A New World, A New Kind of Mission
The following Covenant World Mission staffing plan was approved in principle by the world mission committee on March 11, 2006. The following directors will lead the four major divisions of the department of world mission who, along with the executive minister, will manage the day to day operations of the department.
Administration and Finance
Develop and oversee the budget of the department. Coordinate all aspects of missionary services and finances needed for each country of service and for each missionary. Assist missionaries with housing, vehicles, visas and budgets. Approve and monitor all special project funds. Oversee the development and monitoring of annual budgets for all countries of service. Transmit all funding and services from the department of world mission to all missionaries and areas of service and communicate such transactions with regional a country coordinators.
Byron Amundsen, director
David Person, finance manager
Missionary Personnel
Recruit, assess, train, orient and sustain missionaries serving international ministries on behalf of Covenant World Mission. Provide pastoral care for missionaries and their families including the implementation of a member care program. Implement an annual reporting and goals review process for sustaining ministry excellence. Oversee the missionary itineration in local churches. Help missionaries anticipate, plan and process life transitions including reassignment, resignation or retirement. Develop ways to celebrate and honor missionaries for their ministry service.
Baxter & Margie Swenson, co-directors, starting August 1
Lana Heinrich, associate director
Mission Mobilization and Connection
To be a catalyst to help Covenant churches and leaders develop vision and mobilize for global mission and to connect them with mission opportunities with which they can partner by going, giving and praying. To provide resources and training events that enable Covenanters to engage mission work more effectively. And to connect Covenant World Mission work to Covenant churches through a variety of media, materials, speaking engagements, networking and events. To connect the vision and initiatives of local ECC churches to effective mission partnerships, to other local churches with similar vision, and to Covenant World Mission.
Walter Contreras, director, starting August 1
Karen Hallberg, associate director
Sally Carlson, coordinator of Covenant Mission Connection
Mission Advancement and Communication
Develop and implement a strategy for fund raising, advancement and donor care for world mission. Provide communication resources for all missionary activity including DVDs, printed materials and promotional campaigns. Prepare communication articles for the Companion, Annual Meeting and local churches. Plan and implement world mission promotion at events including Annual Meeting, FEAST, CHIC, Urbana, Triennial and conference annual meetings. Promote world mission in the local church.
In process of selecting directors. Curt Peterson, executive minister, is serving as interim director.
Annual Meeting & Commissioned Missionaries
If you are not attending this year’s Annual Meeting, you can still view the live web broadcasts, available here online. The opening AM worship on Thursday, June 21 from 7-9 pm PDT is coordinated by the department of world mission and features the commissioning of short-term and project missionaries. The evening’s speaker is Andres A. Bunch Lopez, pastor of the El Pacto Christian Church in Bogota, Colombia. The following missionaries will be commissioned and are raising support:
Project Missionaries
- Dale Lusk – Covenant Merge Ministries, Executive Director
- Jim & Liz Sedore – Mongolia, Forestry, Community Development, Discipleship, Social Work
- Eric & Karyn Sorenson – Guam, Pastoral Training, Leadership Development
Short-Term Missionaries
- Janelle Johnson – Cameroon, Rain Forest International School
- Katy Kerl – Spain, Compassion/Women Ministries
- Jorge & Noris Maldonado – Spain, Church Planting, Leadership Training, Discipleship, Counseling
- Erin Neises – Spain, Sports Ministry to Youth/Adults
- Amy Oxendale – Cameroon, Rain Forest International School
- Ben Steel – Burkina Faso, Fulani Urban Ministry
The department of world mission will feature a display in conjunction with Covenant Mission Connection. Covenant missionaries will staff the booth during non-business session times of the Annual Meeting. The 2007-2008 missionary prayer calendar and other resources will be available.
Recommended Reading
The Continuing Conversion of the Church
by Darrell L. Guder
Western society is now a very different, very difficult mission field. In this significant new work of practical theology Darrell Guder explores how the church can more effectively carry out its missionary calling. He shows that the church’s missionary calling requires that the theology and practice of evangelism be fundamentally rethought and redirected, focused on the continuing conversion of the church itself so that it can in turn be a faithful witness in today’s world.
Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a Flat World
by Bob Roberts Jr.
If you want to know where and how the church is going to grow, think of the world as local and global. Think glocal. In a glocal world, we’re no longer a collection of isolated villages. Instead, we find ourselves in a “flat,” seamlessly connected global context.
Missionaries on Home Assignment
- Cathy Campobello (Colombia), 8/07-9/07 in Rockford, IL
- Nils and Erika Clauson (Mexico), 8/07-10/07 in Fridley, MN and Williams Bay, WI
- Roy and Aleta Danforth (Central African Republic), 7/07-8/08 in Cedar Falls, IA
- Jay and Ellen Haworth (Japan), until 1/08 in Kingsburg, CA
- David and Ronna Husby (regional coordinators, Asia), until 8/07 in Newcastle, WA
- Tim and Andrea Johnson (Japan), 8/07-11/07 in Hilmar, CA
- Jim and Heidi Peterson (Japan), until 7/07 in Colorado Springs, CO
- Fred and Kelly Prudek (Czech Republic), 6/07-9/07 in Sacramento, CA
- Gary and Mary Lou Sander (Colombia), until 10/07 in Rancho Cordoba, CA
- Ken Satterberg (Mosaics Project), 9/07-3/08 in Hilmar, CA
- Jeffrey and Carolyn Stoker (Cameroon), 6/07-7/08 in Vista, CA
New Publications
Catalyst, Spring 2007
The Catalyst is a bi-annual publication of Covenant Mission Connection to inspire you and your church to be catalysts. This edition features accounts from Mexico, Chicago and Russia. A list of national and international projects is included as well.
Click here to view pdf. Click here to order printed copies.
World Mission Newsletter, May 2007
In January, eight students from North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) and two professors traveled to Thailand for two weeks to live in the slums of Bangkok and to experience the challenges of poverty firsthand.
Covenant World Relief helped sponsor the trip, led by Covenant missionary and seminary professors Paul H. De Neui and Richard Carlson. Student team members were Chris Birkland, Erik Carlson, Jen Dvorak, Kirsten Kronberg, Nicole Robinson, Elizabeth McColl, Dan Young and Dee Young. In this issue, two students and a professor share some of their experiences.
Click here to view pdf. Click here to order printed copies.
Missionary Information Forms
Each year, missionaries provide a report to their supporting churches called a Missionary Information Form (MIF). The MIF details: nature of work, personal stories, ministry goals and plans, profile and contact information, prayer and financial support, home assignment/itineration, and family photo. MIFs will be distributed to supporting churches in July via the postal service. MIFs are available electronically, if needed or desired, by contacting world.mission@covchurch.org.
Covenanters in World Mission
A Covenanter in World Mission is a recognized member of a local Covenant church doing mission work internationally with another mission organization for at least one year. The Department of World Mission acknowledges and values their work toward building the kingdom of God. To see a listing of Covenanters in World Mission, click here. More information, including description and application, is available here.
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