How often do you tell someone, “I’ll pray for you”? Have you noticed that once you commit to this, you start thinking a lot about the person, and you want to do more?

It happened to a church I know—with remarkable results. Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego, Ore., has been a vital partner with World Vision since 1994, forging deep relationships with communities in Senegal and Zambia, sponsoring more than 500 children, and giving faithfully to World Vision relief efforts during emergencies. And it all started with prayer.

In 1994, a World Vision worker visited Lake Grove and spoke about an unreached people group in Senegal, the Wolof , and encouraged prayer for them. Pastor Bob Sanders and others at Lake Grove did so. But then they wanted to get to know the Wolof, so a team traveled to Senegal, where the people’s desperate need for clean water galvanized the congregation to raise money for wells.

More than water flowed from that first visit. A friendship developed between the congregation and 16 Senegalese villages—who later organized themselves as “Lake Grove Land”—built on frequent visits and energetic church-wide participation. Working through World Vision, the church funded education, health programs, and microenterprise initiatives for the Muslim villagers. Lake Grove showed the Wolof what Christ’s love looks like. They also teamed up with a Senegalese pastor who was planting a Christian church among the Wolof.

Fifteen years later, with Lake Grove Land achieving self-sufficiency, the church is focusing on helping communities in AIDS-ravaged Zambia. They’ve also supported relief work in Haiti as well as many previous crises. Lake Grove—where I had the privilege to speak last weekend—is a church practicing the whole gospel.

If your church wants to start somewhere with a missions focus, why not try choosing one country, one community, and just start praying? God will take it from there. And like Lake Grove, you’ll never be the same.