Chapter 3: Setting up a Faith Promise Strategy

The following steps should be taken to set up a Faith Promise Strategy:

Firstly, it is essential to do research to find out where and how your church is currently involved in missions. Its missions involvement should then be evaluated to see if it is relevant and balanced. Often, due to a lack of strategy, the church has become involved in whatever has come its way.

Annexure A (Research Document) will help you pinpoint the church's present activities. Please take it out and complete it, at this stage.

Secondly, ensure that this handbook and the preceding chapters have been read and understood by the pastor and leaders of the church.

• Call a special meeting of the church leadership.
• Ask God to confirm in the hearts of the leaders the need for the church to be involved in missions.

Thirdly, decide on a mission strategy for the church covering the four-fold scope of mission responsibility. Completing Annexure B (Church Missions Strategy) will assist you in doing this.

Fourthly, the church leadership must ask the Lord where they should be involved. This could differ, depending on which of the four areas of the mandate is in question. For example, it may be decided to reach the poor in Jerusalem, plant churches in Judea and train leaders in Samaria.

The following list of the vital areas of missions' involvement may be of assistance:

• Bible Translation
• Literature Printing and Distribution
• Children's Ministry
• Resource Agencies
• Reaching Unreached People Groups
• Youth Ministry
• Sending Agencies
• Relief and Development (poor)
• Bible Distribution
• Church Planting
• Researching a specific People Group e.g
• Frontier Missions
• Networking Agencies
• Farm Workers; Taxi drivers; Medical Workers
• Evangelism
• Leadership
• Cross-cultural Church Planting
• Tentmaking

Annexure C also lists the main areas of missions' involvement, but there may be other areas deemed necessary and relevant. Please add where necessary.

Fifthly, after prayerful consideration of the "Vital Areas of Missions Involvement", the leadership should determine where the church's principal and secondary involvement for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth should be.

Annexure D (The Proposed Involvement) can now be completed. (Do NOT consider budgets at this time.)

Finally, decisions have to be made. Using the information outlined in Annexures A - D, Annexure E (Proposed Area of Support) can be completed for each missionary or mission organisation. Once these have been completed, it is time to decide to whom the church will commit itself.

Make your own photocopies of Annexures A - E.