Our Vision
David Shibley, President of Global Advance, once told me, “Every church must ask this question when determining their missions philosophy and involvement, ‘What unique contribution has God equipped us to make in the Great Commission?’” We heartily agree!
So, here is our vision and core value statement in “Missions”.
Our Vision:
To spread culturally relevant, Spirit-filled, Biblically sound Christianity into areas of need around the globe using the following Missions Principles and Standards:
Theological harmony
While we embrace the entire Church, we seek as much as possible to work with people who believe, as we do, that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for today. Indeed, Acts 1:8 tells us that this infilling is for the purpose of being a witness, to the ends of the earth. We have seen much fruitless labor in unreached nations because ministries are not empowered with the necessary New Testament power and anointing to cut through the darkness that result from completely non Christian worldviews and practices.
Proven leadership
Missions is a demanding task, requiring maturity, proven ministry gifting, and accountable relationships and spiritual covering. Strong and gifted leaders are needed, who are culturally relevant, anointed, and Biblically sound. Younger workers lacking seasoning need to either remain under our direct covering or under someone with this proven leadership capability.
Empower the nationals wherever possible.
God has ordained that the Church in heaven is “Out of every tribe and tongue and people” (Rev. 5:9). The goal is always that we eventually ‘step away’ and allow the nationals to lead and shape the Church in their nation. They will always be more effective.
Priority given to unreached people
Even in missions, so much time, money, effort is given to areas that have literally been saturated with the gospel. These areas still deserve the help of the Western Church, but in much more of a training or support role.
The urgency of the Great Commission still mandates that those ‘who have not heard’ receive the greatest priority. While the difficulty of reaching ‘unreached nations’ presents special challenges, we must devote the greater part of our intercession, (creative) labor, and where effective, financial resources.
Work in the context of the local church
The local church is the only viable structure capable of providing ongoing discipleship. All ministry activity should either work from a healthy church base, or toward the planting and establishing of healthy local churches.
Avoiding duplication of effort with other valid ministries as much as possible.
We want to be good stewards of our time, people, and financial resources. Too many times not enough research is done to investigate other worthy and effective ministry in the same sphere of ministry. Would it be better to partner with them instead, or move into a more needy area?
Greater investing in the more receptive areas of the world.
Although priority should be given more to unreached areas, there are seasons or conditions where there are great differences in receptivity with in the target population. Natural or man made disasters, political changes (as in the fall of the Iron Curtain), or other circumstances many times dictate a rapid response or a priority of resources.
Looking for quality results (fruit that remains).
Jesus constantly talked about fruit, and ‘return on investment’ (parable of the talents in Matt 25). The Church too often does not evaluate ministry along these lines. If we want to truly reach people, and not just ‘say we are doing missions’, we must regularly look for fruit, as a ‘wise farmer’.
Of course, following this philosophy and these standards requires ongoing research, monitoring, networking, and a good working knowledge of viable ministry practices.
So, here is our vision and core value statement in “Missions”.
Our Vision:
To spread culturally relevant, Spirit-filled, Biblically sound Christianity into areas of need around the globe using the following Missions Principles and Standards:
Theological harmony
While we embrace the entire Church, we seek as much as possible to work with people who believe, as we do, that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for today. Indeed, Acts 1:8 tells us that this infilling is for the purpose of being a witness, to the ends of the earth. We have seen much fruitless labor in unreached nations because ministries are not empowered with the necessary New Testament power and anointing to cut through the darkness that result from completely non Christian worldviews and practices.
Proven leadership
Missions is a demanding task, requiring maturity, proven ministry gifting, and accountable relationships and spiritual covering. Strong and gifted leaders are needed, who are culturally relevant, anointed, and Biblically sound. Younger workers lacking seasoning need to either remain under our direct covering or under someone with this proven leadership capability.
Empower the nationals wherever possible.
God has ordained that the Church in heaven is “Out of every tribe and tongue and people” (Rev. 5:9). The goal is always that we eventually ‘step away’ and allow the nationals to lead and shape the Church in their nation. They will always be more effective.
Priority given to unreached people
Even in missions, so much time, money, effort is given to areas that have literally been saturated with the gospel. These areas still deserve the help of the Western Church, but in much more of a training or support role.
The urgency of the Great Commission still mandates that those ‘who have not heard’ receive the greatest priority. While the difficulty of reaching ‘unreached nations’ presents special challenges, we must devote the greater part of our intercession, (creative) labor, and where effective, financial resources.
Work in the context of the local church
The local church is the only viable structure capable of providing ongoing discipleship. All ministry activity should either work from a healthy church base, or toward the planting and establishing of healthy local churches.
Avoiding duplication of effort with other valid ministries as much as possible.
We want to be good stewards of our time, people, and financial resources. Too many times not enough research is done to investigate other worthy and effective ministry in the same sphere of ministry. Would it be better to partner with them instead, or move into a more needy area?
Greater investing in the more receptive areas of the world.
Although priority should be given more to unreached areas, there are seasons or conditions where there are great differences in receptivity with in the target population. Natural or man made disasters, political changes (as in the fall of the Iron Curtain), or other circumstances many times dictate a rapid response or a priority of resources.
Looking for quality results (fruit that remains).
Jesus constantly talked about fruit, and ‘return on investment’ (parable of the talents in Matt 25). The Church too often does not evaluate ministry along these lines. If we want to truly reach people, and not just ‘say we are doing missions’, we must regularly look for fruit, as a ‘wise farmer’.
Of course, following this philosophy and these standards requires ongoing research, monitoring, networking, and a good working knowledge of viable ministry practices.
