Tenets

Bringing glory to God is the ultimate goal of missions, that Revelation 5:9 would be fulfilled so that people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation will be present worshiping God when heaven and earth come together. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) encourage us to align our lives to love God and others and spread the love of Jesus.

One's first priority is to be a disciple of Jesus and nurture their own relationship with Jesus, especially when working in vocational ministry. Matthew 22:37-39 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Our identity is that of beloved disciples who make disciples, who then make more disciples, thus fulfilling the Great Commission to "go into all the world and make disciples of all nations baptizing them and teaching them to obey all His commands." All missions must have a discipleship component. Mission work without a plan for evangelism and discipleship is not fulfilling the great commission.

The fuel of missions is prayer and worship. God invites us into the work He is doing on the earth through prayer, worship, and action. Prayer and intimacy with the Lord is how we find our true rest (shalom). He responds to the prayers of His people. We are transformed through prayer and need it for our relationship with Jesus and to fuel mission work. Mission work takes ground in places where Satan has a stronghold.

Advancing  the kingdom of God requires not fighting against "flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities...through prayer" (Ephesians 6:12). Spiritual warfare is real. Prayer and fasting are required to combat spiritual forces.

We believe that the foundation for missions begins with our relationship with God and that our love for others stems from God’s love for us. Therefore, we place high value on prayer, discernment of the Holy Spirit and spiritual growth.

All people are made in God's image. Race, gender, age, and culture are sacred, God-given, gifts. All people and voices have a place at the table. All have a significant part to play and are called to love others well. Each individual can best serve the Lord by having the courage to be their true selves in Jesus and use their unique gifting to benefit the body of Christ. To walk in their value and resist codependency and paternalism (which is doing something for others that they can or should do themselves).

We refuse to look at people in terms of “impoverished” or “wealthy” which only focuses on material poverty or socioeconomic status. Every person has areas in their life needing redemption and reconciliation through a relationship with Jesus. Healthy Missions requires a holistic view of the human condition.

It is imperative to be a lifelong learner and curious about the person's story across the table from you. Learning the language of the people you are ministering to, along with being a student of their culture, will be the best way to be able to contextualize the gospel (explain and evangelize in a way that honors their culture and shows that Jesus is the light of ALL PEOPLE.)

Rather than being a gatekeeper of knowledge, mission workers should train and give away the keys while pointing people to long-term empowerment, methods of disciple-making movement training/CPM, financial literacy curriculum, skills/vocation training, etc.

Entrepreneurial thinking is an asset to cross-cultural work, which means bringing a positive and adaptable mindset that fosters failure, has quick feedback loops (asset mapping, human centered design, decentralization, replicable, scalable, sustainable). This mindset encourages honesty in struggles and failures, and to be open-handed and collaborative with those in the community.

Collaborate means connecting with people in different denominations, outreaches, industries, professions, and methods to create unity and ultimate best practices. We recognize that God is already at work in the places that mission workers will go—even the most remote regions that have never been engaged with the gospel. It is best to see what He has been up to and who have been His hands and feet in every area. How missions is done matters.

Strategic planning is necessary surrounding the implementation of initiatives in a practical way. We recognize that mission work needs to have a plan to make disciples and spread the gospel, and also should focus 90% on a development model. (See WHH to explore differences between types of work models: Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development). Business can be used as a mission field but we believe it needs to be done in such a way that directly disciples others. It is a tool to further the gospel locally or cross culturally.

Financial stewardship, no matter the type of outreach or ministry, is imperative and requires integrity and accountability in personal and professional settings. Living off support demands this level of excellence.

Doing things in community is necessary to sustain individuals, couples, and families who work cross-culturally. Having a sending agency that provides accountability, support, member care, and counsel will provide stability and support to help families stay healthy on the field. This requires honesty when struggling and allowing people to confront behaviors or habits in our lives which will help our health, focus, and joy in the process.

We want people to come home from the field without unresolved trauma, isolation, and unable to re-enter their home culture. We believe in community member care for people serving cross-culturally. Regular time to check in, debrief and process the challenges, celebrate the victories, and just feel heard from someone in their heart language is critical to effective ministry.

To have member care done consistently provides the support needed to access help, further care...

All mission work must have a legacy plan, which structures projects from the beginning with the end in mind. Structuring projects and proposals to bring aid to others with a legacy mindset will be of long term betterment of the community.

Empowering and mentoring “people of peace” to impact a community is more important than creating a personal ministry that is solely focused on the cross cultural worker.

Decentralization is imperative to promote personal ownership from local participants, freedom to discern, and give God all the glory.

Sickness, crisis, visa issues, furlough, retirement, and needing to raise more funding are just a few situations which reinforce the necessity to have a long term, legacy planning mindset.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last….” ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭16a‬ NIV

We must slow down our lifestyle for loving union with Jesus. Deep, lasting discipleship and empowering efforts takes time and allows for interruptions and new information. A slow, steady pace promotes the family, team and personal health (physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health) to thrive.

Regular weekly days off / sabbath (and fun!), yearly vacations and retreats along with normalizing and receiving furlough and sabbaticals allow the Lord to speak into our lives.

We value excellence and integrity. Work hard and do your best. Using clear communication, letting your "yes be yes, and your no be no," will a culture of truth telling and transparency.

Excellence and integrity must be used in financial dealings personally and professionally. Money is a tool to further the gospel while maintaining human dignity for all those involved. We must be vision driven and not budget (or needs) driven. Living off of raised support is a calling which requires accountability and transparency with financial dealings.

Integrity is not just for ministry or financial situations, but also home life. If personal life and ministry life are in conflict, it is important to find out why. Patterns of unhealth will not stay isolated for long and will begin to bleed into every area of life.

Being a witness of Jesus requires us to live life in front of others and if there is pain or unhealth, inconsistency and a lack of integrity, it may give Jesus a bad name.

Every person’s marital status and station in life is sacred and is to be cherished and valued (See Emotionally Healthy Leader book by Pete Scazerro and Sacred Siblings book by Sue Eenigenburg and Suzy Grumelot).

Singleness is sacred. In the new covenant, we are called to be fruitful and multiply spiritually. Spiritual children and legacy are important. How one leads out of their singleness is a testament to God’s goodness. Singleness has its challenges, so recognition from organizations and teams is imperative. Single people need to be encouraged to take care of their needs and hearts and not sacrifice that simply because they may have more time available than those married with children.

Marriage and children are sacred. Physical children and spouses are the most important relationships in someone's life and need to be of utmost priority. One's physical children are the most important people they will ever disciple. Marriage is a holy sacrament worth the time, effort, counseling, and money to invest in. Making one's home life a priority as it is how “the world will know you are a disciple, by how you love.” We do not condone sacrificing one's family and marriage on the altar of missions/ministry.

We believe that a “tov” (Hebrew for goodness) culture (see  A Church Called Tov book by Scot McKnight) is crucial for healthy work and ministry. There will be no narcissistic dominant leadership or exclusive or hierarchical behavior, no celebrity Christianity, god/savior complexes, "yes men", hiding of issues, or cultures of silence & fear created within cross cultural or national workers.

Developing a goodness culture of valuing all at the table (old, young, male, female, single or married, etc) ensures the dignity and value of every person involved. There should be no compromise on accountability for leaders, public apologies and consequences especially when it comes to financial or moral misconduct.

Perfection is not attainable, but a heart and desire to grow is a choice. One's consistent, healthy, choices to continually grow mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically is necessary for sustainability in ministry.

Mental health includes counseling, periodic stress evaluation, learning how to grieve well, process trauma, and understand their family of origin. Spiritual growth includes having an awareness of biblical Christian theology, working through spiritual walls and dark nights of the soul, having a mature theology of suffering, and making one's own spiritual growth and relationship with the Lord a priority. Emotional health entails the willingness to look at the pattern of one's behavior, seeing emotions as valid but not being a slave to them, and recognizing that emotional health and spiritual health cannot be separated (See Emotionally Healthy Spirituality book by Pete Scazerro). Physical health means valuing the one body that God has given you–taking care to get regular checkups, and striving to not ignore the body and its need for rest and care.