about our ministry …
Church Planting & Development Coordinator
BAPTIST MID-MISSIONS – North America
We have the privilege of working alongside our Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries in church-planting efforts all across our continent, helping in the following areas:
Serving as coach, counselor and adviser to church planting missionaries, seeking to strengthen the mission churches and help them move forward toward completion. Church planting work can be hard and lonely. When you are fighting just to keep your head above water, you often cannot see the path and the goal ahead with the same clarity as when you started. Sometimes it makes a difference just to have someone to help you analyze your thoughts or give you a fresh perspective on things. We are burdened to see our mission churches develop faster and finish stronger.
Helping advance church-planting ministries by recruiting and training new missionaries, and by nurturing partnerships with local churches, church fellowships and schools. Our population continues to grow, people are migrating to urban areas in the South and West, and immigrants from all over the world are moving into our neighborhoods. Yet, at the same time, in the USA each year we are closing the doors of around 4,000 churches. The needs are increasing while we are falling father behind. We must work harder at fulfilling our commission in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, not just in the uttermost parts of the earth.
Overseeing the implementation of a comprehensive plan for church planting and development in North America through Baptist Mid-Missions. Throughout our years of service, while there certainly was interest in the work of others, there were many times when our vision did not extend beyond our own ministry and our weekly routine. Now, while each of our missionaries is concentrating on his local ministry, we are able to focus on the big picture of what needs to be done all across the continent.
Assisting churches in reaching out to their Hispanic communities. Twenty years of ministry in Mexico have given us a love for the Latin people and an understanding of their culture. As the need continues to grow across our land, our desire is to be used of God to promote and help churches develop a ministry to Hispanic people in their community.
Coordinating the efforts of our church-planting team so as to maximize our effectiveness. It is our belief that God can accomplish more when a team spirit is fostered among His servants. We have seen God use us to help put together missionary teams that can result in great ministry progress.
MISSIONARY STATUS – We continue to represent those who have sent us out into God’s harvest work. While some have assumed that our current assignment is a salaried, staff position, there are some reasons why in this ministry we continue to serve and receive our support as missionaries. First, that is where our heart is—our burden has been and continues to be involvement in active missionary ministry. Secondly, our missionary status is key to being able to effectively help our church planters. When we visit our team members, we are not seen as the “Boss checking up on them,” but as coworkers who are there to help. We continue to trust God for our personal and ministry needs, seeking to be faithful where He has placed us and desiring that our service be used to make a difference in His work for His glory.