The Missions Blog

What Does BCMN Endorsement Mean to a Pastor?

A BCMN Endorsement tells a pastor that a missionary has been approved by a credible mission agency, and is a Biblical, Balanced, and Baptist missionary who is in agreement with BCMN’s Statement of Faith. (https://baptistcmn.org/Statement-of-Faith)

Biblical - BCMN Endorsed missionaries place a premium on preaching and teaching God’s Word. The Word of God is what the Spirit of God uses to work in the hearts of the people of God to accomplish the will of God in this world.

Balanced – BCMN Endorsed missionaries have a conviction that it is God’s plan to reach people of every demographic in all of the world through the ministry of the local church. Their focus is on evangelism, ministry and missions and avoiding the extremes and trends of popular cultural-based Christianity.

Baptist – BCMN Endorsed missionaries have a conviction that the distinctives that make us Baptists have both relevance and value in a time when Bible doctrine is taking a backseat to pragmatism, programs, and personality driven ministry. BCMN Endorsed missionaries embrace our historical Baptist heritage, not as a matter of nostalgia, but as a matter of Biblical conviction.

All endorsed missionaries fill out an application that explains their salvation experience, call to missions and agreement with BCMN’s Statement of Faith and BCMN’s Biblical, Balanced, and Baptist philosophy. Once the application is accepted, missionaries are sent a Strategic Report. The Strategic Report includes a missionary’s personal Statement of Faith and ministry plan. An updated Strategic Report is submitted to the BCMN board every year for review.  After receiving the application and Strategic Report the board of BCMN votes to endorse the missionary.

BCMN Endorsed missionaries also receive training and coaching.

Endorsed missionaries attend Missionary Communication Workshop. This is a five-day on-site workshop designed to help missionaries clearly communicate their call and passion for the mission field. At the workshop missionaries receive training in every aspect of communication including preaching, teaching, reporting to churches, Q&A’s, and support letters. For more information about the workshops go to www.aboundmissionaryservices.com.

Endorsed missionaries participate in Financial Coaching. Finances very often are stressful for everyone. Finances can be even harder on missionaries because they must handle personal income and ministry income. Just because God has called a person or couple to mission work does not mean that they have learned the principles of good money management. Lewis McClendon is a Certified Ramsey Solutions Financial Coach. He has the training to help missionaries identify problem areas in their finances, create a long term financial plan, and learn to live on a budget that the couple works together to create and maintain. This coaching is done in person or on Skype or FaceTime.

For more information about BCMN missionary endorsement contact Lewis McClendon at l.mcclendon@baptistcmn.org. (330) 575-0199

What Are the Benefits of BCMN Endorsement to Missionaries?

It is not always easy for a Baptist pastor to book a missionary in their church when they do not know the missionary. A missionary has the backing and support of their sending pastor and mission agency that provides them with credibility to a pastor they do not know, but is there any other organization that a Baptist pastor can look to for an additional endorsement of a missionary? Just as people are more likely to trust an accredited college or a product that has been tested by an independent company like Good Housekeeping, a Baptist pastor is more likely to invite missionaries he does not know well to his church if they have an endorsement from BCMN.

BCMN is a network of Baptist pastors who endorse missionaries who are in agreement with BCMN’s Biblical, Balanced and Baptist philosophy and their Statement of Faith. (https://baptistcmn.org/Statement-of-Faith). BCMN is not a mission agency that approves a missionary or processes their funds. All missionaries seeking endorsement must have the approval of a credible mission agency.

Biblical - BCMN Endorsed missionaries place a premium on preaching and teaching God’s Word. The Word of God is what the Spirit of God uses to work in the hearts of the people of God to accomplish the will of God in this world.

Balanced – BCMN Endorsed missionaries have a conviction that it is God’s plan to reach people of every demographic in all of the world through the ministry of the local church. Their focus is on evangelism, ministry and missions and avoiding the extremes and trends of popular cultural-based Christianity.

Baptist – BCMN Endorsed missionaries have a conviction that the distinctives that make us Baptists have both relevance and value in a time when Bible doctrine is taking a backseat to pragmatism, programs, and personality driven ministry. BCMN Endorsed missionaries embrace our historical Baptist heritage, not as a matter of nostalgia, but as a matter of Biblical conviction.

Baptist pastors receive many requests from missionaries from multiple organizations every week. They have a heart for missions and missionaries and desire to be a part of God’s plan to reach the world, but with all the requests they receive they have a hard time choosing a missionary that matches their Baptist distinctives. BCMN helps to build a missionary’s credibility with Baptist pastors by vetting, accountability, training and coaching.

Vetting – BCMN Endorsed missionaries who agree with BCMN’s Statement of Faith, and Biblical, Balanced, and Baptist philosophy.

Accountability – BCMN Endorsed missionaries submit a personal Statement of Faith and Strategic Ministry Plan each year.

Training – BCMN Endorsed missionaries attend Missionary Communication Workshop. This is a five-day workshop designed to help missionaries clearly communicate their call and passion for the mission field. At the workshop missionaries receive training in every aspect of communication including preaching, teaching, reporting to churches, Q&A’s, and written communication. For more information about the workshop go to www.aboundmissionaryservices.com.

Coaching – BCMN Endorsed missionaries participate in Financial Coaching. Lewis McClendon is a Certified Ramsey Solutions Financial Coach. He has the training to help missionaries identify problem areas in their finances, create a long term financial plan, and learn to live on a budget that the couple works together to create and maintain. This coaching is done in person or on Skype or FaceTime.

An endorsement from BCMN can go a long way in helping a missionary get a booking with a Baptist pastor. For more information contact Lewis McClendon at l.mcclendon@baptistcmn.org or (330) 575-0199.

 

Author: Lewis McClendon, BCMN Missions

I believe the greatest gift a church member can give a missionary is prayer. The finances needed to go a mission field and preach the gospel are important, but not more important than prayer.

Paul knew the value of prayer warriors. In Paul’s writings in the New Testament he asked for prayer five times. Every Christian should passionately and regularly pray for their missionaries because of four results only achieved through prayer.

Result #1 – Boldness Ephesians 6:19
Paul requested that his prayer warriors pray for him to have the boldness needed to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel. Boldness means fearless or confident freedom in speaking. Wherever Paul went he was in the minority. In a pagan world he needed the fearlessness to confidently tell people the good news.

Result #2 – Open Doors Colossians 4:3-4
Only prayer can open doors for the gospel. Paul had a passion to reach the lost. There is no telling what would happen in our world if we had Paul’s passion for the lost. But Paul knew he could not open someone’s heart for the gospel, and he wanted to be ready to act when God did. When Paul was in prison in Philippi, he was praying and singing when an earthquake hit. In that earthquake Paul saw God opening a door of opportunity to reach the jailer. As the jailer drew his sword to kill himself, Paul told him
there was no reason to do that because the prisoners were still there. His focus was not personal comfort – escape; his focus was on an opportunity to witness that came about because Paul’s prayer warriors were praying God would open doors for Paul to witness.

Result #3 – The gospel will spread rapidly II Thessalonians 3:1
Paul knew that if people prayed the Word would spread quickly throughout the world. We see from Paul’s travels that he got to see that happen. But Paul knew why. It was not just because he was traveling the world; it was in answer to his prayer warriors’ prayers.

Result #4 – Deliverance from those who oppose the gospel. II Thessalonians 3:2
Paul dealt with people who put up every road block they could. Missionaries face the same problem today. Countries are finding more ways to block missionaries from their country through visa restrictions. Families are using every tactic to keep a family member from trusting Christ as Savior. Paul knew the only answer to this is passionate, regular prayers of prayer warriors.

In Romans 15:30 Paul asked the Romans to strive together with him in prayers. Strive is an athletic word meaning to work hard together in a team sport. Ministry is not an individual activity. Paul is inviting people to get out of the stands and join him in the arena by praying for him. Spectators are not needed. When you pray for your missionaries you are jointly working hard together to reach the people God has called them to.

These four results can only be achieved through prayer. In I Thessalonians 5:25 Paul said it best. “’Brethren, pray for us.”

Author: Lewis McClendon, BCMN Missions

Sending churches and pastors are vital to God’s mandate to take the gospel to the world. Paul was sent out from the church at Antioch and reported to the church when he returned from his first missionary journey. Frequent communication between sending pastors and their sent missionaries is also vital. Sending pastors and sent missionaries can have better relationships by having a conversation that covers three vital issues.

The first vital issue is the expectations the pastor and church have of the missionary. We make a mistake if we think everyone thinks like we think. I talked to a pastor who had just finished a mission conference. He told me he was disappointed in the missionary because he did not preach a message on Faith Promise Missions Giving. My question to the pastor was, “Did you tell the missionary your expectation of a Faith Promise Missions Giving message?” He looked at me like he thought I was crazy and said, “Why should I have to tell a missionary to preach on Faith Promise Missions Giving at a mission conference?” He said that any missionary should know that if they speak at a mission conference they should talk about Faith Promise Missions Giving. If we don’t communicate our expectations, we are going to be disappointed often. Sending pastors don’t want to be disappointed with their sent missionaries. To prevent that from happening sending pastors can speak with and write down their expectations of their sent missionaries and then have follow up conversations with them to see how they are implementing his expectations. It may sound like an unnecessary conversation until you hear something from one of your sent missionaries that reveals they are not doing something that you thought they just knew they were supposed to be doing. A few expectations to discuss:

• the goal for fluency in the language of the country (husband and wife)
• the process used to plant a church
• how often the missionary plans to return to the United States

Another vital issue is the expectations sent missionaries have of the sending church. One new sending pastor told me of a missionary who told him that he expected his sending church to pay for his airfare whenever he needed to return to the United States, provide a car to drive, and a credit card for gas, food, and motels when he needed one. He also said if he died on the field the sending pastor was come to the field, get his family resettled and stabilize the church until a new pastor was called. The pastor told me he wished that conversation had taken place before he agreed to be the sending pastor. Sending churches come in all shapes and sizes. There are sending churches that could afford to do everything that missionary told that pastor he expected from them, but most could not do that. If every sending church had to qualify for that missionary’s expectations, there would be very few sending churches. Since every sending church is different a sending pastor should have a conversation about what the expectations of his sent missionaries are. Once this conversation takes place the missionary will not be disappointed in the sending pastor and church. Here are a few expectations to discuss:

• the amount of monthly financial support
• the help the sending church will or will not give to buy a car on the field or to a building project
• does the sending pastor plan to visit his sent missionary on the field
• how will the sending pastor help promote his sent missionaries to other churches and pastors
• what help will the sending church provide when his sent missionaries return on furlough, i.e. housing and transportation
• how long can or should a sent missionary spend at the sending church when he comes home for furlough before beginning to visit other churches
• How will the sending church minister to the missionary wife and children, on the field and when in the US

The third vital issue is what the missionary will do in case of a natural disaster or civil unrest. Missionaries in every country can experience both of these scenarios. If a hurricane hits or riots break out what is the plan for the missionary? When should a missionary stay and when should a missionary go? There is no set answer for this, but a basic plan can be discussed so there is a guideline for decisions that must be made in a hurry and when, for various reasons, the sent missionary cannot reach the sending pastor. Sometimes the greatest time of ministry can take place if the missionary stays and sometimes it is best for the missionary to leave. There are ways to get help in making those decisions:

• Ensure the missionary is registered with the US Embassy or Consulate in their country.
• talk to other sending pastors and missionaries about their plans
• talk to some mission agencies about any guidelines or plans they have for their missionaries
• talk to groups that train missionaries for civil unrest. One agency that does this is Fort Sherman Academy (www.fortsherman.org) It is recommended that every missionary have at least “A” level training. If there is any risk of civil unrest “B” and “C” level are recommended. The best answer is not always to get out, and that decision is best made before the problem arises.

A good marriage is a lot of work. A good working relationship between a sending pastor and a sent missionary is a lot of work too. The work is worth it. When all parties know all the expectations and plans have been made for natural disasters and civil unrest, no one has a conversation about how disappointed they are.