About Village Missions

One of the most common questions we hear when we tell people that we are serving the Lord with Village Missions is "what is Village Missions?" These pages attempt to answer that question. Much of the information here comes from various VM publications, some is my own paraphrase. Nothing stated here should be considered binding on Village Missions or authoritative with regards to the position of the mission. If you would like to contact Village Missions directly please visit Village Missions Home page. I also have a brief history of Village Missions and some links to other Village Missions fields.

From a VM Brochure comes this description of what the mission is:

Village Missions is a Christ-centered faith missionary fellowship, ministering to the spiritual needs of the rural and suburban communities of North America. It is evangelical in concept, evangelistic in approach.
The purpose of Village Missions is to provide qualified, spiritual leadership to those rural and suburban areas in the United States and Canada where there exists a definite need to win and disciple people to Jesus Christ through the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel.

OK, that sounds great - but what does Village Missions really do?

First of all, one thing they don't do is run churches. Village Missions provides leadership to groups that already exist. They provide a full-time missionary pastor to a church that has requested leadership and has agreed with the VM policies and Declaration of Faith. This means that there is really no such thing as a "Village Missions Church", we prefer to refer to them as V.M. Fields. The Village Missionary goes into a field to do two things; first, they serve the church as pastor and spiritual leader, second, they are a missionary in the community, living and working with the people to win a hearing for Jesus Christ. The mission of the missionary is evangelism, the means by which it is accomplished is through the practical example of Christian living and the sincere love for the lost.

Why do we need missionaries in the U.S.?

It is easy to be lulled into the popular mis-conception of the U.S. as a "Christian country". The reality is a long way from that comforting illusion. Here are few facts from one of the VM publications that are worth thinking about:

• North America boasted of 28 churches for every 10,000 people in 1900. By 1996, much to our shame, there were only 9 churches for every 10,000 people. (NW Independent Church Extension)
• Currently one biblically orthodox congregation exists for each 3,275 Canadians. (Church Planting Canada - 1997)
• There are more than 170,000,000 people in North America who do not claim Jesus Christ as Savior. (NW Independent Church Extension)
• One half of church going people attend 20% of North America's larger churches. The remaining 50% attend churches of fewer than 75 in attendance. (Atlantic Monthly - August 1996)
• Approximately 80% of church growth is by transfer, not adult conversion. (Barna Research)
• According to recent estimates about 52% of those who presently go to church aren't born again. (Haven of Rest January 1996)
• The difference 4 years has made in North America:

• Three out of every four people in North America do not believe in absolute truth. (Barna Research)
• The trend of 10 churches closing every day in North America continues. (Atlantic Monthly - August 1996)

Clearly the signs are that if the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to continue to be heard in this country something must be done. Village Missions is seeking to address the need by providing qualified spiritual leadership to churches that would not be able to afford a full-time pastor in any other way.

Who are the Village Missionaries? And how do they get to a church?

Village Missionaries come from all sorts of backgrounds and from all around the country. The qualifications for being a Village Missionary include: A close personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Bible school training or the equivalent, a call from God to serve the rural church, a consistent prayer life, a spouse who shares the vision and call, the ability to relate well with people, and the willingness to serve under the direction of the Mission. If you were to seek to characterize a Village Missionary you might say that they are someone who loves the Lord and loves people. They are someone who has asked to serve in a small, rural area and who has gone through an extensive series of interviews and a thorough application and examination process before being accepted to serve. Specialized training at candidate school further prepares the missionary and his wife for the unique task of being a missionary pastor to rural America.

Once a missionary has been accepted the mission asks them to raise a certain amount of pledged monthly financial support to supplement the guaranteed salary. This support ranges from $600 up to about $1000 a month. The willingness of people to partner with the missionary in their call is taken as a confirmation of that call. The support also eases the total financial burden on the mission, making it possible to place more missionaries on the field. These financial supporters are often the key prayer supporters for the missionary as well. When all the required financial support has been raised the missionary is assigned to a field.

So where do we find all these Village Missionaries?

This map shows roughly where the approximately 250 Village Missions fields in the U.S. are located.Almost all are in rural areas. The red pin marks Tumalo, Oregon, where we are located.

Links to other Village Missions Fields

Community Church of Our Savior - Nine Mile Falls, Washington

Challis Mission Bible Church - Challis, Idaho

Clover Valley Community Church - Woodland, Washington

Calvary Congregational Church - Andover, Maine

Arborg Christian Fellowship Church - Arborg, Manitoba, Canada

Camano Chapel - Camano Island, Washington

Kaslo Community Church - Kaslo, B.C.

Cariboo Christian Church - Horsefly, B.C.