Missions and my service

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Acts 1:8 expresses the call of a Christian as concisely as any verse. Being a witness means sharing something that you have experienced, (in this case the gospel) during a relationship with another person. This would be considered a Christian's "mission." Then when we participate in activities that further the gospel, we are "doing missions."
Our hearts are lifted when doing something for others, or as we say at Christmas, "It is more blessed to give than receive." Because God wired us this way, our worldly neighbors have created thousands of great causes and charities to give our time and resources. While it is fine to participate in these charities, we must also devote our resources to missions also.
Each person's call to support missions is different. There are three main arms of our missions call; prayer, taking, and sending. Prayer must be made with God since we can do nothing with the gospel without him. We must take the gospel because sinners do not seek the gospel by themselves, and how can they hear, if they don't have a 'preacher.' Then sending the gospel to other places reminds us that the world is bigger than what we can touch and see. God says there will be people of every nation and tongue to receive the gospel; and that should be our mission too.
When we do special projects, do it with a prayerful heart, and intention to see the gospel shared with others. "Give them more than soup and soap, give them soup,soap and salvation!"