The Church in Mission

In October, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will initiate Mission Challenge ‘07, an effort to put PCUSA missionaries in over 120 presbyteries to share with the denomination our witness to Christ around the world. Don’t wait for a phone call or letter concerning this event. Begin to plan and make contacts already to make this an event that promotes and furthers our witness to Christ through the World Mission Program Unit (new name) of our denomination. You can find more information HERE!

Technorati: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian mission

From Dennis Smith, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) co-worker in Guatemala, for the information and comments of mission personnel who receive groups.

Do No Harm
A Contemporary Reflection on Missiology

Here’s the bottom line: These days most local churches have decided that mission is too important to be left to their denomination. Now, most churches keep the money that used to finance denominational mission efforts and send it directly to their mission partners, or they go and do mission themselves.

That means that your mission committees have become, in effect, Boards of Local, National and World Mission.

What does this mean on the ground? Maribel, my wife, and I are PC(USA) missionaries. That means we work for you. Our salary is paid by our denomination. If you don’t send mission money to the PC(USA), we’ve got a problem! I’ve been a PC(USA) missionary for 29 years. Our current term ended in October, 2006. Cedepca, the PC(USA) mission partner we work for, requested that we be reappointed for a new 5-year assignment. In August we heard from Louisville that we would only be reappointed for 20 months. The reason? Money. Continue Reading »

Here is another reflection on short-term mission trips by local churches from the perspective of who goes. Hope this is helpful…

Are Short-Term Mission Trips Worth It?

by Dale Meador

Are short-term mission trips worth it? That question has again been much on my mind, inasmuch as I have just returned from one. Along with six other friends from our church, my brother Gil and son Stephen and I went for two weeks to Santarem, Brazil. In the heart of the Amazon River basin, Santarem is home to Project Amazon (PAZ), an effective church-planting ministry to which Bear Creek Church has enjoyed warm ties for five or six years. In support of PAZ’s diverse ministries (medical/dental boats, water filters, health education, Bible teaching, leadership development, and the planting of more than 300 churches, to name a few) we built 31 heavy wooden seats to be used in a leadership training facility (built by another, earlier team from BCC) in the small river village of Prainha, to which we sailed and where we assembled the seats.

Are short-term mission trips worth it? The question is reasonable and one I struggled with myself, before I had ever been on such a trip. After all, this trip was grueling and not inexpensive. Figured one way, it was 8 people x 64 hours of air travel (round-trip) each, including 18 take-offs or landings + 17 hours of boat travel (again, round-trip) to cover just 110 miles of ocean-like river. The total cost of the trip itself was about $16,000, a figure that includes the material used in the manufacture of the 31 benches (really, more like pews than benches). Continue Reading »

Recently. I received the following review from the World Mission Program Unit of the PCUSA concerning mission trips taken by local congregations. It may be of some use to your group, if you are considering a trip. I will post another view as well, but here is this one from the former president of the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church in Peru, Rodrigo Maslucan:

Short Term Missions in Peru: Analysis and Proposals

Introduction

Five years ago, I had the desire to meet foreign missions groups that were coming to help our church. The Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church of Peru (IEPRP), of which I am a pastor, began to have a relationship through personal contacts with the PC(USA) in 1997, developing in the city of Iquitos and the church of Moyobamba.

As a result of a negative experience in Iquitos, the church felt the need to communicate with the PC(USA). It was regarding a problem that happened because of inadequate missiological principles, and the inadequate guidelines that were used by some short-term missionaries sent by an NGO independent of the PC(USA).

Thanks to the invitation from Dr. Paredes, director of the Andean Amazon Evangelic Center of Missiology, to participate in a case study on short-term missions under the direction of Dr. Robert Priest, director of the doctorate on missiology of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I was able to take an up-close look at what short-term missions are, and what impact they have in Peru.

In this paper I will present a simple analysis and proposal for the church regarding short-term missions, with the end of giving a detailed contribution about what is happening in Peru and what guidelines should be followed for the future, especially with regard to the IEPRP and the PC(USA), and churches from other countries. Short-term missions are a new phenomenon in the US, Canada, and European countries. How did short-term mission originate? Why did it originate? What are the positive and negative aspects that it poses for long-term career missionaries? What are the new mission ideologies and how do we understand them in the context of globalization and post-modernity? What are the challenges posed to the churches and Theological Institutions regarding missiology that are being investigated? Because of the length of such questions, I will not be able to cover all of this. May the Lord illuminate the missiologists to investigate these mission models to help the churches with the objective of improving short-term missions, and giving a challenge to the theological institutions. Continue Reading »