OUR MISSIONS PRIORITIES

by Rev. Chris Neilson, Director of Missions

New Man; Same Mandate

New Man: Our dear friend Rev. Clifford T. Good has given the Pacific Conference nine years of faithful,
inspired leadership as the Director of Missions. Cliff stepped down from this leadership ministry last year
and I've spent this past year getting my bearings and beginning to work with the Board of Missions.
Though I've never served as a field missionary, I've had a love and interest for the work of missions that
actually predates my conversion. I am thrilled for the opportunity to serve as Director of Missions. Psalm
37:4 is true - "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Same Mandate: Jesus gave the church a mandate large enough to keep it busy for years; "Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) We call it "evangelism" when it is with people close at hand and "missions"
when it is with people at some distance either geographically and / or culturally. But the bottom line of
our mandate remains the same: "making disciples of all the nations".

New Project

When Dr. Vermillion asked me to serve as the Director of Missions, he made one very specific request and
that was that the Pacific Conference engage itself in some fashion in addressing the whole issue of the
AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The Lord opened the door this year for Rev. Jack O'Neill, Rev.
Dave Wildermuth, my daughter Rebecca Neilson and me to travel to Kenya with Hope Teams
International. We partnered there with Rev. Patrick Murunga who pastors the Good Shepherd Africa
Gospel Church in Nairobi. We traveled to a village called Oyugis in the western highlands close to the
shoreline of Lake Victoria. There we worked with the people of Oyugis to build a new house (in one day)
for a woman who has adopted four children from the village who have been orphaned by the AIDS
epidemic.

The Lord put all the pieces for this project together in such a wonderful way and out of this experience
now comes the following motion from the Board of Missions --

Resolution

"BE IT RESOLVED that Hope Teams International’s "Kenyan AIDS Orphans Project" consisting of the
following:

• Work Teams to assist in construction of homes for Kenyans who are adopting AIDS orphans,
  
• Work Teams to assist in development of "Hope Station" - a community health, counseling,
  recreation, and
  
• Bible Study outreach center in the township of Oyugis, Kenya,
  
• Child sponsorships of $25 per month and other general financial support,

be recognized as an approved ministry by the Board of Missions of the Pacific Conference of the
Evangelical Church and promoted in the churches of the Conference as opportunity affords."
With gratitude, I move its adoption.


A new home for Dumaris and the four orphaned relatives she took in

Another open door

Later this Summer I will be traveling to Fiji with Rev. Brian Eckhardt - General Superintendent of the
Evangelical Church and his daughter Katie, Rev. Duane Erickson - Executive Director of Missions of the
Evangelical Church, and Rev. Ron Sorensen - Pastor of our Evergreen Evangelical Church and his wife
Sandy and his mother Doris. The Fiji Evangelical Fellowship has invited us to come and participate in
their General Conference August 26 - September 2, 2007. We will be sharing in their Conference
teaching sessions and preaching in their worship times.

This relationship between the Evangelical Church and the Fiji Evangelical Fellowship has been nurtured
over the past 15 years by Rev. Sorensen. We are excited about discovering what the Lord has in mind for
the future of our relationship with His church in Fiji. Please keep this trip and our ministry responsibilities
in their General Conference sessions in your prayers.

A Sense of Direction

I've enjoyed talking with the members of the Board of Missions and others in the Conference this past
year as we've worked to draft the following Missions Priorities statement for the Pacific Conference -

OUR FIRST PRIORITY — LABORERS FOR THE HARVEST (Matthew 9:35-38)

Developing special Annual Conference programs designed to create enthusiasm for missions.

Task 1. Challenge and assist youth and young adults from Pacific Conference churches and youth
ministries to labor in career missionary service with denominational and recognized
mission organizations.

Task 2. Challenge and assist volunteers from the Pacific Conference churches and youth ministries
to labor in short-term service with agencies providing compassionate care to people in
crises outside of the United States.

Task 3. Challenge and assist volunteers from the Pacific Conference churches and youth ministries
to labor in short-term service with work teams assisting denominational and recognized
mission organizations with field projects.

Task 4. Challenge and assist volunteers from the Pacific Conference churches to labor in prayer
ministries of intercession and encouragement for missionaries and the fields they serve.

OUR SECOND PRIORITY — RESOURCES FOR THE HARVEST (2 Cor. 8:1-5; 3 John 5-8)

Involving the people of our churches in the prayer and financial support of missions.

Task 1. Equip and encourage churches to labor in prayer and financial support of the work of
missionaries and fields under the Evangelical Church Board of Missions.

Task 2. Equip and encourage churches to labor in prayer and financial support of the work of
Evangelical Church missionaries and fields under mission organizations recognized by The
Evangelical Church.

Task 3. Equip and encourage churches to labor in prayer and financial support of the work of
Evangelical missionaries and fields under mission organizations not recognized but
compatible with the doctrines and practices of the Evangelical Church.

Task 4. Equip and encourage churches to labor in prayer and financial support of the work of
missionaries from other denominations and fields under mission organizations recognized
by the Evangelical Church.

OUR THIRD PRIORITY — A PROMISED HARVEST (Romans 9-11)

Developing a larger perspective than Gentile people groups alone.

Most of the ministries referred to above in the priorities for laborers and resources for the harvest have
traditionally focused on evangelizing gentile people groups; what Paul referred to as branches from “a
wild olive tree” (Romans 11:17). Careful study of Romans 9-11 and many other Old Testament and New
Testament prophetic scriptures leads us to realize that there is yet another harvest in God’s grand
economy of salvation and that is the promised harvest of what Paul referred to as “the natural
branches” in Romans 11:24 — a promised harvest of Jewish people! With this in mind, the Pacific
Conference Director of Missions proposes the following tasks:

Task 1. The Board of Missions will assist the Conference Superintendent in researching, writing (if necessary), and distributing an Evangelical Church position paper dealing with Christian
missions and relationships with Jewish people groups and the nation of Israel.

Task 2. Equip and encourage churches to labor in prayer, financial support, and outreach and
support activities of Christian ministries focusing on Jewish people groups.

We welcome your input to these priorities. I also move adoption of this Missions Priorities statement for
The Pacific Conference.

Respectfully submitted,
Rev. Chris W. Neilson, Director, Board of Missions