Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.
2 Tim 4:11 (ESV)
It's been a blessing to see how God can use short-term missions to lead people on to further service as a Missionary Associate! OP mission fields in Asia, Czech Republic, Haiti, Japan, Quebec, Uganda, and Uruguay have all welcomed MA's who were introduced to missions through short-term missions.
Every S.T.O.R.M. Report includes an update on Missionary Associate openings. This month, we focus exclusively on these openings, which include a November 1st
deadline for applicants who may be interested in serving in Asia starting in February 2017. If you have contemplated service as a Missionary Associate but need to know a little more about it, we are taking this opportunity to provide some details for you.
The objectives of MA service are:
- to assist a foreign Mission in its evangelistic outreach and other tasks
- to test an individual's gifts for long-term service as a foreign missionary
- to enrich the MA’s life for greater service as a member of
their local church
Basic requirements for service as an MA are:
- communicant membership in good standing in an OP church or church of like faith and practice
- personal doctrinal convictions that align with Reformed theology
- availability to commit to at least three months, though preferably one or two years, of service
Specific duties of the
MA are:
- determined by the Mission according to its needs, the cultural situation, and the gifts of the MA
The MA application procedure includes:
- completion of forms required by the Committee on Foreign Missions
- assessment of the applicant's training and experience to determine if he or she is qualified for the tasks assigned by the Mission
- approval by the Candidates Committee in consultation with the Mission
- potential field-specific requirements
Upon acceptance as an MA the candidate will be encouraged to:
- begin working through a suggested reading list for field orientation
- spend the first month or two on the field in concentrated language study
On the field, the MA will:
- be expected to accept the authority and direction of the Mission
- report on his or her work at each regular meeting of the Mission
Financial considerations for the MA:
- the Committee on Foreign Missions does not provide salary, housing, fringe benefits, or travel funds for the MA
- the Committee and the Mission will help the MA develop a personal budget
The Mission
helps the MA by:
- making arrangements for language study
- helping to find housing
- providing orientation to the culture and history of the country, the status of Christianity in that area, and the current work of the Mission
- supervising the MA's work on the field
- providing fellowship with the Mission families
Contact:
All inquiries regarding MA service may be directed to Rev. Douglas Clawson, Associate General Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Missions, at: