God's Greater Vision
by Sidney Grant
GOD BRINGS ABOUT extraordinary changes in our lives to unveil His greater purpose for us individually and for our involvement in the world for which Christ died.
During a crisis of church membership decline, a higher dimension of God’s greater vision was unveiled to me through a tug of ministerial war and deep heart-searching. I could not see beyond my “shortsighted success,” ministerial setbacks, and social circumstances. All along, God was orchestrating the process to unveil His greater vision to me as a person. Today, I believe the leadership of FEA was part of that process. It was slow in coming and is still developing, but the foundational stages have begun with the faithful labors of my predecessors. With the combined and passionate engagement of our present team, God is showing us that His greater vision is twofold:
- Changing the world one person at a time and
- Cultivating proper leadership for global impact.
Even though we may have some perception of what we want to accomplish, our plans are sometimes biased and shortsighted.
The greatest success is allowing God to surprise us with His agenda, rather than just struggling with all the accompanied complexities of ministry without His providential guidance.
However, this kind of waiting on God and following His leadership is no justification for ministerial irresponsibility with the evangelistic and mission’s enterprises God has entrusted to us. Each transitional epoch in ministry should be pursued and managed with a clear, concise, and convincing process. The ingredients should include timeless core values, a clear compelling vision, and relevant and contextual strategic steps.
Biblically and historically, progress is the result of dynamic and passionate leadership. Moving in the right direction is the result of leadership with a clear agenda that has been birthed from agonizing prayer, research, recruitment, and resolve. Consequently, this kind of commitment to God’s greater vision calls for leadership that is scripturally submissive and sacrificially serving.
As we embark on God’s mission to Help Others Prepare for Eternity, we hope to see changes in people’s lives. In the areas opened to us by God we see Hope International Missions energetically engaged in:
Evangelizing the lost, using biblical and practical methods to preach the gospel to people groups throughout the world, with the objective of seeing them saved, sanctified, and serving interdependently in the Church of Christ (II Tim. 4:5, Acts 1:8).
Educating leaders from the grassroots, using systematic catechistic biblical and historical theology, with the objective of providing a practical and productive knowledge of the Bible (Matt. 28:19, add II Tim. 2:2).
Equipping workers for ministry by discovering, developing, and deploying each born again believer according to his/her God-given giftedness, so they can acquire the skills needed for ministries through annual Christian service surveys, periodic training workshops, and practical ministry involvement (Eph. 4:12).
Edifying believers through annual events for all ages and gender such as: retreats, prayer and fasting, conferences, revivals, and camp meeting (Acts 2:42-47; 4:24-32).
As a result of the above strategic initiatives, we hope to cultivate proper leadership for global impact by commissioning people who are:
Established and mature in the faith and fellowship of the church
Empowered to serve as a new generation of workers (II Tim. 2:2, Acts 1:8)
Engaged in training leaders to serve as senders in a cross-cultural context around the world (John 17:18; Matt. 28:18-20)
Exemplifying the Lord Jesus in character and conduct before a watching world. (Matt. 5:14-16; 1 Tim. 4:6-16)
As you have prayed and partnered with HIM in fulfilling God’s greater vision, I humbly ask that you would continue to do so as we continue engaging in carrying out God’s Greater Vision.
