Alma Mission Policy

Purpose of Alma Mission Policy

1. To define the Alma Mission vision and principles.
2. To ensure consistency and continuity over the course of time and changes to Alma Mission Committee members.
3. To establish criteria that will help determine how individuals are to be approved and supported, or how support is curtailed.
4. To provide guidelines for the most effective use of resources devoted to mission at Alma.
5. To establish a framework for ongoing mission contact and communication.

Mission Vision

The Biblical basis for Alma's Mission Program is:

1. To fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28: 18-20, Acts 1:8)
2. To honour God's calling on individuals in spreading the gospel and serving the church as their major occupation (Acts 13: 1-5, Acts 14:21-23)
3. To acknowledge God's heart in reaching out to a needy world (Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 25:34-46)
4. To proclaim and glorify God to the world. (1 Peter 2:9)

The Alma Mission Vision is consistent with the Alma vision, but may reach beyond the local sphere of influence of Alma community, and reaching people and ministry in different socio-cultural settings. Mission is the backbone of the Bible and a fundamental part/ responsibility of our Christian life'.

Strategy of Support

The desire is to have a well-rounded missions program that reflects both the biblical principles and God-directed concern of Alma church.

Therefore in considering a particular ministry, the Mission Committee will evaluate the following aspects of the proposed ministry;

Task

1. The sustainability of the ministry - is it well organised, planned and is a budget workable.
2. The scope of the proposed work - is it defined and sympathetic to the environment in which it is located.
3. The need for the work.
4. Are there any similar or existing ministries actively working in the area under consideration.
5. Type of ministry (church planting, evangelism, education and training, support, humanitarian). While it takes every area mentioned to "make disciples of all nations" it should be the goal of the local church to maintain both a priority in the actual winning, nurturing, and training of people as well as maintaining a balance of other specialised areas of ministry.

Person

1. New Candidate Consideration Priorities:
   1. Current member of Alma Church (a member of the church refers to a person with a minimum of two years of current active membership, with regular, faithful, church attendance, having exercised spiritual gifts in the ministry of the body, and a positive, on-going witness for Jesus Christ with non-believers.)
   2. Clear sense of God's calling on their lives and to this work
   3. Acknowledged gifting to carry out this work
   4. Exemplary and referenceable character within and outside the church

Also see Appendix B - Assessing Candidates

Organisation

1. General Affiliation:
   1. Should be with a mission board or agency, or already be a registered charity / mission in its own right
   2. The mission board or agency should be Bible believing and in agreement with the doctrinal statement of Alma Church

Expectations - Reporting & Communication

There is an expectation that each missionary will send a quarterly report to Alma detailing their work, prayer requests, etc. - see Appendix C. (This does not have to be specific to Alma but can be the same prayer letter/newsletter sent to all supporters). The purpose of this is to keep MT & LT informed about developments / issues / concerns that arise for them on the understanding that this will remain confidential (unless they specify otherwise). There might be individuals within Alma that supported people felt close to and could be a key link to 'filter' more sensitive information through, but this would depend on the missionary being able to identify such a person in the church.

Every 3 years a 3-yearly letter will be sent for completion to each missionary. This is a formal 'marking' of that period, reassessment, or anything from either side - our support is a 2-way relationship and that we would appreciate feedback from them as to how it's going etc. Financial support does not depend on receiving a report etc, but we would expect some sort of response. We would also expect a minimum of 3 yearly contact - visiting Alma and sharing in some way (homegroup visits/Sunday service/evening event etc) about their work.

Alma commits to communicating with missionaries through inclusion of them in regular Alma Mail communication. It is also intended that Home Groups 'adopt' missionaries and communicate / pray more regularly. As a church, Alma commits to praying for missionaries, specifically where there is a mission focus in services. Visiting missionaries once every 3 years will be planned if possible by a member of Alma / LT / MT.

Funding

The Alma Missions Committee shall consider funding of missionaries in consideration of:

1. The Missions Committee shall request details of the funding requirements of the individual(s), and determine the funding support possible from the Alma Mission budget.
2. Funding decisions are made with the following considerations:
   1. Alternative sources of funding available to the missionaries
   2. Affiliation of the missionaries to Alma (i.e. if the work of the missionaries has been known to Alma for many years and the vision for involvement is core to Alma Mission work, the level of support may be higher)
   3. The work is a 'faith work' and is not fully funded by commercial or other agencies
3. The Missions Committee may recommend a one-time gift to a missionary or Missions agency.
4. Financial Support for Adults/Young People from Alma attending Bible Institute, Bible College, Seminary. It will be the desire of the Missions Committee to propose to the church body to financially support a person, couple, including college age young people who are doing intensive study in the Bible (Bible Institute) and/or pursing training for Ministry or Missions. The amount of support will be determined by the Missions Committee, understanding that it will be meant to primarily encourage the pursuing of God's call.

Termination of Support

Decisions related to curtailment of financial support for missionaries will be considered as a result of:

1. Lack of communication / reports from the missionary as defined above
2. Retirement - Missions Committee will look at each retiring missionary on a case by case basis to determine need. The need will be determined by contacting their Mission Board and communicating with the missionary him/herself. The Committee would consider support on some level
3. Evaluation of status should be made yearly by requesting annual reports
4. When a missionary significantly changes fields, responsibility, or Mission Board - dependent on scope of change
5. Personal health problems, family considerations, support problems, educational study
6. Doctrinal concerns or Mission Board problems
7. Extended furlough or leaves of absence
8. Student has withdrawn from their program of study

If these expectations are not met or MT / LT has other concerns, a process of email contact will be attempted with the individual/s and/or organisation involved to address these, followed by a letter (if the issues are still not resolved) indicating that failure to address the issues will result in termination of support at the end of the 3 year cycle. N.B. We will seek to strengthen and maintain partnerships as much as possible, but we do expect that they will be partnerships.

Short Term Missions

We will support people from Alma on short term missions projects:

1. The Missions Committee will approve selected individuals, destinations and/or projects to be funded annually from the Missions budget
2. To encourage the most church participation, the Alma Missions Committee will only usually fund a maximum of two people on a returning trip to the same overseas destination although this can be changed at the discretion of the MT
3. We will also support people through prayer and help supply some necessary items for the mission trip if appropriate
4. Short-term mission work will be a line item in the annual budget
5. The funding amount will usually be divided equally by the number of people traveling, although this may depend on where people are going and what they are doing, for how long, couple, single, family etc.

Responsibilities of Alma Missions Committee Members

1. To prepare an annual budget for the Missions program at Alma to be recommended to the LT
2. To pray as a Committee for missions and to be actively seeking to educate the different areas of the church about missions and elicit involvement in the overall missions program where possible
3. To ensure that the church is kept informed about missionaries and mission projects supported by Alma
4. To oversee Home Groups adopting specific missionaries who they support through prayer, communication and 'adopt' as their own
5. To plan and organise mission Sunday morning services as requested by the LT or on request of the MT
6. To liaise with returning missionaries to organise opportunities to share with the congregation regarding their activities
7. To liaise with Mission Boards to ensure that Alma missionaries are adequately prepared to embark on their mission work and cared for on their return
8. Interview and recommend to the LT new missionaries and any changes to support of existing missionaries, including termination of support