2012 saw the beginning of a new, exciting initiative at KAC – the introduction of a Ministry Training Fund (MTF). Jesus is building his church (Matt 16:18) as people confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt 16:16). He then commanded his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything I have commanded you”. In other words, Jesus’ kingdom grows as disciples make disciples, who make disciples, who …
Jesus also said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt 9:37-38). Until everyone in the world submits to Jesus as Lord, we need to keep training people in gospel ministry because there will always be more work than there are people available. When people decide to forgo whatever else they were, or could be doing, in order to join Jesus’ mission, we should rejoice. As a minister, nothing gladdens my heart more than someone saying to me, “I want to train for ministry”.
However, to train for ministry is costly. Most ministry trainees depend on financial support from friends and family, or drain savings accounts that they’ve built up beforehand. Therefore, the aim of the MTF is
“to encourage and support members (or past members) of our church as they undertake vocational ministry training”
By ‘vocational’ we mean those engaged in full time ministry study with a credible training institution, or those engaged in one of the ministry apprenticeship models.
How do achieve our aim? By partnering with them – in fellowship, prayer, and financial support.
Is it worth investing in ministry trainees? YES, for the following reasons:
- It helps us obey the commands of Jesus.
- It helps us achieve our church’s mission – to proclaim God’s Word so that people become mature servants of Jesus Christ living to glorify God.
- It helps us achieve our church’s vision – recognizing that God alone calls and saves, by 2015 we want to see 800 people in our congregations actively proclaiming and serving Christ in Kurrajong and the world.
- It is consistent with our core values. E.g.
– We value expressing God’s love to all people through loving Christian service.
– We value our support of, and involvement in, world-wide mission.
– We value the training of all our church members for Christian service. - Ministry training is expensive. Any amount of financial assistance is helpful.
- It helps to remind us that Jesus is building his church in places beyond Kurrajong.
- It helps us to be generous – not everything we invest in has to be for our benefit.
Is it worth having a MTF? Yes, because investing in ministry training is an investment in eternity.
