The most effective missionary organization

John

Are you with Campus Crusade? You may have mentioned it earlier in the thread. I love that organization - I came to Christ as a result of it in my High School (back in the 70s - dont think they are in high schools any longer), we supported a couple folks with them over the years. I believe that Roger Bruehl is still with CCC, they are old family friends

 

Hello, Gentlemen (I assume you are! ).

We are with Baptist World Mission, a church-planting faith mission.

CCC may be doing a good job--somewhere in Japan! However, I checked the JEMA (Japan Evangelical Missionary Assoc.) directory of virtually all Protestant missionaries in Japan, and don't find CCC represented by anyone. I have a 1980 directory in which there were 5 CCC missionaries here, but my 1994 one also has no one listed.

Jimmy, were the Bruehls in Japan?

 

John

No - I believe that the Bruehls are in the administrative/executive side of CCC. When I say El Guero's comment I thought you might know them. But, I will continue to pray for you and your mission over there!

 

By that do you mean missionaries, board and staff or something else? IOW, how does this 50% of the CP break down in its use by the IMB? </font>[/QUOTE]I don't have the precise IMB budget from CP funds but the administrative costs are covered under these funds. In addition to admin costs, these funds are used handling the candidate recruitment/screening process, candidate training (both at the beginning and throughout a missionary's career, literature, retirement and medical funding, and of the other expenses that would be incurred by the individual missionaries if they did the "deputation" track.

Again, separate from the cooperative program funding, an entire annual offering goes to the missionaries (in recent years it has been between $110 million and $125 million).

 

You never heard of a missionary turning down prayer. Thanks and God bless!

 

Thanks for your prayers, Jimmy. (Got busy, forgot about your kindness here.)

 

Trying to get into the IMB as a missionary is like applying to the secret service. I looked into it when I attended undergrad school at Southeastern in Wake Forest. They won't even look twice at you as a career missionary unless you have a M.Div. If you don't have one then you have got to go out as somekind of short term person or something.

Also, they even do a credit check.

They should. I have personally witnessed the lies to get to the top or get a position the person wants. I have been in some very large businesses which have had churches on the overdue list. A friend of mine recently sold his Bible bookstores and told me that those who are the worst about paying their bills on account are pastors.

I don't hate the SBC or anything of the sort but if you've been involved at all in SBC life you'll know that there is plenty of totem pole climbing , good ole boy stuff that goes on near the top of the convention.

Just take a look at who Patterson has hired recently at SWBTS and who Moehler has hired at SBTS. They have hired an enormous amount of non-Baptists and those dispensationalisst who have graduated from DTS.

RlVaughn makes a good point. As well as the SBC may take care of its missionaries I promise you that they could do way more if they could cut back on the eminities of the fat cats back at headquarters.

Politics man, politics. Gotta have a good image.

I have friends that are stateside missionaries with the NAMB. He has to work a side job along with trying to plant a church and take care of his 4 kids. His wife is working as well.
In the ole SBC the cream always rises to the top.

I have been there and done that. During that time I was asked to go to a very tough area. During that time I got the church up to the best it had ever been and the SBC folks told me how to do things. When I started thinking that the person who was directing had probably never planted a church I asked him to tell me about the churches he planted. He had not planted one church. The next church plant I dealt with the church planter coordinator who had never even pastored. By this time I had replanted one and planted two churches and realized I was dealing with a person who knew little and was only repeating what he was told at Nashville.

Now let us sit back and see who wins the battle over requirments or disqualifications for missionary candidates.

In Texas I knew an elderly man who the IMB had turned down many years earlier so the local churches decided to support him on his own. He has been in that country for about 40 years now and is doing a fantastic work which God has blessed tremendously.

 

I am late getting to this thread but I wanted to add my reply to several other excellent replies to John Of Japan's comments. I have been a missionary witht the IMB for over 20 years. I have enjoyed great fellowship and often cooperation in ministry with many "faith" missionaries. I respect their faithfulness and their sacrifice. We are also faith missionaries. We have faith that Southern Baptist churches will continue to support us through the several giving channels they have available. We all have to be a member of a Southern Baptist Church and that church must give their approval to allow us to serve. We do receive financial support from all SBC churches who contribute. I have to speak in many churches when I am home on deputation and those churches get to know me personnaly and pray for me. I write prayer letters when I am on the field to many churches and people.
There are often many differences in the way we serve in different parts or the world. We do not have field councils for each country. There are administrative structures that keep us accountable and oversee our work to make sure we are faithful in our service. These are not perfect methods and we continually look for ways to improve them. In our country the missionaries do not arrive with a house and car waiting on them. I know other mission groups with far nicer houses and cars than us.
I want to say again I am not opposed to "faith" based missions but I want to give a couple of extreme examples of problems they may face. Several times through the years those of us in other mission groups in our country have taken up offerings to help pay medical expenses or for a ticket home for someone in a "faith" mission whose home church dropped their support because a new pastor came or because they got tired of supporting that missionary. I know two families with the same organization. One had more support than needed the other not enough. The one whose support was low often had trouble buying food but the one whose support was greater would not share with the other because he felt that the other's faith was just not great enough. This misisonary was a good speaker and very charismatic but not effective as a missionary. The last two months before he returned for deputation I watched him work on a pedicab that he was building and preparing to take home with him. He hardly ever left his compound because his national church pastor told him he didn't want to work with him any more. He told me that when he pulled up to the home churches with that pedicab he would let the kids ride in it around the parking lot and that way they would remember him and give him support. I admit I have not known any other exampe like that but it can happen.
I want to reply to Dr. Bob. His worry about all the liberals at the IMB is not very informed. There were far less than 10% who did not sign the recent BF&M. I don't know of any who failed to sign because of theological problems except for some who objected to the addition of the clause saying only a woman could pastor a church that was added to the new statement. All that I knew objected because they felt our leaders had betrayed them and were using this as a way to attack their integrity.