International Missions Advancement

About International Missions Advancement
(Formerly Known as the "Where Most Needed" Fund)

International Missions is constantly engaged in responding to divine opportunities that help advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and help men, women and children to experience tangible expressions of God’s love and care for them. Part of IM’s strength lies in our ability to respond quickly to ongoing requests for help by drawing on resources from what has been called our “Where Most Needed” (WMN) Fund. Now known as International Missions Advancement, we want to encourage your continued support of this crucial resource for continuously arising kingdom opportunities.

More than 300 churches and numerous partners raised more than $450,000 in 2009 for various long and short term priority projects. The highlighted profiles are a brief overview of the tremendous reach that your support can have—your partnership with us through International Missions Advancement will reap immeasurable eternal rewards.

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Here are some projects that benefit from our partners support.

Immediate Response

Two important objectives of International Missions Advancement are to
meet unexpected divine opportunities that arise from time to time and to assist ministries in need of emergency resources to continue their important work. Crises or unexpected setbacks in diverse parts of the world often spur requests to International Missions—requests which need a timely response. This financial support has assisted in projects as varied as emergency roof repair and dispatching leadership support in heavily persecuted areas. The maintenance of adequate International Missions Advancement resources will be of tremendous benefit to the global workers and national partners serving all over the world that look to us for help—and will have eternal value and impact on the lives of the thousands of people they serve.

Imagine Thailand

Since 2002, Peter and Cavelle Dove have been working to bring together two opposite ends of the social spectrum in Thailand. They run Imagine Thailand, an organization that connects young Thai adults to marginalized communities in their own country.

Based in Bangkok, Imagine Thailand is focused on training students and new graduates to serve through the ministry of the Passport Café and Gallery. The Café serves as a student ministry centre at Bangkok’s downtown university, introducing students to the gospel, facilitating leadership development and preparing them for humanitarian projects in the south of Thailand. Since opening they have had over 5,000 customers and already sent teams of Thai students to serve in various ERDO projects. They need an infusion of funding this year to provide a solid base for this ministry.

Salem Churches in Spain

In partnership with the Salem churches and Next Level International (NLI), we are helping to train over 100 emerging leaders in preparation for church planting in the next number of years. There are 7,400 communities in Spain that do not have a church and the vision of Salem churches is to see 100 new church communities develop in the next 10 years. These leaders are growing in their personal leadership and taking on roles in their church communities that have allowed the church to continue to reach more and more people in their local neighborhoods across Spain.

Global PartnerLink Bible Translation in Africa and India

The PAOC is partnering with Global PartnerLink to fund Bible translation projects in India and Africa. Of particular focus are two current projects in Mudaba, India and Maru Bantu, Tanzania. In Mudaba, Global PartnerLink is working with a young couple from Wycliffe India to implement a New Testament translation and community based literacy and development program. Until now, the Mudaba community was highly illiterate and this project is helping to train local teachers and translators in producing the community’s first reading materials. Over 27, 000 Mudaba people are being touched by this practical extension of God’s love.

In Maru Bantu, translation teams from over nine language groups are being trained in managing and implementing their own mother-tongue translation and literacy projects. Local churches are partnering with these teams to facilitate Scripture translation and community development. Over 750,000 people live in the Maru Bantu region and will be positively affected by this initiative.

 Pan African Christian College, Harare, Zimbabwe

Pan African Christian College (PACC) in Harare, Zimbabwe has a student body of 80 who come from many different churches. We have been training pastors there for many years and over 85% of our graduates are in ministry today. The graduates are serving in over 10 different countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite the economic and political troubles in Zimbabwe, the school has continued to operate, but students face difficulty raising their fees and operational costs have increased significantly in the last few years. The church in Zimbabwe is enjoying a season of growth and many churches do not have trained pastors. The graduates of PACC will help to fill this need.

Affiliated global workers: Gerry and Susan Jeske are currently serving for one year in Zimbabwe. Gerry Jeske is working as the Academic Dean.

Trinity Christian College, Hyderabad, India

The PAOC is working alongside Trinity Christian College (TCC) and The Pentecostal Assemblies of India (PAOI) in Hyderabad to train young pastors in a country with the highest number of unreached people in the world. These pastors are planting churches in rural areas and reaching out to remote villages that have never experienced a gospel witness. More than 150 churches have been planted since the college was opened, with new graduates beginning more church plants every year.

Recently, TCC moved to a new home in Hyderabad with three times the space, allowing for an increase in student enrollment and the expansion of current resources such as the library and computer lab.

Affiliated global workers: Tony and Margaret Baker are serving as PAOC representatives at TCC and working alongside local leaders to train the next generation of Indian pastors.

L’viv Theological Seminary, Ukraine

L’viv Theological Seminary (LTS) currently has an enrollment of 600 students in a number of programs within L’viv as well as throughout Ukraine and Russia. On the main campus, there are 30 students enrolled in a full time Bachelor program, 100 students connect through distance education and 30 students enrolled in LTS’s Master’s program. This year, over 56 students will be graduating from L’viv with another addition 15 from the Odessa satellite school.

LTS also operates nine satellite schools across Ukraine and in Russia. Teachers travel to these schools to keep up the programs. An “Evening Bible School” has also been implemented that allows students to work towards a certificate.

LTS has also developed a program in cooperation with Donetsk University that allows their students to work towards a secular degree while undergoing their theological training. This additional training allows students a means to support their ministry, as many will not receive financial support from churches.

The Seminary serves The Pentecostal Union in Ukraine, a fellowship of over 1,100 churches with which The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada is in cooperative fellowship.

Affiliated global workers: Missionaries Paul and Joanna Lasanté serve as PAOC missionaries at LTS.

 STM Network

The STM Network is committed to working with missionary hosts and local churches to help them build confident leaders and prepare stronger teams for life changing experiences. The STM Network believes that the local church is the best organization in place to serve our global workers in short-term mission work. It assists churches that are just starting to send their first STM teams, as well as agencies that send dozens of teams every year.

Over the past year, the STM Network has established a new MTM program for training and mobilizing individuals, couples and families who desire a short term missions experience beyond two or three weeks. This Mid-Term Missions program is connecting these individuals with our global workers and providing a meaningful approach for students desiring a GAP (interim) year abroad as well as families wanting to participate in overseas ministry.

Click here to donate to International Missions Advancement
 
Thank you for your support of International Missions Advancement—with your help, we can continue supporting kingdom opportunities worldwide.

©The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
905-542-7400
im@paoc.org