other countries. Our church currently supports two chaplains at the Brevard County Jail and one regional chaplain. https://gnglobal.org/
• Life Recaptured. Merritt Island. Life Recaptured offers women who are trapped in sexual exploitation a way to refuge and freedom. Working with the community, Life Recaptured strives to eradicate sex trafficking through awareness, prevention, and restoration. https://www.liferecaptured.org/
• Nana’s House. West Melbourne. The mission of Nana’s House is to provide housing and wrap-around support for foster families in Brevard County. These families care for neglected, abused, and abandoned children in the state foster system. Nana’s House helps foster parents create a safe, loving home for these children by offering support in the form of housing, utilities, transportation, clothing, school supplies, toys, household items, and anything else that the foster families and the children they care for may need. http://nanaschildrenshome.com/
• North Brevard Charities. Titusville. Serving Titusville and Brevard County since 1958, North Brevard Charities is a nonprofit organization, committed to providing essential support and resources to families facing hardship. Ministries include emergency housing, financial assistance, and food distribution.  https://www.northbrevardcharities.org/
• Port Canaveral Ministry. Cape CanaveralPort Canaveral Ministry aims to provide a home away from home for crew members of cruise and cargo ships docking at Port Canaveral. The services offered include meals, transportation, postal services, Wi-Fi, and money transfer services. In 2024, Port Canaveral Ministry recorded over 103,000 crew member visits. https://www.cpm.life/
• The Children’s Hunger Project. Cocoa. The Children’s Hunger Project is dedicated to helping elementary school children in need by providing food for them to take home on weekends and during school breaks. https://thechildrenshungerproject.org/

Our Judea and Samaria… United States and North America

• Air Mobile Ministries. Sneedville, Tennessee. Joe and Cindy Hurston are former TGO residents who founded Air Mobile Ministries in 1978.  Air Mobile builds and delivers portable water purification units to disaster sites in the U.S. and around the world. www.airmobile.org
• Eagle College. Miguel Aleman, Mexico. Eagle College is a K-12 Christian school founded and supported by Hope for Kids Mexico, a non-profit agency located in Holland, Michigan. Eagle College is located just across the U.S. border in Miguel Aleman, Mexico. https://www.hopeforkidsmexico.com/   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063601032596
• Prison Book Project. Titusville, Florida. Prison Book Project is a ministry that distributes books to prisoners in over 2,000 facilities in 39 countries. Several Great Outdoors Church members volunteer at Prison Book on a weekly basis.                                                        https://prisonbookproject.org/     https://www.facebook.com/PrisonBookProject
• Samaritans Purse. Boone, North Carolina. Samaritans Purse is a global disaster relief organization led by Franklin Graham. Our church supports Samaritans Purse though Operation Christmas Child and U.S. and International disaster relief. https://samaritanspurse.org                
• STRIDE Ministries. STRIDE is a ministry started by Dan and Erin Evans at Hill Air Force Base in Layton, Utah. Focusing on airmen stationed at the base, STRIDE’s vision is to reach the lost and disciple the believer; training them to go, reach and disciple the lost as the military sends them throughout the world. http://www.strideministries.org/                   
• The Gideons International. Nashville, Tennessee. The Gideons International is an association of Christian business and professional men and their wives dedicated to telling people about Jesus through associating together for service, sharing personal testimony, and by providing Bibles and New Testaments.  https://gideons.org/

The Ends of the Earth… International Missions

• The Dawson family. Michael and Keila Dawson are missionaries to the Yanomamö people in Amazonas state of Venezuela. They serve with Padamo Aviation and Support. https://www.mpaviation.org/   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064628476328
• The Devkota family. Akin and Snowy Devkota serve as missionaries to the deaf in Nepal with Baptist International Missions.  They have 2 children:  Agraj and Sarani. https://www.bimi.org/  https://www.bimi.org/onlineMags/143world/index.html?page=10
• The Nystrom family. John and Bonnie Nystrom are missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  They have spent more than 35 years working on language projects in Papua New Guinea. https://www.wycliffe.org/blog/featured/translation-and-technology
• The Shropshire family. TJ and Lily Shropshire serve as church planters in Senegal, West Africa with Ethnos 360. They have 4 children: Lily, Ava, Penny and Mae.  https://ethnos360.org/missionaries/tj-and-lilly-shropshire
• The Willett family. Ray and Jessica Willett serve as missionaries to Papua New Guinea with Ethnos 360.  They have 3 children:  Matthew, Jane and Danny.  https://ethnos360.org/missionaries/ray-and-jessica-willett
• Maggie VanSlooten. Maggie is a former international missionary who now trains and mentors missionaries for Beyond.  She works primarily from her home in Rockledge, Florida.  https://beyond.org/
• Mission India. Mission India is committed to spreading the Gospel in India in three ways: by reaching children, empowering adults, and planting local churches. Mission India does not send Western missionaries. Instead, they train and equip local Christians in India to do the work God has called them to do.  https://missionindia.org/
• Pastor Masih and Pastor Rafique. Pastors Masih and Rafique are native Pakistani missionaries with Compassion Ministries. They are based at the Lahore Baptist Institute in Pakistan. https://cmworldwide.org/                   https://www.facebook.com/cmlbi

• • Note:  The Legacy Fund, Women in the Church (WIC) and the Men’s Ministry support several other ministries that are not listed here.