NMI: Nazarene Missions International

A Praying Church

Remember your missionaries throughout the year in prayer. Many face hardship in the places in which they serve. They seek to be peacemakers and agents of transformation. They need your support through intercession.

The Prayer Mobilization Line (PML) is a weekly publication focusing on the prayer needs and praise reports for the global ministries of the Church of the Nazarene and our missionaries. It is available in English and Spanish. Anyone can subscribe to receive PML, free of charge, via e-mail on the NMI Web site. Printable versions of the current and archived issues of PML are also available here. To join the Prayer Mobilization Line please go to the following link:

Resources

Why does the World Evangelism Fund exist?

In 1923, the Church of the Nazarene moved to a centralized funding system called the General Budget. In 1997, the name was changed to World Evangelism Fund, but the purpose remained the same: to sustain valuable ministries through consistent mission funding. The World Evangelism Fund provides the undesignated money and mission network that all Nazarene ministries need. Your gifts create and sustain ministries, and allow ministry personnel to spread the gospel.

How does the World Evangelism Fund work?

When you give, the money comes to the General Treasurer’s Office where the funds are distributed to various regions, missionaries, and ministries around the globe. The World Evangelism Fund not only provides ministries on the ground with the monies they need, but the money is used to ensure that legal, federal, and support needs are met so that ministries are as safe as possible and can be sustained for years to come.

Here are a few examples of ministries that the World Evangelism Fund makes possible through direct funding or the ministry network:

Some churches choose to raise funds through the Easter Offering and Thank Offering for the World Evangelism Fund. These two offerings happen every year, and Stewardship Ministries provides promotional and informational resources to help churches communicate the offerings to their congregations. Churches also use Faith Promise pledges to raise funds throughout the year. We encourage churches to actively engage their congregations in understanding and giving toward mission work through the World Evangelism Fund. Many churches choose to invest more than the 5.5% goal toward ministry, and those gifts make a huge difference.

Resources

The Alabaster Offering provides funds for property and buildings around the world. While we understand the church consists of the people of God and not a building, buildings erected for the purpose of ministry help provide a sense of permanence, functionally enhance ministry efforts, and convey an attitude that the Church of the Nazarene intends to “put down roots.” Alabaster funds help provide land for many Work & Witness projects, and the entire Alabaster Offering goes toward the purchase of land and construction of churches, schools, medical facilities, and homes for missionaries and national workers.

How are Alabaster offerings received?

The Alabaster Offering gets to the mission field through several avenues. The most widely used is the Alabaster Box. Individuals are challenged to regularly contribute the cost of items they desire but do not need. The boxes also serve as reminders to pray for those people who will benefit from Alabaster buildings.

In September and February, the money is collected. Many churches also receive regular offerings throughout the year that are designated as Alabaster funds. (This is often a part of the Faith Promise plan for missions giving.) However, the semi-annual offerings in September and February are tradition in the Church of the Nazarene.

To Invest In Alabaster

Resources

NMI encourages churches to involve children and youth in all missions endeavours and to nurture them as they seek to respond to God’s call.

NMI encourages every church and every district to be intentional about encouraging and engaging children and youth in the mission of God in your community and around the world

We encourage collaboration with Nazarene Youth International and Sunday School Discipleship Ministries to best engage all ages of the church. We believe nurturing and leadership development is best done in the local church and individualized to the needs of each person.

For those young people who are discerning a call to ministry, we encourage them to experience a hands-on missions opportunity.

LINKS is a network of personal connections between missionaries and Nazarene districts around the world.

Participating missionaries are assigned to districts and then, on the district level, connected to local churches. This gives each church an opportunity to become personally acquainted with a missionary family and their field of service. A LINKS relationship fosters a sense of involvement with the global missions enterprise of the church through regular correspondence from the missionaries, updates from their field, and even through deputation services while the missionaries are on home assignment.

LINKS is all about fostering relationships between missionaries and the districts. It is important to establish a relationship between the two because if there is a good relationship between the district and the missionary, it will help the district at large to be more effective in missions.

Participation

Districts, churches, and individuals may show love and support for a LINKS assigned missionary by giving monetary gifts, if they so choose. If monetary gifts are given, they should be processed through the district or region.

It is anticipated that each LINKS participant will: