Who Goes?

Missionaries are not called alone. The church and their missionary must form a true partnership of giving and receiving (Phil. 4:15) that blesses people who need to hear the gospel. Sometimes, the church and the missionary are called together at the same time by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-4). Other times, things are not so precise and well-timed as was the experience of Paul and Barnabas. MissioSERVE is ready to assist the local church and missionary in sending and going in excellence and harmony. Every situation, missionary, and church is unique. Through the MissioSERVE discovery process, we help churches and the missionaries they send by refining and honing their call and mission for the greater glory of God.

The first-century church faced many questions about the breadth of vision and the extent of the Missio Dei. In the 21st century, there is no longer a need to wonder if missionaries should go to the whole world. Some key questions are when the missionary should go, where the church should send them, and to whom should each missionary go? Many churches who desire to affirm their members whom God calls to cross-cultural missions lack practical experience in foreign missions. A typical response takes the form of putting the hopeful missionary in contact with approved mission agencies. In addition, missionary prospects often seek out an agency first. There are good reasons for the existence of agencies. However, many take the place of and separate the church from their role with the missionary. The agency and hopeful missionary begin working together without the church leadership to plan out God's mission, the connections, spiritual growth, and strategies, leaving the church behind. Functionally, the agency becomes the sender, and the church becomes the receiver of the agency and their missionary, causing the church to be primarily a funding source. The defining of the mission by the needs, talents, and desires of the missionary and the agency without the church hinders the biblically shared mission, focused on the glory of Jesus Christ. The missionary and their church default to focusing on personal relationships with each other, and therefore, blunt the impact of the partnership of giving and receiving that God intends. 

MissioSERVE Alliance believes a local church and their missionary must focus on their shared mission, not simply on their relationship. A church is not called to the mission field without the missionary, and the missionary is not called without their church. Utilizing our years of pastoral ministry and mission field experience, we guide the local church and missionary to discover what God calls them to do together. What passion does the missionary have? How does that match up with the church's involvement in the world? How is the church able to uniquely help in the missionary's work? How will the missionary be able to bless and encourage their church on the mission? These are some of the questions that we help them answer. We serve and strengthen the partnership that God establishes in calling the local church to send their  missionaries who go on their behalf!