| Elijah Company, Inc. Manifesto
Dear Elijah Company friends,
Below is a synopsis of the work we do in the Elijah Company. The reason we include this now is because we know that many who receive this letter are poised in 2005 to take steps in their call. We are called to enable people to take those steps.
Elijah Company Manifesto
“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared by the Lord.” Luke 1:17
Our Reason for Existence
“The Elijah Company stimulates an awakening in me. I walk each day with a greater sense of purpose to the fulfillment of the promises and call God has put on my life.” Mission’s Candidate
The Elijah Company exists to provide all the encouragement, direction and resources to help missionaries get to the field. It wouldn’t surprise us to think that in any average Christian community, the Holy Spirit would not set apart at least 1% of the members to be Barnabas and Sauls to this generation. Therefore, our goal is to believe God for the dispersion of 1% of committed Christians from every community. Remember that in the midst of a worshiping, praying and loving community, the Holy Spirit said to the prophets and teachers, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:3).
Though the movement of short term missionaries is helpful, there is a need for more people who are willing to give up their lives, trust the Lord for support, relocate, learn the language and persevere for many years in bringing God’s light to a people. We want to help make this happen.
Our Assumptions
”We all have a sense of destiny in our hearts. We have an inner compass that wants to follow God’s purpose and calling. We are placed here to fulfill a unique and glorious destiny.”
People come to Elijah Company at different stages in their preparation; some have had much training but need a “jump start”. Others are merely toying with the idea of becoming a missionary; some are quite committed to the idea but have no real direction or idea what steps to take. Others come having had much training but need a ‘jump start’. Because people are in differing stages of developing their calls, we cannot prescribe to every person the same pathway in order to pursue their call. For some, seminary or college is needed. For others, it is not. Some may need personal discipleship before further considering a call.
Being a missionary is more than just having head knowledge; it is having character, faith, experience, a prayer life, consistent spiritual disciplines and piety. Piety is a focused devotion of life motivated by an extreme admiration and respect for another based on known facts of their personhood. In the case of a missionary, this person is Jesus.
What We Believe
“Encourage missionaries to get mentoring or coaching before they go out. There is absolutely no comparison in the results. The Biblical way is on-the-job mentoring.” George Patterson, missions spokesman
*Sending missionaries is a spiritual pursuit. The Lord sends them.
“Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He would send workers to the harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38). Throughout history, He has used human agents to equip. He has allowed a variety of means and still does.
*Normally the path of a missionary’s endeavors is discovered with the help of mentors. These mentors provide experiential knowledge, advise when they see unwise moves, and coach in the development stages. They rejoice in victories, encourage and sometimes reprove. A mentor’s most important role is to provide a model. Mentorship can be formal or informal, intentional or unintentional.
Our Teaching is Practical
“I joined the Board of Elijah Company, Inc. because I saw in the organization a new, fresh, and exciting alternative to the traditional ways of preparing people for the field. It’s hands-on and people-focused.” Elijah Company Board Member
*Identifying Ungodly beliefs is a major part of our program. Many are healed and set free from lifetime strongholds during our training. This is important because most of the difficulties faced on the mission field come about as a result of undetected spiritual strongholds. Personal knowledge of Christ’ provision needs to go beyond a superficiality. It needs to live in our hearts. Identifying false beliefs is a major part of our program.
*Cross-cultural training (anthropology) is a lifetime pursuit about which many volumes are written. It is as profound as God’s creation of man. Our succinct training aims to heighten cultural sensitivity and to teach culturally general principles enabling a graceful adjustment into a new culture with the ability to avoid undue difficulties. We compare it to physically landing in a new place. Make a smooth landing and avoid the potholes.
*Loving one another is the great challenge. Most church splits and mission team failures are a result of poor or broken relationships. Understanding people differences is helpful in giving and receiving communication. It helps us bear the weaknesses of others and recognize our own. We teach the four basic temperaments but add to it principles for reordering attitudes that can break down teamwork. A special inclusion is how personalities relate to culture. But at the core of all relationships is the willingness to be broken of our own self will and seek and to esteem the desires of others. (See Philippians 2).
*Our training is practical, inspirational and spiritually imparted. Preaching the good news of the Gospel by life and word is so important. This was the work Jesus did and that which He ordained us to do. It is reasonable to believe that a prospective missionary should also be experienced in sharing Jesus with others at home. A recent trainee led someone to the Lord on the bus ride home. This was a first for him.
*Prayer is the primary means of accomplishing God’s work. Anyone not seriously involved in prayer should not go to the mission field. As a sailboat cannot make it to shore without wind, we cannot achieve God’s purposes without prayer. Our aim is to heighten the need for prayer and fasting by every prospective missionary and to lay down principles and give resources for developing a better prayer life.
*We teach about realities and wrong expectations. Most of the missionary presentations in churches shine the light on the positive side of missions. Few of us hear of the heartache, struggle, pain, loss and sometimes failure that take place in missions. It is anything but a walk in the park on a sunny day. It is, in the strictest sense, a battle for life and death. We try to be honest in communicating this to trainees so that they can better count the cost.
*We teach principles of developing a support team. A strong challenge is to believe that funding will come in. There is a great chasm to cross as one leaves employment with guaranteed income to living by faith. How does one take the first steps? More important than finances is the need for a prayer team that really prays. We also focus on this important aspect.
*We provide a Certification Program. We realized that a doctor, nurse, pilot, technician, etc., all need to be certified but there are few, if any, such programs for missionaries. Certification is not a test, but it allows a candidate to demonstrate that they can really do what they are called to do. There will always be more things to learn, but certain basics need to be in place before a person proceeds in a missionary call. There are ten areas crucial for missionary life. Before a person is sent on the field, they should be able to perform to a good degree in these areas.
Is the Elijah Company different from other missions training? In many ways it is. There are many good programs out there. Like most of programs, we will not claim that a person will get everything they need from Elijah Company, but they will get a solid preparation.
What We Do
*We model the life of prayer and faith.
*We offer counsel regarding steps to take.
*We help provide practical, scriptural understanding, and mentoring relationships to guide on a trail toward world evangelization. We offer enlightenment as ones who have been in missions.
*We teach from personal experience that which God has taught us.
*We defer to other parts of the body of Christ those things we are not equipped to do.
*We exalt in Jesus Christ, seeking to live in a fuller measure of the Holy Spirit and delighting ourselves in the Father heart of God.
*We seek to be an example in presenting Christ on every occasion when presented with the opportunity.
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