Overview
Biblical missions across the world exists for the glory of God, which is also the supreme goal of history. As the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1:6, 12, God saves sinners through His Son “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” This is, therefore, the church’s mandate: to command that people from all ethnicities, tongues, tribes, and nations worship Jesus Christ as Lord. It is certainly to their personal benefit that people become worshippers of Jesus Christ. The greater purpose, however, of gospel proclamation across the world is that God be glorified (Habakkuk 2:14). The great missionaries in church history are those whom God blessed as they renounced the utilitarian view of God and made their gospel ministry focus first on emphasizing God’s glory and not principally on the gospel’s benefits for mankind (examples: William Carey, David Brainerd, Henry Martyn).
Operationally, the Holy Spirit is the primary agent and power of missionary work (Acts 11:1-4). Yet the Holy Spirit works through human agents in the proclamation of truth. As seen in this first New Covenant missionary endeavor, the ideal missionary is one of the experienced and mature believers in a local church congregation, as opposed to a new Christian who has little life experience. Also, ideally, the local church selects, evaluates, and sends God-called individuals to serve in missions. A doctrinally and philosophically sound missions agency can help facilitate certain aspects of a missionary’s ministry. However, the local church bears the ultimate responsibility for determining qualifications and for the ongoing shepherding of missionaries.
Those who are sent out into the mission field by a local church should be Spirit-filled individuals who clearly exemplify godly character and spiritual maturity. They should be committed to prayer, the authority of Scripture, demonstrate a persevering trust in God’s sovereignty and care, be able to articulate the Spirit’s call as a basis for being commissioned by the local church, and show giftedness appropriate to the specific ministry work they will be performing in the missions effort. In addition, missionaries must be in agreement with the doctrinal statement and philosophy of ministry of their sending church. All this requires that a candidate be properly observed by his/her sending church leaders. In keeping with this principle, TCBC will take the necessary steps to ensure that the qualifications of any supported missionary have been appropriately confirmed.
It is this level of responsibility and accountability in the ministry that prompted the Apostle Paul to exclaim: “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor 2:16)
TCBC Support
Twin City Bible Church desires to support missionaries who meet the above guidelines, who use the Scriptures as a blueprint for their missions work, and who agree with the TCBC doctrinal statement.
Accordingly, TCBC will consider support of a missionary according to these categories:
TCBC Provides Four Primary Categories of Missions Support
- Prayer.
- Encouragement and shepherding (financial support may or may not be necessary).
- One-time financial gifts to meet specific needs.
- Regular financial support.
For each of these categories, the Twin City congregation will be kept informed of the missionary’s needs and prayer requests.
It is also the desire of the elders to periodically encourage visits to regularly supported missionaries in the field, either by the elders, deacons, or by sending church members. These visits will be for the purpose of encouraging the missionary, learning more about their ministry, and exposing members of the TCBC congregation to the missions effort around the world.
Types of Ministries Receiving Monthly Financial Support
There are six types of missions endeavors that TCBC will consider supporting financially on a regular basis:
- Theological and Ministry Training. This includes providing doctrinally sound material to trainees and church leaders. This training will focus on helping men become pastors and church planters, whether in the United States or abroad in other countries.
- Church Planting/Church Strengthening/Pastoral Ministry.
- Evangelism and Discipleship.
- Bible Translation.
- Administrative Support.
- Care of Retired Missionaries.
Of these six opportunities, TCBC will prioritize the training of nationals in their respective countries.
Overall Financial Support Principles
Amounts given either as one-time gifts or as regular support will be determined by the elders of TCBC and will be based upon specific needs.
TCBC will always strive to grow in its focus on missions, and as well will continually pursue increasing its financial support of effective missions endeavors.
2018