Missions

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:8
_______________________________________________

Global & Local Outreach History at Bethany

Bethany Evangelical Free Church has a history of participation in the
Great Commission from its beginning in 1958. In recent years we have added a significant urban ministries focus and are currently developing
a greater local outreach involvement as part of our move to become a
truly "Missional Church."

Bethany currently supports 33 families and individuals in long-term
mission service with 18 different mission agencies. We support our missionaries financially, in prayer, care and communication. Of the
33 families and individuals the church supports, 22 call Bethany their
church home or attended Bethany for an extended period of time.

Philosophy of Global & Local Outreach

At Bethany, we value a Global Perspective and believe that God has
called us as a church as well as each of us individually to participate
in the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations," as commanded in Matthew 28:18-20. We also believe that our efforts
should include "Jerusalem, and (in all) Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth," as stated in Acts 1:8.

God has uniquely blessed Bethany by allowing us to develop a
missions culture as a church and to regularly send out our own sons
and daughters, parents and grandparents, into ministry. Our first priority
is to support individuals from our church as they pursue God's will and
respond to His calling on their lives.

But we also have specific focus areas where we put more emphasis in
an effort to deepen our relationships with specific ministries. We are developing ministry teams to direct our involvement in these key areas.
We encourage people to consider joining one of these ministry teams
for a deeper, more personal missions involvement.

Missions Giving

At Bethany, giving for our Global Outreach Budget is separate from the church General Fund. This allows the Global Outreach Budget to grow
as God directs rather than being restricted to a set percentage of the General Fund. We ask our congregation to designate funds for the
Global Outreach Budget as part of their regular giving to the church
and provide envelopes to help facilitate this. Without designation all
funds go to the General Fund. We believe people's prayers follow their intentional giving and urge our congregation to pray as well as give
toward missions.

We also encourage personal involvement through our "Missions Plus" program, which gives our congregation opportunities to support
short-term mission teams and individuals, special missions projects
and missions programs.

We encourage everyone to designate some portion of their regular
giving toward missions. Please be sure to mark your offering envelope appropriately so your contributions make it to the right account.

Short-Term Missions

Every year we provide opportunities for hands-on missions involvement
by participation in short-term missions trips. We encourage everyone
to consider stepping out of their comfort zone in order to gain a broader perspective of what God is doing around the world.