tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211101819986436101.post3062282205705796831..comments2010-01-08T20:09:11.113-05:00Comments on Missions as Ecclesiology: Missions and the Local Church- A look at cooperative missions and missions sending orginizationsdwm IIIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789864109455705598noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211101819986436101.post-9065492360284651532007-01-15T14:22:00.000-05:002007-01-15T14:22:00.000-05:00Alan,
Thanks for the comment and questions!
In r...Alan,<br /><br />Thanks for the comment and questions!<br /><br />In realtion to your first point I want to thank you for bringing that to my attention. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with you, it is the church's responsability to do this and not an orginization. Thanks for clarifying that for me.<br /><br />In relation to your second point, I'll actually break it up into two seperate parts. First, if I understand your question correctly, you are asking if it is God's desire for a church to send missionaries, won't he provide for them? To that I would say, yes. However, I wouldn't want to deny help from other churches if they wanted to help out in this area especially for a church of say ten. But, I do feel that it should happen first on the associational level (I'm still working inside our present ecclesiastical structure as SBCers since I don't have a suggestion for a change). I do believe this would require a great deal of involvment and encouragement between these sister churches and the church that is receiving the help.<br /><br />Now, on to 100% support...<br />I do think that we tend to lean towards an unhealthy expectation that we should receive support for our missionary endeavors. Back when the IMB had its budget crisis Wes and I both talked about the idea of sending more missionaries who worked and supported themselves. We've even discussed that for ourselves and would be very willing to work where we go. The book Bruchko is a great example of someone who went with 0% of support. <br /><br />This past summer as we raised money for airfares and housing for our trip to KZ, we ran into some money problems. We only had about $50 dollars in our account after the tickets. This was two weeks before our trip, and we sent four people ahead of us, one of them being Wes' wife, and his two kids. I told them, we have to be prepared to live off of nothing when we are there. It also got me thinking, would I do some work for a day on a mission trip to raise money so the team I lead, or my family, can eat. Certainly, I think we should be willing in either case (short-term or long-term)to do so. So, while I don't have a problem with 100% support, if that support was removed I would have a problem with a missionary who quit after losing support. We do need to be willing to work.<br /><br />Dougalddwm IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04789864109455705598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211101819986436101.post-655893225353511092007-01-15T12:21:00.000-05:002007-01-15T12:21:00.000-05:00Dougald,
Once again, you've asked some good quest...Dougald,<br /><br />Once again, you've asked some good questions and offered answers. There are only a couple of points that I would disagree (or state differently).<br /><br />First, you said, "The church's mission is to spread the glory and gospel of God throughout all nations." This is true. However, I believe it is true because the church is the people of God and it is their responsibility to "spread the glory and gospel of God". This is not an organizational responsibility.<br /><br />Second, you said, "Cooperative missions is very important especially for those churches that cannot afford to send missionaries out on their own." I understand what you are saying. But, I have a question for you: If God desires for a church to "send missionaries" to you think he will also supply the resources? Could it be that we assume that some churches cannot afford to "send missionaries" because of what we assume that means (i.e. 100% support, the missionaries not working, etc.)?<br /><br />Just a couple of questions... hope you don't mind.<br /><br />-AlanAlan Knoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07452247058550736803noreply@blogger.com