Bishop David Roller (To read more from Bishop Roller, visit fmcusa.org/davidroller.)
I’m always amazed when we don’t dive into the deep end of God’s plan to save the world. I’m amazed when we kick around in the shallow end, splashing a lot, but with little effect, missing the risk and rewards of deep water.
God’s plan to save the world, through the gift of His son, Jesus, is spectacularly open to your local church. Within my lifetime, I have observed the inversion of the world church membership. Today the international Free Methodist Church numbers thirteen-fourteenths of our worldwide body and the U.S. church only one-fourteenth!
Your church has international partners on an unprecedented scale. Your local church has partners you’ve never met who are fully vetted and trustworthy. These partners, who share your same convictions, are embedded in the parts of the world we call the “mission field.” You’re suddenly not alone in the deep end. You’ve got a buddy!
Don’t swim alone. That’s good advice at the beach and even better advice in global missions. There are sharks out there: charlatans, scammers and neophytes in the international scene who would be happy to “partner” with you in missions, but, at the end of the day, there wouldn’t be anything left for the kingdom.
We’ve set up a “shark screen” for you. Free Methodist World Missions has collected and compiled the high-potential ministry partners and projects into a portfolio of Country Support Accounts. CSAs are how U.S. churches can partner with the most vibrant and critical components of international FM ministries. CSAs are how we partner with evangelists and leaders who have demonstrated kingdom fruitfulness as well as vital ministries that directly result in church planting, leadership development or community transformation. CSAs are how we swim in the deep end with a buddy.
You’ll find CSA descriptions at fmwm.org under the “World Areas” tab. And when you’re ready to make a commitment to a partner, do that through the “Give” tab.
Don’t swim alone, but do swim.
