Reaching.
We are proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ to the spiritually lost in all the world through every available means.
The cutting edge of our mission has always been evangelism: To penetrate the darkness with the light of Christ’s gospel. Jesus made it compellingly plain. He is happier about the one lost sheep that is found than about the 99 that did not wander off.[i]
Our missionaries are challenged always to exemplify evangelism in their personal lives on the mission field regardless of their specialization—teaching, construction, or compassion ministry. Our missionaries must always share the light of the gospel personally with individuals who are in spiritual darkness.
Planting.
We are establishing churches in more than 200 nations following the New Testament pattern.
Unless those reached through evangelism are discipled, most will be lost. The Great Commission is to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”[ii] Our Lord also commanded, “Go and make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”[iii]
To obey our Lord’s command to make disciples, we are establishing churches in 200 nations. We are called not only to reap a worldwide harvest but also to help conserve it.
From the earliest years of our Fellowship, Assemblies of God missionaries have established churches that support and govern themselves. “Indigenous” means that something begins, grows, and lives naturally in its own setting or environment. Our mission is to plant local bodies of believers that will live and grow without dependency on the church that sent the missionaries. And as a church grows and matures, the missionary relationship progresses from spiritual parenting to spiritual partnering.
Training.
We are training leaders throughout the world to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to their own people and to other nations.
The apostle Paul told Timothy, “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”[iv]
From the beginning, the Assemblies of God has focused on training national believers. At present we have 865 Bible schools with more than 89,000 students. Because the heart of our mission is to establish churches that will endure, pastors are needed to care for those reached through evangelism.
Touching.
We are touching poor and suffering people with the compassion of Jesus Christ and inviting them to become His followers.
Rather than establishing a centralized relief agency, we have localized ministries of compassion led by people who have been called by the Holy Spirit to a specific area. The most effective distribution network for compassion ministries is the 258,000 local churches around the world. They are prepared not only to touch the needy in their areas with the compassion of Christ but to share with them the gospel and offer them a church . . . a spiritual family where they can grow in the Lord.
[i] Matthew 18:13
[ii] Mark 16:15
[iii] Matthew 28:19,20
[iv] 2 Timothy 2:2, NASB
