All Saints Church International Missions

The purpose of international mission outreach at ASC is to advance the Gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom of God among the nations. We believe international mission as an essential element of our collective ministry enabling us to contribute to and to be blessed by unique aspects of God's Kingdom. ASC international mission strives to be relational, fostering meaningful and deepening relationships with our supported ministries; holistic, touching both the eternal (i.e., gospel) and the material (i.e., mercy); and culturally-relevant. With humility, we recognize each supported ministry as a partner in the Kingdom; we expect to "receive" as much as we strive to "give." Our mission seeks a multi-faceted engagement with missionaries, involving not only financial contributions but also church-wide undertakings that touch and enrich various aspects of life at ASC.

 


 

Guiding Principles for International Mission
All Saints Church, Chapel Hill - Durham

Mission
To help advance the Gospel of Jesus
and the Kingdom of God among the nations.

 

Guiding Principles:

  • Balance: Striving to maintain outreach to the unreached and to the persecuted alongside partnerships with Christian entities
  • Quality: Aiming to be concerned more about the quality of our partnerships rather than their quantity.
    Aiming for a smaller number of ministries to avoid spreading ourselves too thin
  • Compatibility: Aiming to support ministries with explicit doctrinal orthodoxy as well as theological compatibility with ASC and AMiA
  • Holism: Supporting ministries embodying both eternal compassion (ie, gospel) and material compassion (ie, mercy), seeking a holistic approach toward ministry
  • Diversity: Seeking geographical diversity in the supported ministries
  • Alliance: When appropriate, seeking to partner with other Christian institutions (eg, other churches, ASC member institutions) toward a more effective ministry
  • Economy: While aiming to best allocate our resources toward greater “gain,” at the same time not limiting our support to ministries that produce the “most bang for the buck;” recognizing that our “economy” might differ from that of the Lord
  • Indigenousness: Giving preference for reaching, discipling, equipping, empowering and supporting indigenous ministers of the gospel
  • Engagement: Seeking a multi-faceted engagement in the missions we support,not only by financial contributions but also by church-wide undertakings that touch and enrich various aspects of church life at ASC
  • Relationality: Seeking deep relational connections with supported ministries while expecting our missionaries to also maintain a relational approach in their outreach and ministry
  • Partnership: Recognizing each supported ministry as a partner in the Kingdom, not a recipient, nor a hired hand
  • Humility: Recognizing partnership as a “two-way street,” expecting to receive while aiming to give, avoiding a “West is best” mentality as we have much to learn from others in humility
  • Control: Minding the partner’s need, not limiting our aid to our agenda
  • Consistency: Aiming to be consistent with our local initiatives (eg, reaching out to international students, local Muslims, local ethnic churches and minorities)
  • Reliance: Relying on the Lord in all the activities and decisions of the team
  • Confirmation: Recognizing the fact that the leading of the Spirit is often reconfirmed through different means and people
  • Anticipation: Anticipating, trusting, and respecting each member of the team and trusting the prompting of the Spirit that might be brought forward
  • Stewardship: Seeking to be good stewards of the ASC resources; expecting our supported ministries to be good stewards of the gifts that they receive
  • Accountability: Recognizing that our decisions and activities are subject to review by the ASC pastoral leadership team
  • Transparency: Seeking to have all international outreach activities be fully transparent to the larger ASC body