A program to recruit and sponsor missionary volunteers from local Seventh-day Adventist churches, who will spend six months to two years in field service, was approved at the world church's annual business meetings on Oct. 13.
A program to recruit and sponsor missionary volunteers from local Seventh-day Adventist churches, who will spend six months to two years in field service, was approved at the world church’s annual business meetings on Oct. 13.
“Chosen—To Go, To Serve, To Save” is the title for the effort, developed by associate church secretary Vernon B. Parmenter and his colleagues in the church’s volunteer ministries.
The document which was presented to the delegates states that the proposed program “provides opportunity for missionary volunteers to be sent to places all over the world, particularly to those countries where the local church administration cannot afford to pay for insurance costs, as in the current Adventist Volunteer Service plan.” Small churches, the program indicates, “may prefer to team up with another church or group of churches” to raise funds and select a “Chosen” missionary volunteer.
Introducing the new program, Parmenter said that such missionary activity leads to increased financial support of church work; involvement in lay ministry back home; and the changed lives of volunteers.
Missionaries can work overseas or in their own church regions, lowering costs and easing contextualization concerns. Sponsorship would be all-inclusive of financial, spiritual and physical support. Possible projects would include church planting, visitation, public evangelism, teaching, medical and dental care, and other tasks.
The proposal spells out specialized training needs to make the program achieve the its objectives, including appropriate cross cultural training for the participating volunteers.
Dr. Jairong Lee, president of the Northern Asia-Pacific region of the church, was among speakers enthusiastically endorsing the measure, saying that it builds on a program he started in his region, the “One Thousand Missionary Movement,” which in 10 years has yielded 28,000 baptisms. He cited the example of another religious organization noted for its missionary endeavor and urged a family culture of mission be developed within Adventist homes, with children encouraged from their youth to plan to spend a year or two on the mission field.
Endorsing the plan, also, was Patricia Jo Gustin of the Institute of World Mission at Andrews University: “I praise the Lord for the vision this plan demonstrates,” she said.
Matthew Bediako, world church secretary, said the plan was “something [that] needs to be done.” Eight years ago, the church established the Adventist Volunteer Center with a goal of deploying 10,000 volunteers, but this has not been reached, he said.
“We feel this [new program] will help us get a pool of long term missionaries,” Bediako said.
Despite questions about overlapping with other programs and whether finances will be found for the program, delegates voted overwhelmingly in favor of the new effort. They apparently agreed with Roscoe J. Howard III, secretary of the North American region of the Adventist Church, who said, “If we have a passion for mission, God will supply the resources.”
It is proposed that the program would be launched at the world church session in 2005 in St. Louis, Missouri; an estimated $164,400 will be required to start the program, Parmenter said.
