“When a person works for God, he [or she] must continually ask, ‘Am I doing all that I can?’” That’s a question Vernon Parmenter, director of Adventist Volunteer Center, posed at the beginning of a DVD outlining ‘His Hands,’ a new Seventh-day Adventist church lay initiative that outlines one way to ‘Tell the World,’ particularly in locations where there is currently little or no Adventist presence, while maintaining strong congregations at home.

The project, as Parmenter broadly outlined it for Annual Council delegates, is “a vision for the 21st Century church uniting in prayer and seeking God’s guidance in mobilizing His people.” Specifically, it is based in local congregations and calls for lay people to sponsor and send missionaries around the world, in addition to hosting them at home.

Fundamentally, ‘His Hands’ is a missionary swap. Local churches would choose a missionary project and select a church member to serve as a missionary. In exchange, they would receive a fulltime ‘His Hands’ volunteer to assist their local congregation as an evangelist, assistant pastor, youth leader, Bible worker, or as otherwise needed.

Parmenter believes it is a lack of funds—not a lack of enthusiasm—that often halts volunteer missionary endeavors. ‘His Hands,’ he says, will help solve that problem by empowering church lay people—elected to ‘His Hands’ commissions by their respective church boards—with the responsibility of ensuring one missionary is sent to the field.

Parmenter noted a group of businessmen from churches in Nigeria, who, having already sponsored 10 new missionaries following the model proposed by ‘His Hands,’ are “leading the way.” “Imagine what could be done if every existing Adventist church and institution sponsored and sent one missionary overseas. We would have tens of thousands of missionaries serving in the world where today we have hundreds,” said Parmenter, illustrating the potential of ‘His Hands.’

It is around a set of basic principles that guided the early Christian church that ‘His Hands’ revolves, Parmenter said. These include a firm rooting in local congregations and small groups, the vital components of prayer and the Holy Spirit’s influence, and members who feel compelled to share the Gospel with the world. Quoting a passage from the New Testament, Parmenter said the early church “laid hands on [its missionaries] and sent them on their way,” a concept he benchmarked ‘His Hands’ on.

“It’s so easy to lose sight of what we’ve been called to do [as a church],” said Global Mission director Gary Krause. “But if we lose sight of mission, then our church dies.”

Ted Wilson, a general vice president for the world church, said ‘His Hands’ will rally church members around that common goal. Inspiring them to “share Christ and invite people to prepare for His soon coming,” he said the initiative “provides a dynamic way for members to respond to the Holy Spirit’s call.”