How we understand mission

“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  
John 20:21  (NRSV)

To be in mission is to be sent out.  Our mission is rooted in Jesus Christ, who was sent by God to bring God’s boundless love into a world of suffering and sin.

From the time God created us, God has been reaching out to us. In the life and ministry of Jesus, God has taken the ultimate steps toward us - so much so that God is with us even in death and has thus overcome our natural separation from God.

Jesus’ mission is carried forth in the mission of his church. As Christians we are called to share this love with others and to bring this love to those who are in greatest need of it.
Mission is not a public-relations effort for a particular ideology, for a particular culture or even for our own church. Mission means a life faithful to the call of Jesus.

Thus everything we do which helps people encounter the love of God is mission - whether in an inviting worship experience or through the loving care of the sick, whether in a call for a renewal of one’s life or through counseling of a person in distress.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.“
John 3:16 (NRSV)

God is love. Love is unconditional commitment to another. Jesus’ offering up of his life even to death on the cross thus stands at the center of his mission. He took upon himself the burden of our guilt and the sting of our death, so that we might be certain that there is nothing which can separate us from the love of God.

But it is not only in his death that Jesus manifests his sacrificial commitment: Everything he did was shaped by it. He found his mission in healing the sick, freeing the dependent, and bringing to the poor the Good News that God is on their side.

Likewise the mission of the church: The church proclaims Jesus’ death and resurrection as God’s salvation for humankind, and the church lives out the love of God toward all who have no hope.

The church pleads with all people in the name of God: "Be reconciled with God!" and works for reconciliation and peace among them.
The church shares the life God gives with others and does all it can to improve the conditions in which people live. The church tells all who doubt the value of their own lives that their lives are precious because God loves them. And the church fights for dignity and justice for every human life from its beginning to its end.

“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”
Mark 16:15 (NRSV)

God’s love is boundless. Thus God's mission knows no boundaries. Jesus sends his people to the ends of the earth. Mission is always “world mission”. The early church had to overcome inner struggles in order to take first steps beyond the limits of its Jewish roots and then again beyond the borders of the Roman Empire in order to carry the gospel into the whole known world of the time.

In the wake of European expansion a new missionary movement attempted to spread Christianity across the globe - unfortunately often by inappropriate means.
Today there are Christian churches present in most countries of the world. World mission is no longer the task primarily of Europeans or North Americans, but the common task of all churches.

There are still boundaries to be overcome: boundaries between cultures and peoples, between rich and poor, north and south, east and west. This can only be done by common effort. World mission means living in community, with churches from all regions of the world contributing their gifts to help people in need.

This is not a one-way process. Specifically, we in Europe can learn much from the churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America about communicating the gospel anew to the people around us.

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”
Isaiah 6:8 NRSV

God works with those called to serve in mission. For the work of world mission God needs people who are prepared to employ their skills and their spiritual gifts in another culture under circumstances and conditions which are foreign to them.
The people suited to this task are therefore not only qualified in their chosen field, but are also willing and able to learn from others, to listen to others, to live and work in partnership. What this may entail will look different in every community and in every country.

Mission workers are aware of their commitment to Jesus Christ. At the same time they are responsible both to the receiving church and the sending church. This leads at times to tensions and conflicts of conscience.

Although the location of mission and its sponsor is normally an individual church, mission must always occur in a close fellowship of cooperation with other Christian churches. With few exceptions, today’s mission can only be responsible if done in an ecumenical spirit of openness. We therefore welcome members of other churches who are willing to work with us.

“Bear one another’s burdens.”
Galatians 6:2 (NRSV)

In close cooperation with our partner churches and in response to their needs we focus on the following areas in our mission work:

• church growth and evangelism
• training of pastors, theological teachers, and other church workers
• medical mission and rural health services
• issues of justice, peace and integrity of creation (“JPIC”)
• projects with children and youth.

Within Germany, the main task of world mission is to inform and develop awareness. Mission workers from our partner churches are regularly invited to participate in this process.

In close cooperation with the mission agencies of Methodist and United Methodist churches at the European and worldwide levels we support work particularly in the following countries and regions: Brazil, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Eurasia and Eastern Europe (through the Fund for Mission in Europe).