The Philosophy

The concept of partnership building is key to the Free Methodist Church’s philosophy of missions. Free Methodist missionaries are sent abroad in partnership with local churches and individuals as a means of fulfilling the Great Commission.

The missionary functions in a dual role, serving two distinctly different groups of people:

To the senders, missionaries are frontier soul-winners who communicate the gospel on their behalf to people in other nations, establishing the church abroad.

To those who receive the missionary, he or she is their evangelist or pastor, their teacher or doctor. Such questions as, “What is Jesus like?” are sometimes answered by another question, “What is the missionary like?”

Added to the awesome responsibility of representing Christ and the home church overseas, the receivers expect the missionary to represent them to the sending church.

Missionaries must develop a multicultural orientation. While it is never easy to fully interpret one culture to another, it is even harder to discern the boundaries between spiritual practice and cultural mores. The Holy Spirit must anoint the finest preparation and abilities of a missionary if Christ is to be made real to a lost world. 

The Process

Designed to be deliberate and effective, the Free Methodist extended-term missionary candidate process is grounded in the local church and/or conference, utilizing the depth of knowledge, administrative support and accountability framework of Free Methodist World Missions. The FMWM Director of Mobilization will coordinate the candidate process, and is available throughout to provide guidance, advice and coaching to candidates and those working with them.

Here is a general overview of how it works ...

Exploration/Qualification

• dialog with church and missions leadership
• pull together the partners
• formulate the plan

Evaluation/Affirmation

• application and assessments
• solidify support and accountability base
• interviews
• formal appointment

Preparation/Transition

• orientation and training
• partnership-building
• administrative wrap-up
• deployment

I'd like to request a phone appointment with a Mobilization representative.